Culture between the Moroccans & French
While in Morocco I have seen a variety of cultural differences. The most prevalent I have noticed is in the Moroccan local people they traditionally speak 2-3 languages being Arabic, French, and a third being Spanish or another. The Arabic being tied to religious values and the French being politically tied back to the colonial era. There is still a societal tension between the Moroccans and French as they had a negative past. They have a challenging societal landscape with many fault lines present. We can speculate multitudes of triggering events that could escalate situations between the two groups. When in Morocco thus far I have learned Moroccan customs of respect such as to not gaze to show respect. Moroccan culture also has a lot of respect regarding their women. This is a large reason women wear hijabs. The hijab is to conceal a woman strictly for her family and her chosen husband. To respect the man she is with. If a French man were to intensely stare into a married Moroccan woman’s eyes it could be a triggering event. Two personal examples I have seen of French negativity have been with our guide. He was very adamant about his distaste for the French as they were colonizers of the land and exploited it for resources without any consideration to people or culture. I was also in a restaurant and while there I said “merci” to a waiter and he said “no French, English is better”. I found this very interesting as he also found the language to be distasteful. French is taught in schools even though it is not an official language of the country which angers the population (Breunig, 2019). This tension and forceful education of a culture that does not belong to the Moroccan people can certainly lead to conflicts and issues to come. Personally I wish to see more of these differences and try to understand how the cultures interact more. I see similarity in America with the dominant white culture and hispanics. I have seen whites be offended by the use of spanish by Latin Americans in the States. I wish to see these differences here in Morocco and relate them back home and try to prevent issues similar in the States.
Breunig , M. L. (2019). Digital Diplomacy and its effect on international relations. Retrieved May 17, 2022, from https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3619&context=isp_collection
I have noticed that same thing this whole trip! I was curious why more people didn’t speak French more often, whoever, now after reflecting on it, the Moroccan people are probably trying to return to their past language. They still have maintained a great portion of their Arabic and Berber traditions and language, which just goes to show how rooted in their culture they were/are. They managed to keep their culture alive while being invaded multiple times. To add to the topic, it is interesting to see how the architecture is so different between the Moroccan and French styles. The new and old town of Fez look like two entirely different towns. The guide yesterday was saying that a lot of young people like the new town, whereas the older population likes the old town and Medina. I am thinking this may be because the older generation is more rooted in their history and want to continue to embrace that, whereas my generation tends to be more explorative and interested in new/different things.
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