Moroccan Dreams ─ Oriental Myth, Colonial Legacy

Morocco has long been a mythic land, firmly rooted in the European imagination. For more than a century it has been appropriated by writers, artists and explorers such as Pierre Loti, Edith Wharton, Eugene Delacroix, Paul Bowles and Elias Canetti. In Moroccan Dreams, the authors explore the ways in which this legacy is being recreated for nostalgic consumption by those seeking the authentic experience of the orient. Taking the reader on a tour, both real and imaginary, to sites that form the quintessential Morrocan experience, including the capital city Rabat, the medina at Fez, Marakkech, the Kasbah, the desert, Tangier, and the gentrified colonial elegance of Essaouira, they unravel the elements that are so appealing about this imagined experience. Richly illustrated, Moroccan Dreams provides an enticing journey that will delight all those captivated by the culture and spatialities of the European colonial enterprise and all those enamoured of Morocco and its extraordinary geographies.

Claudio Minca is Head and Professor of Cultural Geography, Wageningen University, the Netherlands. He holds Visiting Professorships at Rikkyo University, Tokyo, at Royal Holloway University of London, and at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Lauren Wagner is a cultural geographer and linguistic anthropologist. She is a member of the Cultural Geography Group at the University of Wageningen