Charles de Foucauld's Reconnaissance au Maroc, 1883-1884: A Critical Edition in English

Description

Reconnaissance au Maroc is Charles de Foucauld's adventurous account of his Moroccan explorations. For eleven months in 1883-84, Foucauld travelled through a country then off-limits to Europeans, documenting its landscape and charting its waterways. He travelled in disguise as a Russian rabbi, Joseph Aleman, accompanied by the real rabbi Mardochee Aby Serour, and sought hospitality in the mellahs, Jewish quarters, of villages along their route. Foucauld meticulously recorded every day of his time in Morocco, and by the time his memoir was published in 1888 it had already garnered praise in France and the prestigious gold medal from the Societe de Geographie de Paris. The book is more than merely a travel memoir, however: as an artefact of cultural and religious encounter, and as a scientific compendium, Reconnaissance au Maroc offers an extraordinary glimpse of the late-nineteenth century French mentality toward North Africa, as well as a cross-section of Moroccan society in the pre-colonial era. Rosemary Peters-Hill's volume translates Foucauld's work into English for the first time, situating Reconnaissance within the contexts of both late-nineteenth century French writing about ailleurs, other places, and Foucauld's own journey through Morocco: the "other" place where, paradoxically, he found his true self and calling.

Rosemary Peters-Hill holds the Albert and Angelle Arnaud Professorship in French Heritage at Louisiana State University. Her research and publications mainly treat French literature of the nineteenth century, through the lens of cultural studies.

The first English translation of Charles de Foucauld's masterpiece, with a thoughtful and very innovative introduction in which the translator, after situating Reconnaissance au Maroc in the history of exploration literature, shows that, by going to meet Morocco, Foucauld went to meet himself. - Dominique Casajus, Directeur de Recherche Emeritus at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Paris English readers are finally in for a special treat. The long-awaited translation of one of the most important travel accounts ever to be written about Morocco and its southern hinterlands is onshore after a long period of waiting. This is a book about history, exploration, Jews, tribal Morocco and more. Despite its French colonial biases, its rich ethnographic and historical details did not only provide the background for military occupation of Morocco, but they remain to be the subject of historical conversations among many members of academic circles as well.- Aomar Boum, Associate Professor, University of California, Los Angeles Charles de Foucault, after resigning from the army and meeting Oscar Mac Carthy (geographer), focuses on Morocco. In 1888, he published his geographic and ethnographic journey, Reconnaissance au Maroc (1883-1884), through which he reveals an unknown country to Europe. Nowadays, Rosemary A. Peters-Hill gives us a beautiful critical study of this work. - Yannick Essertel, Professor of History, and Associate Researcher at Centre de recherche et de documentation sur l'Oceanie (CREDO) Professor Peters-Hill makes a significant contribution to the historiography of Europeans in Morocco. The work of a scholar of literary and cultural studies attentive to matters of religion provides a welcome counterpoint to the devotional literature on Foucauld.- Seth Graebner, Associate Professor of French and of International and Area Studies, Washington University in St. Louis