Rhythms and Rhymes of Life: Music and Identification Processes of Dutch-Moroccan Youth Gazzah, Miriam
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www.ssoar.info Rhythms and rhymes of life: music and identification processes of Dutch-Moroccan youth Gazzah, Miriam Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Monographie / phd thesis Zur Verfügung gestellt in Kooperation mit / provided in cooperation with: OAPEN (Open Access Publishing in European Networks) Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Gazzah, M. (2008). Rhythms and rhymes of life: music and identification processes of Dutch-Moroccan youth. (ISIM Dissertations). Amsterdam: Amsterdam Univ. Press. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-271792 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer CC BY-NC-ND Lizenz This document is made available under a CC BY-NC-ND Licence (Namensnennung-Nicht-kommerziell-Keine Bearbeitung) zur (Attribution-Non Comercial-NoDerivatives). For more Information Verfügung gestellt. Nähere Auskünfte zu den CC-Lizenzen finden see: Sie hier: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.de RHYTHMSRHYMES AND RHYTHMS AND RHYMES OF LIFE Rhythms and Rhymes of Life: Music and Identification Processes of Dutch- Moroccan Youth is a comprehensive anthropological study of the social significance of music among Dutch-Moroccan youth. In the Netherlands, a Dutch-Moroccan music scene has emerged, including events and websites. Dutch-Moroccan youth are often pioneers in the Dutch hip- OF hop scene, using music as a tool to identify with or distance themselves from others. They (re)present and position themselves in society through LIFE music and musical activities. The chapters deal with the development of the Dutch-Moroccan music scene, the construction of Dutch-Moroccan identity, the impact of Islam on female artists and the way Dutch- Moroccan rappers react to stereotypes about Moroccans. All along, Dutch society, its struggles with multiculturalism and its debates on integration, the position of Islam and fear of terrorism, form the backdrop to this story. RHYTHMS AND MIRIAM GAZZAH Miriam Gazzah has studied Mediterranean studies at the Radboud RHYMES OF LIFE University Nijmegen. She graduated in 2001. Her master thesis focused on the development of the raï music subculture in the seventies, eighties and nineties in Algeria. Between 2003 and 2007 she was a PhD Fellow at MUSIC AND IDENTIFICATION International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM) in Leiden and the Radboud University Nijmegen. PROCESSES OF DUTch- ISBN 978 90 8964 062 8 MIRIA MOROCCAN YOUTH M GAZZAH Miriam Gazzah ISIM ISIM DISSERTATIONS ISIM AUP-ISIM-PS-Gazzah-OM-04.indd 1 17-07-2008 12:54:08 RHYTHMS AND RHYMES OF LIFE MUSIC AND IDENTIFICATION PROCESSES OF DUTCH- MOROCCAN YOUTH Miriam Gazzah Cover illustration: Bert Smits, www.bertsmits.com Cover design and lay-out: De Kreeft, Amsterdam ISBN 978 90 8964 062 8 E-ISBN 978 90 4850 649 1 NUR 761 © ISIM / Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam 2008 Alle rechten voorbehouden. Niets uit deze uitgave mag worden verveelvoudigd, opgeslagen in een geautomatiseerd gegevensbestand, of openbaar gemaakt, in enige vorm of op enige wijze, hetzij elektronisch, mechanisch, door fotokopieën, opnamen of enige andere manier, zonder voorafgaande schriftelijke toestemming van de uitgever. Voor zover het maken van kopieën uit deze uitgave is toegestaan op grond van artikel 16B Auteurswet 1912 jº het Besluit van 20 juni 1974, Stb. 351, zoals gewijzigd bij het Besluit van 23 augustus 1985, Stb. 471 en artikel 17 Auteurswet 1912, dient men de daarvoor wettelijk verschuldigde vergoedingen te voldoen aan de Stichting Reprorecht (Postbus 3051, 2130 kb Hoofddorp). Voor het overnemen van gedeelte(n) uit deze uitgave in bloemlezingen, readers en andere compilatiewerken (artikel 16 Auteurswet 1912) dient men zich tot de uitgever te wenden. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. Rhythms and Rhymes of Life Music and Identification Processes of Dutch-Moroccan Youth Een wetenschappelijke proeve op het gebied van de Letteren PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen op gezag van de rector magnificus prof. mr. S.C.J.J. Kortmann, volgens besluit van het College van Decanen in het openbaar te verdedigen op 8 september 2008 om 13.30 uur precies door Miriam Gazzah geboren op 16 maart 1977 te Vaassen Promotores Prof. dr. C.H.M. Versteegh Prof. dr. A.I. Tayob (Universiteit van Kaapstad, Zuid-Afrika) Copromotor Dr. K. van Nieuwkerk Manuscriptcommissie Prof. dr. W.H.M. Jansen Dr. M.W. Buitelaar (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen) Dr. F. Reysoo (Universiteit van Genève, Zwitserland) Contents Acknowledgements 7 Notes on transcription 8 Introduction 9 1. Moroccans in the Netherlands: Roots, facts, and figures 11 2. Changing policies 14 3. The field of study of Dutch-Moroccans 26 4. Youth culture, music, and post-migration identity 27 5. Methodology 38 6. The structure of this thesis 46 1. Theorizing identity: music and youth culture 49 1. Introduction 49 2. The dynamics of identity 52 3. Ethnicity 61 4. Applying identity theory in post-migration context 68 5. Music, youth culture, and identity 74 6. Conclusion 78 2. An outline of the Dutch-Moroccan music scene 81 1. Mapping out the scene 81 2. Popular genres 86 3. Categorization of events 103 3. Music, events, and identification processes 113 Introduction: My experiences at a concert 113 1. The pivotal position of shaabi in the Netherlands 116 2. The importance of weddings and getting to know shaabi 120 3. An expression of Dutch-Moroccan groupness 128 4. Conclusion 138 4. Music, Islam, and gender 141 Introduction: My experiences at a concert 141 1. The Islamization of events 146 2. The debate on the compatibility of music and performance in Islam 152 3. The consumers’ views on the compatibility of music, performance, and Islam 157 4. The producers’ views on the compatibility of music, performance, and islam 169 5. The complex position of female performers in Muslim communities 171 6. Conclusion 186 5. Dutch-Moroccan hip-hop and stereotypes 189 1. Theory on stereotyping 191 2. Stereotypes 197 3. Strategies of resistance 198 4. Hip-hop as musical resistance 203 5. Maroc-hop’s origins and the importance of the Internet 207 6. Maroc-hop’s lyrics: A categorization of themes 215 7. Conclusion: An overall analysis 229 Conclusion 231 Suggestions for further study 239 Appendix 243 Notes 245 Bibliography 253 Summary in Dutch 271 Curriculum vitae 279 Acknowledgements This study would not have been possible without the help and sup- port of a number of people. Thank you to the International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM) that provided me with financial and academic support throughout this project. ISIM creates an inspiring academic environment and I have greatly benefited from it in the course of writing this thesis. ISIM’s lunches, outings, and seminars have given me inspiration and motivation to proceed, also during hard times. Special thanks to my (former) colleagues: Prof. Asef Bayat, Prof. Anne- lies Moors, Dr. Linda Herrera, Drs. Nadia Sonneveld, Dr. Martijn de Koning and drs. Dennis Janssen. Thank you to the TCMO department (Department of Arabic and Islam) at Radboud University who generously adopted me as a colleague. I thank my TCMO colleague Drs. Nicolet Boekhoff-Van der Voort for all the talks, cups of coffee, lunches and for listening. Thank you Drs. Annemarie Hinten- Nooijen (Radboud University Nijmegen), drs. Simone Boogaarts-De Bruin (Amsterdam University) and dr. Linda Duits (Amsterdam University). Thank you to Dr. Bibi Panhuysen and Evelyn Raat at Imagine IC, Amsterdam. Thank you: DJ Nadia, Bad Brya, Rapti Miedema, Liane van der Linden, Maria Souad Bouanani and Sanaa Makhlouf. Thank you to all the respondents without whom this project would not have existed. I thank them for their cooperation, trust and frankness. Many special thanks to my family: Samir and Fairouz, Amin and Sara and Oma Smits! Thank you to the families Gazzah, Sghaier, Filali, Gourar in Tunisia. Thank you Nina and Alfred, Bert and Naomi, Kees and Olga. Last, but most important of all, I thank my parents Kuna Smits and Mohamed Gazzah for always standing by me and inspiring me with their support, encouragements and advice. 7 Notes on transcription In the transcription of terms in Arabic and Arabic names, no diacritic signs have been used except the c to indicate the Arabic letter cayn and the ' for the Arabic letter hamza, with the exception of the word shaabi. This word is used as a genre label for ‘popular Moroccan folk music’; on the inter- net and in music shops. On the compartment labels it is usually transcribed without diacritic signs. Terms that are common in the English language or toponyms are transcribed in their most common English form, for example, burqa, jihad and Mecca. These words are not written in italics. In other cases, I have used italics to indicate the Arabic origin of the words, for example, hadith, culama or anasheed. In this dissertation parts of song lyrics are cited and translated from Dutch into English (fair use). I have tried to get in touch with the rightful authors of these texts to ask permission for citing and translating them, but this was to no avail. 8 Introduction Ahmed (organizer of Moroccan concerts): “Music does something to people. Being together [during a concert] also touches people, it gives them a certain identity; as if…it’s like they are all going to Morocco on a boat. You feel…you are separate, but you are one. That is a feeling that I cannot explain to you.