Edith Wharton’s Endorsement of the French Colonialism of Morocco in the travelogue “in Moroccoâ€

Abstract

This paper probes into demystifying how French colonialism of Morocco is endorsed in Edith Wharton’ travelogue, “In Moroccoâ€. This travelogue is one of the most important works by Wharton as it depicts Morocco’s major cities along with their people, history, and traditions. Equally important, the travelogue gives positive representations of French colonialism of Morocco. Thus, her travel to Morocco was in a critical time when General Lyautey was the Resident General in Morocco. Her friendship with General Lyautey made her trip easy and was able to meet different types of people such as authorities, Harem…etc. Her trip was sponsored by French authorities, which absolutely made her accounts about Morocco skewed and serve the agenda of the French protectorate , in that she devotes a chapter entitled “General Lyautey’s Work in Morocco†to dwell on the mission of the French in Morocco, that of “having twice saved Morocco from destructionâ€. She praises and advocates French conquest of Morocco by claiming that it saves Moroccan culture and history from obliteration. Put otherwise, she views French colonialism as a shield of Moroccan art and history from the destruction of its owners. Hence, Wharton’s support of French intervention in Morocco is grounded on Orientalist thinking. Adopting a content analysis approach, this paper will unveil the different aspects of celebrating French colonialism Wharton entails in her novel “In Morocco†as well as her typifications and representations of Moroccan people and their culture.