Notes on Remnants of a Dying Colonialism (Rabinow)
Geographic and Historical Setting
The Sais plain lies between Fez and Sefrou; fertile, with irrigation and mechanization, contrasting desert imagery. Represents the French colonial encounter: land cultivated by owners with land, land worked by people without land (Berque’s symbol).
Fez and Sefrou: fields, tile-roofed farmhouses, and workers’ quarters; many farmowners are no longer French; land largely nationalized or owned by Fez merchants.
Sefrou appears lush but hides its hinterland: sits near the Middle Atlas; an oasis town with springs feeding large gardens, orchards, and olive groves; ecological niche called the dir (literally the "breast").
The dir traces geological faults and connects well-watered towns; Sefrou serves as a regional marketing and commercial center; artisans and a historically dynamic Jewish community (since the 9th century) linked urban and rural economies.
French colonization around Sefrou intensified from the late to the ; new quarters (Ville Nouvelle) were built alongside the old medina; Moroccans remained the majority, but urban centers housed most French residents.
Sefrou’s population around this period: roughly ; the French presence in 1960 remained very small, < , including a new wave of schoolteachers.
The Oliveraie hotel (Hotel de l’Oliveraie) sits just outside the medina walls; description of space and staff grounds the ethnographic setting.
The Sefrou Scene and Cultural Dynamics
Two waves of French immigration shaped the colonial presence:
First wave (late ): farmers and military personnel; older colonists who knew Moroccans and spoke Arabic; they trained Moroccans and cultivated land with more personal ties.
Second wave (during and after WWII): functionaries; more insular, linked to France, less contact with Moroccans; by the early , >80% of French in Morocco lived in major cities and were predominantly functionaries.
Richard as a focal figure:
Arrived in ; a Parisian manque (manqué) who moved through various trades and eventually ran the Oliveraie.
He embodies the shift from the old Moroccan hands to the nouveau vieux Marocains: he did not learn Arabic, maintained ties to the French community, and lived in tension with Moroccans and newer French arrivals.
Richard’s social world contracted: loyal to a diminishing French milieu, he faced hostility from newer arrivals and isolation from Moroccans.
Social dynamics and decline:
New arrivals arrive each fall, stay at Oliveraie briefly, then move to villas; they consider Richard inferior and socially marginal, labeling him "un pauvre type." The circle closes as they assimilate into their social cluster and sever ties with him.
The older French retirees respect Richard but the broader community increasingly excludes him; middle-aged Moroccans and functionaries grow distant as French power wanes.
Field environment and critique:
The decline of colonial structures is mirrored in personal spaces: Richard’s hotel dwindles as colonial authority erodes.
Colonialism dies; neocolonialism rises, with local elites and new European-oriented functions maintaining influence.
Fieldwork Experience and Reflexivity
The narrator enters Morocco intending to study rural religion and politics but is drawn into Richard’s life and narratives.
Position and access:
The narrator is fluent in French, culturally familiar, and an outsider; this mix allows open dialogue with Richard and access to the French community.
He is not in a position to threaten implementation of local power structures and cannot offer direct economic/political aid, yielding a relatively safe field stance for ethnographic listening.
Methodological notes:
Although the scene is rich for data, the narrator did not systematically pursue Richard’s story, thinking it would distract from problem-oriented research goals.
The ease of access in the field initially seemed helpful but later highlighted the potential overvaluation of such ease in ethnography.
Personal realization:
By the mid-point, the narrator recognizes the setting as ideal for observation but questions its scientific value due to comfort and non-problem orientation.
The Czechoslovakia moment (historical mirror):
While chatting with Richard, the radio announces the invasion of Czechoslovakia, underscoring decaying empires and the fragility of colonial orders; a powerful moment of reflexive awareness for both observer and observed.
Key Concepts and Interpretive Lenses
Remnants of a Dying Colonialism: Richard as emblem of an era ending, and the broader collapse of colonial structures in Morocco.
Land and people metaphor: Berque’s frame of the land without people and people without land; spatialized in Sefrou’s landscapes and social hierarchies.
The dir (breast): ecological niche that anchors a productive and well-watered belt of towns and townspeople; a lens for understanding regional prosperity and exchange.
Old Moroccan hands vs nouveaux vieux Marocains:
Old hands: Arabic-speaking, integrated with Moroccans, with a rugged individualist stance; trained Moroccans and worked the land.
Nouveaux vieux Marocains: French urban functionaries, less Arabic, more insulated in French colonial networks; their ascent correlates with colonial decline.
Neocolonialism: Richard’s decline and the rise of new French-influenced economic and cultural arrangements in post-colonial Morocco.
Ethnography and reflexivity: the narrator’s positionality (outsider with entrée) shapes data collection, interpretation, and ethical considerations; the value of listening without forcing a problem-centered narrative.
Historical Moment and Imagery
The afternoon radio broadcast about the invasion of Czechoslovakia triggers a visceral sense of decaying empires and the self-destruction of totalitarian regimes, reinforcing the theme of a fading Empire and the uneasy transition to neocolonial order.
Quick recall cues
Berque’s motto for the colonial land: land without people surrounded by the people without land.
The dir as a map of prosperity and regional connectivity.
Richard as a microcosm of dying colonialism and the challenge of adapting to changing political economies.
Fieldwork as a mirror: ease of access can obscure analytic value; reflexivity matters.
Focused terms to remember
Remnants of a Dying Colonialism, Remnants, Dir, Ville Nouvelle, les vieux Marocains, les nouveaux vieux Marocains, neocolonialism, Czechoslovakia invasion, Le Petit Marocain, Oliveraie
According to Paul Rabinow, particularly in his work "Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco," what separates anthropology from other scholarly disciplines is its unique methodology: intensive, immersive, and transformative fieldwork. This method requires anthropologists to become the primary instrument of research, engaging in a deeply personal and experiential cultural encounter that reshapes their understanding of both themselves and the 'other.'
A "rite of passage" is a ceremony or ritual that marks a significant transition from one social or spiritual status to another. Anthropologist Arnold van Gennep categorized these rites into three stages:
Separation: The individual is removed from their former status or group.
Liminality (or transition): A period of ambiguity, disorientation, and often intense personal transformation, where the individual is 'betwixt and between' their old and new statuses.
Incorporation: The individual is formally re-admitted to society with their new status.
Rabinow claims that fieldwork serves as a rite of passage for anthropologists because it mirrors these stages. The anthropologist undergoes a separation from their familiar cultural and academic world. The fieldwork period itself is a profoundly liminal experience, characterized by disorientation, the challenging of preconceived notions, and a deep personal learning process. As described in the provided notes, the narrator's experience of being an "outsider with entrée," and moments like the "Czechoslovakia moment" which triggered a "reflexive awareness," exemplify this liminal phase where one's perspective is fundamentally reshaped. Finally, through the process of writing and presenting their ethnography, the anthropologist achieves incorporation back into their academic community, now possessing a new status as a field-seasoned ethnographer transformed by the encounter.