Home Institution
Haverford College
Publication Date
Fall 2022
Abstract
Despite existing literature about Gnawa music and culture, there remains many discrepancies and holes a part of current understandings about the subject. This paper examines the existing literature in comparison with two site visits to different Gnawa music houses in Tangier and Khamlia Morocco. These visits including three interviews with musicians inform an understanding of the history, tourism, spirituality, performance aspects, and changing culture among the two distinct communities. The paper will draw upon these findings to evaluate what it currently means to be Gnawa, perform Gnawa, and spectate Gnawa performance in Morocco. Additionally, Gnawa music within the black Moroccan communities it is played is evidenced as the potential for music performance to become a mechanism for recording history and self-preservation in the face of persecution.
Disciplines
Africana Studies | African Studies | Ethnomusicology | Music Practice | Race and Ethnicity | Sociology of Culture
Recommended Citation
Sheppard, Luke, "Contemporary Legacies of Morocco’s Gnawa Music Communities" (2022). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 3540.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/3540
Included in
Africana Studies Commons, African Studies Commons, Ethnomusicology Commons, Music Practice Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons
Program Name
Morocco: Migration and Transnational Identity