Narratives of simplicity and danger
Morocco as an exotic playground in contemporary travelogues
Keywords:
contemporary travelogues, narratives simplicity, orientalism, romanticize Morocco, travel writingAbstract
This essay examines how Tahir Shah’s stories and impression of the Oriental environment he surrounds himself with help to romanticize Morocco. It centers on his depiction of the shantytown, the infamous Dar Calipha, and the attraction of Moroccan superstition that permeated his travelogues, namely The Caliph’s House and In Arabian Nights. Shah compares Morocco’s dangerous environment with the comfort and security in the Western world. By highlighting and romanticizing Morocco’s lack of development, Shah pursues danger, mystery, and simplicity. These offer an antidote to the perceived stagnation and artificiality of Western modernity. This paper analyzes the ubiquitous Western tendency to disconnect from modernity to find authenticity. Shah’s works reflect a common Western fascination with Morocco because it offers a retreat or a haven from the complexities of modern life and an opportunity to confront danger and unpredictability which is often perceived, by many travel writers that will be mentioned in this paper (including Alice Morrison, Jeffrey Tayler, and Paul Bowles), as thrilling and exciting.
Downloads
References
Akgün, A. E., Keskin, H., Ayar, H., & Erdoğan, E. (2015). The influence of storytelling approach in travel writings on readers’ empathy and travel intentions. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 207, 577-586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.10.129
American Orientalism: taking Casablanca. (2013). In Routledge eBooks (pp. 221–233).
Culture Vulture Rises. (2023, December 10). Morocco to Timbuktu: An Arabian Adventure — Episode 1 (BBC).
Desforges, L. (2000). Traveling the world: Identity and travel biography. Annals of tourism research, 27(4), 926-945. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-7383(99)00125-5
Dhouib, M. K. (2021). History and Literature in the Nun's Priest's Tale: the Return of the Repressed. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Culture, 7(2), 70-81.
Elghandor, A. (1994). Cross-cultural encounters and the image of the other in Paul Bowles' fiction. Ohio University.
Elsrud, T. (2001). Risk creation in traveling: Backpacker adventure narration. Annals of tourism research, 28(3), 597-617. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-7383(00)00061-X
Herrick, C. (2022). Clean problems: Simplicity, complexity and the contemporary history of global noncommunicable disease prioritisation. SSM-Qualitative Research in Health, 2, 100068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2022.100068
Indiani, N. M., & Suda, I. K. (2018). Interpret Ogoh-ogoh towards Hindu Contemporary Society. International research journal of management, IT and social sciences, 5(1), 65-71.
Laing, J. H., & Frost, W. (2017). Journeys of well-being: Women's travel narratives of transformation and self-discovery in Italy. Tourism Management, 62, 110-119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2017.04.004
Lisle, D. (2006). The Global Politics of Contemporary Travel Writing. Cambridge University Press.
Mayne, P. (2002). A Year in Marrakesh. Eland Publishing.
McWha, M., Frost, W., & Laing, J. (2018). Travel writers and the nature of self: Essentialism, transformation and (online) construction. Annals of Tourism Research, 70, 14-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2018.02.007
Moezzi, M., Janda, K. B., & Rotmann, S. (2017). Using stories, narratives, and storytelling in energy and climate change research. Energy Research & Social Science, 31, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2017.06.034
Montagu, M. W., & Jack, M. (2021). The Turkish Embassy Letters.
Morrison, A. (2019). My 1001 Nights: Tales and Adventures from Morocco. Simon and Schuster.
On Casablanca. (2024, August 10).
Santos, C. A. (2006). Cultural politics in contemporary travel writing. Annals of Tourism Research, 33(3), 624-644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2006.03.012
Sbiri, K. (2020). Border crossing and transculturation in Tahir Shah’s The Caliph’s House. Open Cultural Studies, 4(1), 12–22.
Shah, T. (2007). The Caliph’s House: A Year in Casablanca. Random House.
Shah, T. (2009). In Arabian Nights: A Caravan of Moroccan Dreams. National Geographic Books.
Shah, T. (2013). Casablanca Blues. eBook Partnership.
Smith, K. M. (2005). When simplicity outsmarts complexity. Futures, 37(4), 333-336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2004.07.007
Tayler, J. (2003). Glory in a camel’s eye: Trekking Through the Moroccan Sahara.
Weiss, W. M. (2016). Morocco: In the Labyrinth of Dreams and Bazaars. Haus Publishing.
Zellmer, A. J., Allen, T. F., & Kesseboehmer, K. (2006). The nature of ecological complexity: A protocol for building the narrative. Ecological complexity, 3(3), 171-182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecocom.2006.06.002
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2023 International journal of linguistics, literature and culture
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Articles published in the International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Culture (IJLLC) are available under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Authors retain copyright in their work and grant IJLLC right of first publication under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Users have the right to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles in this journal, and to use them for any other lawful purpose.
Articles published in IJLLC can be copied, communicated and shared in their published form for non-commercial purposes provided full attribution is given to the author and the journal. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
This copyright notice applies to articles published in IJLLC volumes 6 onwards. Please read about the copyright notices for previous volumes under Journal History.
