Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco

The owner of the Hotel de l’Oliveraie in Sefrou, where Rabinow first stays, Maurice Richard, known as Richard, was born to a professional Parisian family and came to Morocco to find a new way of life. Richard is a 15-year resident of Morocco, but he has few friends, and his business is failing. Rabinow uses Richard’s circumstances to introduce the various groups of French settlers in Morocco and to discuss how the transition out of colonial rule has affected their communities.

A Moroccan shop owner from Sefrou’s Ville Nouvelle and Rabinow’s Arabic teacher, Ibrahim is presented as someone who has successfully integrated into the French community while retaining his Arab identity. He is welcoming to Rabinow but, like many Moroccans, is hesitant to share details about many parts of his society.

Rabinow’s most consistent informant throughout the book, Ali grew up in Sidi Lahcen Lyussi but now runs a variety of businesses in the Sefrou medina. He takes Rabinow on excursions and provides him with important context for historical events and practices that most Moroccans consider taboo to discuss with an outsider. Although Ali is well connected in both Sefrou and his hometown, he is clearly an outsider due to his involvement in the sex trade and his abandonment of his wife in Sidi Lahcen Lyussi; he sends her money but rarely visits, preferring to spend time with his girlfriend, Mimouna.

Soussi is Ali’s business partner from his fabric shop and prostitution ring. Soussi, Ali, and Rabinow hang out in front of the fabric shop often when the anthropologist first arrives in Sefrou. Soussi also accompanies Ali and Rabinow to the wedding in Sidi Lahcen Lyussi and is able to convince Ali to leave when Rabinow cannot.

Mimouna is Ali’s girlfriend, a Berber woman from a very remote Middle Atlas mountain village. Mimouna, her sister, Ali, and Rabinow travel to the mountains to visit her family. The group hikes to a hot spring, where they skinny dip, dance, and generally flout the Moroccan taboos against public intimacy.

A sheepherder and shop attendant who is Rabinow’s first informant in Sidi Lahcen Lyussi, Mekki struggles to help in a meaningful way, and Rabinow believes it is because he lacks the creative ability to imagine his life from an outside perspective. Mekki eventually leaves for a herding job higher in the mountains.

Rabinow’s second village informant, Rashid is a controversial figure in Sidi Lahcen Lyussi. Rashid’s family does not belong to the saintly lineages, and Rashid’s father leads an oppositional group against the village government. Rashid happily informs Rabinow of all the local gossip and helps him gain an understanding of the complex social dynamics of the village. The saint’s descendants immediately push back against Rashid’s openness, causing Rabinow to question whether their relationship will be detrimental to other work.

The last major informant, who helps Rabinow collect and understand most of the data that he will use for his PhD ethnography, Malik is serious and organized. Together the men compile a genealogical picture of the saint’s lineages and map land use patterns. Malik identifies important contacts for Rabinow whom he interviews about all aspects of village life. Like many informants, Malik is an established and well-respected member of his community and seems nervous to share any information that could be embarrassing or cause tension.