Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Al-Shaikh Māʾ al-ʿAynayn: Maghrebi-Saharan literary geographies on the eve of colonization

Blalack, July Scott

Al-Shaikh Māʾ al-ʿAynayn: Maghrebi-Saharan literary geographies on the eve of colonization Thumbnail


Authors

July Scott Blalack



Abstract

Although the 19th-century Sufi figure al-Shaikh Maʾ al-ʿAynayn led a major resistance movement in what is now southern Morocco, northern Mauritania, and the disputed Western Sahara while also becoming one of the most widely printed authors on the Fez lithographic press, very little information on his literary and scholarly output exists in Europhone sources. This is largely due to the marginalization of texts inconsistent with Middle East-centered narratives of reform and revival inspired by the encounter with Europe. As part of a larger effort to read Maghrebi literatures on their own terms rather than imposing European or Middle Eastern timelines and concepts, this article reads Maʾ al-ʿAynayn’s 1858 riḥla (travelogue) to Mecca and shows how he conceptualized his world and traveled within it, including local, regional, and transregional elements.

Citation

Blalack, J. S. (2020). Al-Shaikh Māʾ al-ʿAynayn: Maghrebi-Saharan literary geographies on the eve of colonization. Journal of the African Literature Association, 14(3), https://doi.org/10.1080/21674736.2020.1812207

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 19, 2020
Publication Date Nov 12, 2020
Deposit Date Dec 11, 2020
Publicly Available Date Dec 11, 2020
Journal Journal of the African Literature Association
Print ISSN 2167-4736
Electronic ISSN 2167-4744
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 14
Issue 3
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/21674736.2020.1812207
Keywords Mauritania, Maghreb, Maghrib, hajj, rihla, travelogue, 19th century, Arabic literature,

Files

Al Shaikh M al Aynayn Maghrebi Saharan literary geographies on the eve of colonization.pdf (1.7 Mb)
PDF

Licence
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Copyright Statement
2020 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way






Downloadable Citations