AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies, Volume 5, Number4. October 2021 Pp.46-59
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awejtls/vol5no4.4
Gender-Based Violence in Moroccan Folktales
Fatima Zahra Touzani
Department of English
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Beni Mellal, Morocco
Email: fattouzani@gmail.com
Received: 9/12/2021 Accepted: 10/6/2021 Published: 10/24/2021
Abstract:
Men in Morocco have always employed many strategies whereby they have established their domination over women. Their patriarchal tendencies have proven incommensurable with the discourse of wisdom they purport to advocate. Accordingly, they have had to concoct elaborate stories and excuses to actualize their proclivities. Patriarchal hegemony has manifested itself in different ways and resulted in many phenomena, the most influential of which is undoubtedly violence against women that is predominant in the domestic sphere and the public sphere. This omnipresence accentuates through its portrayal in popular culture, including proverbs and folktales. Since folktales encapsulate a culture’s inherited customs, traditions, and values, this article’s primary concern is to investigate whether Moroccan folktales represent the logic dictated by Moroccan patriarchal institutions, aiming at reinforcing the oppression of women through violence. Specifically, the article seeks to address the representations of violence against women in folktales collected by Inea Bushnaq and Malika El Ouali Alami. The findings in this article prove that Moroccan folktales validate the Moroccan cultural norms that highlight the position of women as subordinate characters ready to follow the rules of patriarchal institutions. A recurrent theme throughout these tales is Gender-Based Violence. Thus, this article attempts to demonstrate the representations of GBV in Bushnaq’s and Alami’s tales.
Keywords: gender-based violence, Moroccan folktales, Arab Folktales by Inea Bushnaq, Kan Ya Ma Kan: Moroccan Folk Tales on Women by Malika Alami
Cite as: Touzani, F. Z. (2021). Gender-Based Violence in Moroccan Folktales. Arab World English Journal for Translation & Literary Studies 5 (4) 46-59.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awejtls/vol5no4.4
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