Essay Example on My research aims to study a travel narrative about Morocco in the 19th century

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My research aims to study a travel narrative about Morocco in the 19th century The book I have chosen to work on is Travels in the Atlas and southern Morocco a narrative of exploration by Thomson Joseph 1858 1895 My research is going to be concentrated on chapters about the city of Angie in particular which was considered the gate of Morocco a place of diversity and coexistence between people from different religions and ethnicities and where trade markets first flourished I shall study how certain aspects have been described to the reader from the author s perspective including landscapes and architecture in different corners of the city from the first time he has stepped into the city to when he was wandering through the roads and narrating the landscape culture architecture and lifestyle of Moroccans division of ethnic groups and how each group was represented either positively or negatively and the context behind every representation women representation and the author s curiosity and areas of focus on women's bodies of different groups compared with men representation and their attitudes


These aspects were talked about and presented by the author in interesting ways yet with a typical mode of writing that is of the typical Western travel writer of the 19th century Each aspect was described in an unrestrained yet careful manner mostly dedicated for a specific type of reader to seek their attention and interest on the other I shall study the gaze and discourse of theWesternwriter to recognize how the West viewed Morocco and its culture during his journey which coincided with an important time in the history of the country which was the epitome of diversity and coexistence where compromises began to be made with the West as well as tribal wars and chaos within the country and the development of international affairs To get a proper analysis and understanding of the text the historical background of both the West and Morocco will be included in my study as a guide to position oneself in the place of both the writer and the subject in order tounveil the hidden messages the writer's ideologies and type of discourse depending on what was the West's view on Morocco Thus my research aims to set light on the stereotypical and demeaning perception on the Orient that was common in the pre colonial period and claimed to be accurate in the Western world


The book I am working on in my research was written like a personal narration of exploration as claimed by the writer when he visited various regions to experience and discover the lifestyle and condition of people the roads and most importantly landscapes He was supported and well equipped with a guide and a friend to accompany him in his journey 

The book has a few illustrations to support the writer s narration and to bring the reader a closer look of the author s discoveries and claim authenticity to his representation They are mostly photographs taken from a distance showing specific scenarios and places like souk or a landscape as a stage in a way to support his representation Historical context The book was written in 1889 a time when Morocco was independent but also at a period when colonialism was spread on parts of the world especially in Africa Joseph Thomsontraveled privately to Morocco after contributing in various geographical documentation about parts of theAfrican continent which was an important task supported by the British government that began to take interest in Africa along with other powerful Western nations Indeed in the Western world the science of adventure was common since the 17thcenturyand encouraged by the state to explore the Orient at large as a phantasmagoric land of eroticism and romance but that shifted to a more geographically precise Middle East However a gap was constructed between the West and the East in the age of imperialism and further developed onward In the book I shall study the author traveled around




Morocco a country with a special geographical and cultural identity he visited specific regions that were known to his audience as well as remote places to raise the reader's expectations and pique their interest He documented his journey as if he was searching for confirmation of previous texts about the promises of the Oriental world and its mysteries However the 19th century was an interesting period in Morocco it was a period of trade development with Europe and the beginning of the 

European influences that lead to the economic and political penetration of Morocco these changes affected the social and economic structures Another change was the crisis of the internally generated modernization effort which resulted in the dismantling of the old administrative structures and the launching of a program of reforms which failed and lead to internal opposition While in the West it was a case of important scientific discoveries technological power and industrial revolutions which shifted the meaning of travel from science to commerce


People were encouraged to travel thanks to the newly developed ways of transportation that started changing the purpose of travels and from then tourism emerged and became the leading power of commerce Theoretical framework I am going to use theories and tools to decipher and analyze the book to study aspects of rhetorical discourse and the context in which it has been used in addition the practice of idealization and recognizing the language of power and Orientalist stereotypes My study about the Tangier chapters will be sectioned into the following categories in the same order the writer has examined and represented


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