Copyright by John Philip Rode Schaefer 2009
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Copyright by John Philip Rode Schaefer 2009 The Dissertation Committee for John Philip Rode Schaefer certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: MOROCCAN MODERN: RACE, AESTHETICS, AND IDENTITY IN A GLOBAL CULTURE MARKET Committee: ________________________________________ Deborah Kapchan, Co-Supervisor ________________________________________ Kamran Ali, Co-Supervisor ________________________________________ Elizabeth Keating ________________________________________ Ward Keeler ________________________________________ Ted Swedenburg MOROCCAN MODERN: RACE, AESTHETICS, AND IDENTITY IN A GLOBAL CULTURE MARKET by John Philip Rode Schaefer, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin August 2009 Dedication To Rachel and Lyna, Elijah, and Noah Acknowledgments This project represents over a decade of coursework, research, and writing, beginning in Arkansas, Lebanon, and Ghana, and ending in Texas, Morocco, Ohio, New York, North Carolina, and Cairo. As a result, lots of people have had their hands on the spoon—stirring, adding some ingredients, suggesting others, turning up the heat, letting it simmer, and tasting and commenting on various sections and permutations. I have missed many who passed through the kitchen at one time or another, but I mention a few names here in the hopes that all will feel free to take their places around the table. When I arrived in Tangier in February 2006 with the barest sketching of a project, Abdellah El Gourd generously offered to let me learn from him, and for that I am eternally grateful. I hope my work approaches the high standards of his professionalism. I was received at Dar Gnawa and integrated into the community there by its members. Abdelkader El Khlyfy, Khalid Rahhali, and Noureddine Touati remembered me from previous visits and welcomed me, alongside Muhammad Lahya, Jamel, Muhammad Khayyat, and Abdelila Ibn al-Sahafi. Abdelila also translated and transcribed song lyrics and helped me out in many other areas. A whole host of others who passed through or stayed behind at Dar Gnawa, some from Tangier and many more from all over the world, were generous with their time and attention—Uwe, Sliman, Crofton, and Nicholas come to mind. At the Cafe du Paris in Tangier, Kenneth Lisenbee, Piers and Fatima Jessop, Tom, Clive, Rachid, Patrick, and Tony offered entertaining, enlightening and challenging conversation. At Cafe Vienna, Ahmad Hajjaoui served up coffee and advice. The staff at the Vienna Internet Cafe rescued my USB drive numerous times when I left it behind, while Muhammad al-Bawwab provided me his endless and fascinating wisdom in economics, philosophy, ethics, and life. Ali and Yusuf kept my apartment safe and kept me apprised of neighborhood events. I also benefited from getting to know, in Fez, Abdel Aziz Azuz, Idriss, Hamid, Mustafa, Alan, Ben, Khaled Gaga, Patrick, Mansour al-Oujdi, Mohsin, Abd al-Malik al- Mashhur, and especially Ali and his dear family; in Marrakech, Baska, Abdeljalil, Tim Abdellah Fuson, Deborah, Jonathan, and Hammoud; and in Essaouira, Najib Sudani, Sidi Muhammad, Ahmad, and Muhammad. The project would not have been possible without generous funding from the American Institute for Maghrib Studies (CAORC), and from the US Department of Education’s Foreign Language and Area Studies program, administered through the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Also at UT-Austin, the Department of Anthropology and Americo Paredes Center for Middle Eastern Studies provided needed funding and support during my graduate career there. A grant also supported my participation in the Princeton North African and North African Diaspora Workshop at the Department of Near Eastern Studies in 2008, which was organized, under the direction of Prof. Abdellah Hammoudi and Prof. Lawrence Rosen, by Jessica Marglin and Claire Nicholas. During the workshop I met Rodney Collins, Nell Quest, and Marouane Laouina, who were generous with their advice. v At various times between 2001 and 2006, I became indebted to Prof. Taieb Belghazi and Prof. Abdelhai Diouri of Mohammad V University in Rabat, Prof. Bertrand Hell of Université de Franche-Comté and EHESS-Paris, Dr. Kyra Landzelius at the University of Gothenburg, and Dr. Ahmed Lemsyeh at the Ministry of Culture. Prof. Khalid Amine of Abdelmalek Essaadi University in Tetouan was welcoming and supportive in Tangier, both professionally and personally, along with his wife, Nadia, who also tutored me in Moroccan Darija. Also in Tangier, Thor Kuniholm offered advice and logistical support, as well as provided official status through the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies (TALIM). Ms. Yhtimad Bouziane at the TALIM library gave me access and assistance. Throughout my time at Texas I have received strong, enduring, and warm support and friendship from my mentor and advisor Deborah Kapchan, who found me wait-listed in April 2000 and took up my application, who kept advising me even after she left UT and went on to NYU, and who, even as I write this, is advising me from her sabbatical in France. Ted Swedenburg has stayed with me through three years at Arkansas and nine years at Texas—a good advisor and friend. I have also received unwavering support from the three other members of my committee—Kamran Ali, Elizabeth Keating, and Ward Keeler. My family members set me on the path to anthropology and kept me there—Bob and Nancy Schaefer of Tamale, Ghana; Paul and Jennifer Schaefer of Bole, Ghana; Susie and Donny Briscoe of Marionville, Missouri; Roger and Cindy Rode of Galion, Ohio; Bryan and Alicia Rode of Columbus, Ohio; and Brad Rode of Washington, D.C. My doctoral work grew out of my M.A. program, and I was fortunate to come to Texas on the very accomplished heels of Jamie Brandon and James Davidson. Others from Arkansas came to visit, and I also met up with them elsewhere—sometimes in odd places, but always fondly: Ted Swedenburg, JoAnn D’Alisera, Joel Gordon; Rachael Martin, Will Taggart, Teresa Iwaki, Bill Gardner, Kelley O’Callaghan, Melissa Zabecki, and many others. At Texas I was fortunate to study with great professors like Pauline Turner Strong, Richard Flores, Katie Stewart, Peter Abboud, Ward Keeler, Jonathan Shannon, Mia Carter, Veit Erlmann, Deborah Kapchan, Keith Walters, Joel Sherzer, and Jurgen Streeck. I was also privileged to work with Laura Lein and Henry Selby, and to get to know Kamala Visweswaran, Elizabeth Keating, Jose Limon, John Downing, and Barbara Harlow outside of class, among many others. Bob and BJ Fernea had retired by the time I arrived, but they welcomed me into their home on more than one occasion. In the anthropology department and folklore center, nothing would get done were it not for the capable and resourceful administrative and technical professionals. In folklore, for sure, I could not have made it without Frances Terry, Elaine Hrissikopoulos, and Amy Hendrick. Thank you for going above and beyond. One of UT’s strengths is the interdisciplinarity of the graduate programs. I benefited from meeting students through the Ethnographic Film Forum and other offerings through Radio-Television-Film, the regular parties of the Ethnic and Third- World Literature Program in the English Department, the linguistics department’s vi Symposium on Language and Society—Austin, and numerous concerts and lectures in the music department. As I recall the names of my friends, warm memories resurface of long evenings spent at various establishments around Austin in quiet conversation and sometimes heated, but always friendly, debates over politics, culture, film, literature, music, language, identity, and other topics that had spilled over from classes, films, and lectures. Close friendships grew out of our experiences as fellow graduate students (in no order at all): Mark Westmoreland, Alisa Perkins, Galeet Dardashti, Afra al- Mussawir, Shaka McGlotten, Dan Gilman, Scott Webel, Ben Chappell, Ben Hodges, Guha Shankar, Mieke Curtis, Sandya Hewamanne, Whitney Battle, Peggy Brunache, Nick Copland, Faedah Totah, Adam Gordon, David Raichlen, Rob Scott, Olivier Tchouaffe, Nafiz Aksehirlioglu, Diya Mehra, Melissa Forbis, Halide Velioglu, Chantal Tetreault, and many, many others. Scott Webel and Mathangi Krishnamurthy provided excellent critiques of a portion of Section 2. I owe Leighton Peterson and Bennie Klain more than I can repay. Upon leaving Texas I found myself in a succession of academic and professional contexts. I worked with Gary Levine and Sue Huff at Ashland University and with Terry Prendergast in the Writing Center at the College of Wooster. Barb Hampton, Barb Hustwit, Linda Bromund, and Jenny Derksen were terrific colleagues there. David McConnell and Pamela Frese advised when I taught anthropology at Wooster. Felipe Millan-Calhoun was a colleague, student, assistant, and friend. Faculty Dean Shila Garg offered me several jobs and kindly provided advice and recommendation letters long after I left Wooster. After I returned from the field, Mike Woost invited me to spend a year in the vibrant anthropology department at Hartwick College with Connie Anderson, Jason Antrosio, and David Anthony. In the history department, Mieko Nishida was generous and welcoming, as was Jon Roberts. When I needed a second one-year appointment, Margaret Bender and the anthropology department