A Street in Marrakech [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Warnock Fernea (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1975

This is a reflexive account of an American woman and her family's unpredictable journey through the private and public worlds of a traditional Muslim city in the process of change. As a Western stranger in Marrakech, Fernea was met with suspicion and hostility. The story of the slow growth of trust and acceptance between the author and her Moroccan neighbors involves the reader in everyday activities, weddings, funerals, and women's rituals. Both the author and her friends are changed by the encounters that she describes. A Street in Marrakech is a crosscultural adventure, ethnographically sound, and written in an accessible style.

Titles of related interest from Waveland Press: Azoy, Buzkashi: Game and Power in Afghanistan, Third Edition (ISBN 9781577667209); Jordan, The Making of a Modern Kingdom: Globalization and Change in Saudi Arabia (ISBN 9781577667025); and Omidian, When Bamboo Bloom (ISBN 9781577667001).

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 382 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (October 1975)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385000960
• ISBN-13: 978-0385000963
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,366,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A woman's tale of acculturation in a Moroccan neighborhood, April 2, 2000

By 

Robert S. Newman "Bob Newman" (Marblehead, Massachusetts USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Street in Marrakech (Paperback)

I read this book many years ago, back in 1982, to be exact. It has stayed with me all these years because of its warm humanity, its fine description and painstaking details about the slow building of friendship and understanding between an American woman and her female Moroccan neighbors in the Rue Trésor, a small street in Marrakesh. I used it in conjunction with other works on Morocco to teach anthropology courses--such works as Geertz' "Islam Observed", Rabinow's "Doing Fieldwork in Morocco", Charhadi's "A Life Full of Holes", Maher's "Women and Property in Morocco", and Dwyer's "Images and Self-Images: Male and Female in Morocco". All of these books portray some aspect of Moroccan society, some more anthropologically rigorous than others. While Fernea's book can be read purely for pleasure, it gives an excellent picture of what struck an American as different about Moroccan society, what cultural differences were most evident for her. If a reader can get hold of the BBC series "Disappearing World" program called "Women of Marrakesh", that makes an excellent companion to the book. A STREET IN MARRAKECH is a down to earth, interesting volume that will hold your interest and provide an excellent insight into another culture. I strongly recommend it.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Family's Year-Long Experience Living in Marrakesh, September 1, 2001

By 

Imperial Topaz (Marrakesh, Morocco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Street in Marrakech (Paperback)

I am an American woman who has been living in Marrakesh for the past 9 years. I just read this book. Even though it was written in the early 1970's, I found it to be a very accurate portrayal of life in the old medina, even now. The author and her husband are anthropologists, and both spoke fluent Arabic upon their arrival, from having lived previously in Iraq and Egypt. Therefore, the author was able to converse with people daily, and understand completely, what they were saying. This is something I have never been able to do. Because of this, she is able to give a VERY detailed look at an aspect of life which is nearly impossible for most outsiders to penetrate--the hidden life of Medina women, which takes place behind high, closed walls. What she describes is very similar to what I have experienced here of life with my Moroccan husband's family, and the people who live around them in the Medina. This book is NOT a study of political or historical conditions--it is the detailed, personal history of one family's year-long experience of living, and immersing itself, in the life of Marrakesh.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and realistic, August 12, 2001

By 

J. Marren "jtm497" (Glen Ridge, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Street in Marrakech (Paperback)

I read this book in preparation for a return trip to Morocco and wish I'd read it the first time. This is a story of what it's REALLY like to move to a foreign country--non-western--and try to live as the people do. For those of us who have read books like "A Year in Provence" and suspect that it all sounds too good to be true, this book is a refreshing change. It's told from a woman's perspective, and focuses on domestic life, the sharp difference between public and home behavior in Islamic societies, the pervasiveness of religion, and male-female roles. I would have liked a bit of a broader perspective--the author's descriptions of public unrest and a strike were tantalizing, and I would have liked to know a bit more about what was going on in the country at the time, but she describes pretty clearly why Europeans or Americans, well-meaning though they may be, wouldn't necessarily be met with open arms.