Shlada. It’s an Arabic word I learned early on in my time in Morocco, but not first for what the word actually means- salad, but for its metaphoric use to describe the Moroccan identity.
My husband’s family frequently asks me what I think of the Moroccan people, society and culture. It’s a risky question because if I say what I really think and my husband translates word for word, I could easily offend them. But, I’m often too honest for my own good. So, instead of coming up with a safe and diplomatic answer, I tell the truth of my observances and experiences since my arrival to Morocco in 2008.
“It’s confusing”, I start. “I see the older women wearing hijab and djallaba walking next to their teenage daughters dressed in the tightest western clothes possible and a lot of make-up. The daughter, rightfully passed the age when she also should be donning the hijab herself, is encouraged by her mother to buy more clothes and make-up. While you hear the calling for prayer in the streets, a Muslim has forgotten every single lesson in humanity from the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and is gunning for you from behind the wheel of his car as you are trying to crossing the street. I guess I expected something different in a country of Muslims.”
When I feel myself going down a ranty path, I try to add in the difference in scenery and cities. “The landscape of the entire country is so different. There are tall, snow-capped mountains and oceans of sand in the desert…tropical paradises and beautiful beaches full of lush fertilization in the rainy seasons. All the cities have their own personalities and the way people live in Casablanca and Tangier is so completely opposite to the people in small villages and even the desert nomads. The whole country seems to be about opposition right down to the very earth it’s made of.”
I continue on, “The gap between rich and poor is so apparent here. There are the biggest villas in Soussi while there are shanties not more than two blocks from our own apartment. And there is all this modern technology, but so many people don’t even have a shower installed or running hot water in their homes…people have the latest cell phones and wireless internet on their laptops, but not hot water? I’m sorry, but this kind of doesn’t make sense to me. ”
And, then I go back to the Islam thing. “Why do people litter all over the streets, ruining the earth Allah has provided while they are saying ‘smillah before making any move?”
I go on, “the Moroccan people are known all over the world for their hospitality, but among each other that graciousness and generosity is missing.” I feel myself getting ready to relate my hammam tales of the times when I’m identified as an American and the times when I’ve blended into the crowd. A much different experience I assure you.
I can say more about the many differences I see in a society full of people mainly originating from one land, but I see they are getting my point and I finally finish with “I don’t know what to say about the Moroccan people, they aren’t at all “bad”, but maybe it’s a good example of how Westernization isn’t always such a good thing. The contradictions I see all seem to be related to modernization…” I trail off then. And finally, after all the translating is done, I hear them all mutter one word, “shlada.” The Moroccan identity is like a salad–mixed up, chopped up bits of different things thrown together in a bowl. They don’t say it with any animated excitement as if it’s a good thing. They aren’t offended by my views. At least, they don’t seem at all offended by my observations nor does my husband relate that anything I’ve said has hurt they’re feelings. Nothing I’ve said is meant to hurt anyone’s feelings. I’m just relating what I’ve witnessed and experienced here.
But, often the conversation ends there never going further into the idea of Moroccan identity, whether it’s modernization or something else that has blurred Moroccan identity to an outsiders view. But, as they move on to another conversation, I’m left wondering: what is the Moroccan identity? Was it ever something different or more definable than it is now? What would they like it to be? Yet, my family just seems to accept it and move on to the next topic of interest.
Do other Moroccans feel and think the same way about Moroccan society and culture? Would they agree with my observances and my family’s notion of shlada? If it’s something different then what they want, what exactly would they like it to be?
4:44 pm
It is perhaps the societal pressure that the girls are not getting married that very much stresses the mothers. I think all muslim women know that they are required to be in hijabs, but for the purpose of display and getting the man to step forward, they thought they need to be “more forward” themselves. But for the most part some of them tend to want to enjoy life and youth first because perhaps they see that hijabs as a form of closure once they get married, because once they’re married, or passed certain age, there really find it no need to primp up, and show off their beauty. Another reason would be to appear like “moderate muslims”, just to be more compliant to norms and rules of society. These days people can look for all sorts of fatwas to convince them that it’s okay to do certain things even when it’s clearly forbidden in the Qur’an. The easiest way of practicing the religion is often the most desirable and less emotionally taxing. However, always look on the bright side, there are always a pious few who will still uphold the deen to its highest standards. Not seeing them, doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
7:57 am
An American or generally a western identity is usually and mostly Media-Oriented,in other words,people thoughts ,behaviour ,interests and identity is oriented and manipulated by the Media which is the center of influence,consequently the result is a defined and limited identity.
A Moroccan identity is mostly family-oriented identity.Every family orients their persons according to its believes and what they think right for them.The media plays only a small role in shaping the Moroccan Identity.
consequently,each person is identified to his family and since there are so many many families ,diversities and contradictions are the result.
Yes,i agree it is a salad but a Moroccan salad,not any salad.
8:05 am
I totally agree with you…Shlada !
2:15 pm
First of all, congratulations for the BOB Awards 2010! You really deserve it!
Great post with honest observations.
Yes, It s still a salade when it comes to identity issues in our country. And I think it is even confusing for Moroccans like us.
Thanks for sharing it.
To Ben Aissa I would ask:
which Western identity do you mean? Is it the Italian one, the Scottish, the Scandinavian or even the American one? Is it all the same?
It is so confusing !
Thanks all!
5:01 pm
That’s why you can’t stereotype moroccan people .
As a moroccan sometimes it seems to me that moroccan doesn’t have a certain personnality
but they still humains
5:41 am
yes,it is all the same,and i mean that their identity is media oriented,whether it is italian or scandinavian ,etc…but of course each country has its own identity.
6:45 am
When i said that a Moroccan Identity is family-oriented,i meant that the government orientation is absent or confused because it has no strategy and no defined politic concernig the Moroccan Identity.Consequently,The Moroccan Identity is oriented by family believes ,behaviours and thoughts .
THANKS FOR EVERYBODY
9:16 pm
It could be a shlada where you can see all the veggies chopped and tossed in a bowl. But it’s not unique to the moroccan society. If the Moroccan identity is indeed a shlada, the American identity is a Hrira! People live on the hills of California in a multi-million houses and millions live in the streets with the food stamps. Blacks, Hispanics, white (midwest) whites (new England) all different in different culture and language!even in the religious approach, priests in America are appointed to teach religious values, and how many are turned pedophiles!….When it comes to Morocco we try to paint the picture in black
7:35 am
Dear Fettah,
The article of “Living in Morocco” is about identity not about economical gap between classes.
The American society is indeed unjust but the constitution of the country guarantees freedom of speech and equality. This is not the case in Morocco.
I’ m not an Arab, but a Moroccan Amazigh. I may be accused of separatism or even imprisoned if I talk about it in public.
This is not to paint the picture of our country black but to say the truth as I experienced it.
Thanks all.
8:34 am
Mr. Redact. if you look carefully to my article, you will find that it was an answer to the “shlada” that was published before my article. Indeed, what you refered to as an economical gap was refered to by others as contradiction in the identity. What you mentioned in your response, is freedom of speech. If you cannot express yourself in Morocco it does not mean you don’t have an identity! yes you do and the fact that you defined yourself as Amazigh means that you have recognized your identity. In Morocco, if you define your IDENTITY as Amazigh nobody feels offended but if you define Amazigh as NATIONALITY, then it’s a political separation and then it will be an issue for the government. Please don’t confuse identity and nationality.
9:38 am
Dear Fattah,
Exactly, except the fact that the Moroccan Constitution do not recognize the Amazigh identity. Morocco defines itself as an Arab and a Moslim country.
I am Moroccan and proud of it. My trouble is not with common people but with the politics. I have no problem with my nationality but with the definition of the country’ s identity.
Thanks.
11:01 am
redact,
I think it is the opposite. We don’t have a problem with our identity but we do have one with our nationality. That’s why we immigrated to different countries and we hold their passport.I am half Arab (father) and half amazigh (mother). The constitution define you as national and I am pretty sure that you live with your identity without problems (you got your amazigh music, your amazigh cuisine you talk to your family in amazigh fashion… ideas believes…the issue her is us as Moroccan we have to show our identity. I would like to see if I buy a bottle of Sidi Ali, to see everything written on the package in Arabic and Amazigh and not in French, I like to see all our festival posting our culture in Arabic and Amazigh not Rap music same for our TV our government our schools, newspaer computer programs….. All these are up to us to prove our identity and not up to the government because we already know that as bankrumpt as is our government, it could never strip us from our identity.
12:44 pm
@Aziz: “The constitution define you as national”
The constitution doesn’t define him “as national” (I’m not even going to adress the gibberish platitude in this statement). The constitution defines the country as Arab and Muslim. That is part of what Redact is denouncing, and rightly so. Indeed, a country that defines itself as “Arab” and “Muslim” inevitably discriminates against minorities. The irony is that Arabs are a minority in the country, but decades of propaganda ensure that very few people so much as realize it. Despite the so-called new era, Amazighs are still treated like dirt by the Makhzen in their own country. They can’t even name their kids with non-Arab names! As for religious minorities, it’s even worse. They can’t even preach. Islam supreme reign is ensured by state-violence. Legally, a Moroccan is treated as a Muslim by default (unless you’re one of the few thousand Jews). And it’s not like you can convert either. Or drink a soda pop in Ramadan. Etc.
Your attempt to compare the USA to Morocco is just pathetic. The USA is a republican liberal democracy. Morocco is a theocratic monarchy.
You’re a perfect illustration of the status-quo-defending moral relativists in perpetual knee-jerk post-colonial reactionary mode. You reason (if that!) in a very primitive fashion, and lack a solid frame of reference (hint: the Quran does NOT a solid frame of reference – not by a long shot!).
4:03 pm
Please let s us talk in serenity and respect.
Here what I m thinking:
The Moroccan Identity is pluralistic but not recognized us such from the beginning. All the politics of successive governments since 1956 were focused on the arabization of the country and its people even if they are not Arabs. It was a mistake to change the country s language and force those who are not Arab to abandon their tongue.
The consequences of these politics are that people can’t express themselves freely because they may be accused of separatism, regionalism and some times of being a agent of colonialism acting to destroy the national unity. That s why some of us get upset. Even foreign people who visit our country can’t understand us.
I think we Moroccan people, Arab or Amazigh speaking, do have no part of responsibility of this at all. But we are all witnessing a cultural and linguistic catastrophe prepared and executed by a few in power.
We can stop them destroying us by not following their politics.
Thanks all.
12:27 am
@Redact:
> “Please let s us talk in serenity and respect.”
A position that justifies oppression of minorities deserves no respect whatsoever.
> “I think we Moroccan people, Arab or Amazigh speaking, do have no part of responsibility of this at all.”
Bullshit! We have every part of responsibility in this. We are all guilty of cowardice. We have allowed ourselves to be silenced by thugs.
Freedom and democracy are not handed out on a platter. They are fought for. The previous generation failed to do anything, and we are failing future generations by being complacent in the face of a theocratic monarchy that perpetuates Arab supremacism.
7:07 am
Hakada
I think you are mixing apples and bananas. We are not talking here about the government and its non sense policy, we all know that and agree. We are talking about identity. If you get it! I don’t care what the constitution defines me (or defines the country as majority) but I know my identity and I hope that you don’t confuse the large meaning of identity by “la carte national”. One of the reasons why we don’t progress is people like you that think this narrow. I do agree with redact thoug!
7:53 am
“I don’t care what the constitution defines me (or defines the country as majority)”
You don’t care about the supreme law of the land? That’s a new low. I mean…I knew Morocco was depoliticized at gunpoint under H2, but I had no idea about the extent of the damage done.
Rant some more about social inequality and pedophile priests in the US. The fact remains that the latter is a relatively free country that’s highly auto-critical. And Moroccans are a bunch of serfs.
11:24 am
Hakada
Once again we cannot go further with a freedom or demovracy if we as the people define clearly our identity, who we are. A country like Us who you are refering to has freedom and democracy yes but no identity. You can say I am Us citizen but not Us identity because there you will find Latino identity, black identity Asian….M6 tryed to open some doors of freedom to a society without identity and the consequences are disaster l’boulvard is an exemple
11:58 am
Hakada
The mentality of blaming the other has expired! and calling the Moroccans in general as serfs is a judgement from a coward hiding behind his computer and offending the others for free! Freedom is a right that we have to fight for but the lack of freedom has never made us change who we are. I bet you live in a free country today and nobody can control your expression but still you could not define yourself. This confirms what I said earlier knowing who we are and recognizing our identity is the first step the democraty and the supreme laws will come in the second step just because it is made by the people themeselves.
9:53 am
“Once again we cannot go further with a freedom or demovracy if we as the people define clearly our identity, who we are.”
And who the hell are we? Being born inside a set of imaginary borders by chance does not make you special. It’s silly national collectivist thinking. There’s no shared set of features that makes one Moroccan. There’s a state attempt to create a uniform society and engineer an identity through state violence and deceit.
Our identity is the sum total of the identity of each and every individual. And that includes atheists, queers, republicans, commies, intellectuals, as well as traditionalists, Islamists, monarchists and dumbasses. Embracing this variety is the only way forward. And that inevitably goes through democracy, civil liberties and such.
I’m not in the business of censoring myself so as not to offend by stating the truth. If you get offended by a simple observation, it’s on you! All I know, is that Moroccans are a bunch of serfs who allow a family to reign supreme. I know because I am one of those serfs too scared to do shit about it.
10:31 pm
Hakada
“Our identity is the sum total of the identity of each and every individual” Hell no! The Moroccan identity is the intersection between all of what you mentioned and not the sum. The identity is what we have in common and what is special in us. It’s true the regime does not give us the democracy to preserve our identity neither our supreme laws are made by us and for us, but we are Moroccans and we do have our identity. If we don’t agree that we have indeed one identity that will in fact make us one mass, there is no need to look for a change, for freedom or democracy. The Moroccan identity is seen in its people, history, culture, believes, customs, vues and not in its regime or how succesfull is its political system! Just to go back to your comment, Calling Moroccans as all serfs is a pure disrespect to those who died trying to change the situation.
10:00 am
When they rise up from the dead and convince me that calling Moroccans serfs is posthumously disrespectful to them and the democratic cause they died for, I might consider apologizing.
Listening to the way the king addresses Moroccans and watching how he plunders the country, makes it hard to deny that some medieval shit is going on in this land.
11:15 am
The fact of the matter is you are only a loser who could not make it in this land You are talking about. You could not find yourself and had no achievement what so ever, and all you do is pitching the blame to the others, passing the backuet. I was listing to you for a few and you showed no initiative or other way to do things SOLUTIONS. There are too many ways to get ride of the regime, and its political slaves. There are too many people out there living in other free societies that can do a lot for the change. All this can be done if we agree about what we want. and who we are, back to the point of identity. People like you just missed the point. They rejected their Moroccan identity and still could not fit in other identities. The consequences are what reflects your thinking in your comments. (by the way it is not an insult)
1:38 pm
I think it is a unversal feeling, and everyone notice the gaps of his own country…Morocness does not mean to be A,B,C…and there are a lot of factors that have shaped (to the worst unfortunatelly) our Morocness
5:24 am
I must recognize that language shape and define the way we think and view our world.I am pretty sure that this discussion would have been different if it was in Arabic “AL HAWIYA”.The content of the discussion would be totally different.and our “identity” would be different.Thus,i will repeat the word “SHLADA”.
8:31 am
ben aissa,
Language as you stated is a very important factor in the equation of identity, however our identity will not change just by changing the language of discussion in this forum, there are other factors involved. History, culture customs, vues behavior etc. The good news is we are using English because its the world’s language and not French as proof that we still suffer from the past occupation.
8:38 am
Ben Aissa
One more thing, It is a good sign to discribe our variety as shlada because shlada is a combination of healthy ingredients, visible, identified where there mixture makes a healthy plate. Other societies like the USA (that Hakada worship) are described by me as fettuccini sause where you can see it white even it contains black pepper and other components that are not visible dessolved!
10:26 am
Interesting, please continue sharing your comments!
Language indeed is important to define our identity. The trouble is that we do not seem to agree about what is our common language.
The State uses Coranic Arabic as the language of communication and education.
Coranic Arabic is not our mother tongue.
Coranic arabic is written down somewhere in the medieval times and came to us from the Middel East with islam.
No one speaks it at home and very few can read and write in it.
Common people use Moroccan Darija and Tamazight in all kind of varieties.
Some call Darija an Arabic language. This is highly questionable.
Moroccan Darija is born in Morocco and is a mix of Coranic Arabic (vocabular), Tamazight dialects (syntaxis and grammar), French and Spanish (vocabular).
The only close language to Moroccan Arabic is the Algerian one. Even the Tunesian Arabic differs a little.
And nobody speaks Moroccan outside North Africa. The more you travel to the east, the less you understand.
So what can we do to solve our linguistic anarchy – or shalada as some may call it?
Should we force the State to adopte Darija as a national language for everybody?
Should Morocco remain multilingual Darija / Tamazight?
Or should we generalize Coranic Arabic for everybody and ignore the sproken languages?
Thanks all
12:00 pm
Redact
It’s a good approach you stated and in my opinion. We cannot enforce Darija as an official language unless we all work to make it useable in all the fields, it is a technical issue, as it should be in our academic education, computer softwares, culture, newspapers, translation of the scientific books, internet, on the package of our products… once we reach that level, Darija will enforce itself one way or the other. Arabic could be just an official language for the country as is English for the USA even though in the US they have Spanish language, sioux language….
1:18 pm
@Redact:
We can analyze the crap out of the issue, but it won’t matter. Coranic Arabic is an official language because of religion. Period. Nothing trumps that. How would the “commander of the faithful” look if pagan languages were to be made official? And who else has the power to push for a constitutional reform to give Darija and Amazigh legal recognition?
Let’s first strive for a democratic state (that includes separation of the divine from public matters) and we can then worry about linguistic issue.
I don’t mean to disrepect your interest in promoting Darija and Amazigh, but there are far more pressing issues.
2:53 pm
No one could deny the fact that language is a major factor in shaping the way we think.If i ask you the same question in two different languages ,i am pretty sure that the answers will be totally different.If this question is to be “how you define identity”,one in English and the other in Arabic,the answers will be different eventhough they are ansewred by the same person.
But,please do not be personal in discussing this issue,we all try to answer the same question.
12:05 am
Hi Hakada,
Could you please give some of the priorities we must first pay attention to?
I myself find the language a priority. We can’t educate people without language. The system of education is a misery because of 50 years of blind arabization.
To Khaled, yes identity can also be a little tiny individual thing. But to change a society to the better we must have much more in common.
For exemple there is a need of a common interpretation of our past in order to built a common future.
What do we share in common and who can we enforce it?
Thanks
3:40 pm
@Redact: “Could you please give some of the priorities we must first pay attention to? ”
I already did. Please read my previous comment properly.
5:22 am
Well,its obvious that if we dont speak the same language we could not identify ourselves to each other;we will not understand each other and consequently there will be no communication between us .Lets not forget that the subject of this discussion is” What is the Moroccan Identity?”.Could we really give an appropriate answer to this question.In order to be specific in our answer,we must see if we do have anything in common,if we do have the same dreams.I am afraid that we do not because we do not feel together,we do not try to complement each other,we do not make plans together.
Who raised this subject;an American women living in Morocco ,she could easly see how our surface structure is and its contradictory elements ,but the question we must raise ,as Moroccans,do we know our deep structure ?.Could we analyse this deep structure of ours and see if our identity is governed by any rules?…
7:20 pm
Wow! I had no idea my essay created such a lively, interesting and enlightening discussion (have to learn to RSS my essay comments!) Thank you all- I’ve learned a lot from each of your comments in respect to my own observation of Moroccan identity.