Humor and Moroccan Culture
Format: Book excerpt (PDF) · Published: 2007, self-published · License: Creative Commons
An excerpt from the opening of Humor and Moroccan Culture, my 2007 book on the cultural knowledge Moroccans draw on to understand their own jokes. The Preface begins with a joke I laughed along with but did not understand, and the resolve to learn the culture behind it. It is here to show narrative, non-technical prose — a contrast with the documentation elsewhere on this page. The full book is available free under a Creative Commons license, and appears on my Books page.
Read the full book (free, Creative Commons) on the Internet Archive
Excerpt from the Preface:
This book will explore and discuss the hidden aspects of Moroccan culture, things that people who grow up in Morocco seem to know inherently. I started on this journey because of a joke. I was living in Casablanca at the time and had been studying Arabic. My friend Mohamed told me a story and started laughing. He reached his hand out to shake mine in a gesture that has now become quite familiar—I like to call it the “we both enjoyed that joke” handshake of congratulation and friendship. As with most handshakes, it is followed by putting your hand on your heart. Unlike other handshakes, it is usually followed by all the parties discussing the joke you just heard and why it was funny. This is to make certain everyone understood it and can be included in the fun. I found the experience enjoyable, even though I had no clue what the joke was about. I was missing something and I didn’t know what it was.
I decided to do two things. First, I asked Mohamed to explain the joke to me, line by line. After I learned all the vocabulary and figured out what all the sentences meant, I still didn’t think the joke was funny. Mohamed explained it to me, but I didn’t understand his explanation. I continued by asking him to explain how things would have normally occurred in that situation and suddenly something clicked. Here was an aspect of Moroccan culture that I had been missing completely. Immediately the joke made sense and I appreciated the humor of it.
Excerpt from the chapter, “Being from Fez”:
. هاذا واحد الراجل كان كيمشي في المدينة مع ولده,قال ليك
في هذه الواقت سأل الولد.تلقاو مع صديق الب و تكلمو شوية
بعد شي شوية مشا. قال لي هو من مراكش.منين هو الراجل
”علش؟ هاد شي,“ جاوب. ”ماتسول منين هو, و قال ليه.فحاله
”علحاقاش إلى ماشي من فاس يهشمو و إلى من,عدي؟“ قال ليه
“.فاس غادي يقول ليك كلشي
There was a man walking through town with his son. They met one of the father’s friends and stopped to talk a bit. The boy asked the man where he was from and he replied that he was from Marrakech. After a short while they all went their separate ways. The man said to his son, “Don’t ask people where they are from.” The boy replied, “Why? That’s a normal question.” The father answered, “If they aren’t from Fez they will be ashamed and if they are from Fez they’ll tell you all about it.”
Excerpt from Humor and Moroccan Culture (2007). Back to all writing samples.