Morocco through the Non-Homogenous German Eye/Ear: A Study of Elias Canetti's The Voices of Marrakesh (1978)

Imagining Morocco is endemic to foreign writings. The latter have been subject to critical analysis across disciplines. However, in reviewing different studies undertaken about Morocco in the writings of foreigners, it becomes conspicuous that much scholarly interest has been invested in French and British writings about Morocco. Hence, literary productions by other foreign writers have often received scant attention. German literary discourse about Morocco is a good case in point. The current article studies The Voices of Marrakesh (1978) in which Elias Canetti, a German writer, recounts his experiences and exotic encounters during a three-week trip to Marrakesh, Morocco. Interestingly, Canetti's text is not entirely enmeshed and imprisoned in, at least prima facie, long-standing, and homogenous Orientalist conceptions of far-flung spaces. Rather, images of exoticism and desire for Morocco are also persisted by inference or innuendo. Informed by theoretical approaches to questions of cultural encounters, this article explores the representations of Moroccan people and space through Canetti's eye/ear. In so doing, it brings to the limelight different ways in which images of Morocco vacillate between Western Orientalism and astounding desire for Morocco, spotlighting therefore Canetti's ambivalent attitudes vis-avis Morocco as a different cultural space.