Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Special Issue on Literature No.3 October, 2015 Pp. 29- 44
Morocco as an Exotic and Oriental space in European and American Writings
Rachid Agliz
Faculty of Letters, Sultan Moulay Slimane University
Beni Mellal, Morocco
Abstract:
The engagement of western writers with Morocco is part and parcel of a wider long running encounter with exotic cultures. The exotic world and its chanting appeals stimulated the interest of a host of travel writers and anthropologists around the globe. The exoticist and orientalist appeals associated with North Africa prompted many American and European travel writers to venture to Morocco to embrace a new cultural otherness. This geographical space seems to be totally different from the old and new worlds respectively. This, in fact, is due to the opportunities it offers. After all, both American and European travel writers and novelists headed to this location to look for exoticism and for stories of oriental decadence and splendor.The paper is mainly intended to explore western writers involvement and assessment of the Moroccan cultural difference.
Keywords: cultural otherness. exoticism, orientalism, the exotic