Book Talk with Mokhtar Bouba, Lecturer in Middle Eastern Studies
Ghalqa: Image Creation in Moroccan Tourism, An Indigenous Approach
Ghalqa: Image Creation in Moroccan Tourism, An Indigenous Approach is the first volume of a trilingual trilogy (Arabic, English, Tamazight) exploring how the Sahara has been imagined and represented in Moroccan tourism. The book highlights the story of how the Sahara desert “image” was engendered, and how familiar desert images—dunes, camels, and the so-called “blue men”—were shaped by colonial encounters and the global tourism industry. At the same time, Bouba shows how nomadic Amazigh communities challenge and reinterpret these portrayals through what he calls “image negotiation” (Al-ghalqa).
This work initiates new conversations in the field of Middle Eastern Studies, bringing North Africa, the Sahara, and Indigenous perspectives into focus.
