Gendered Space in Contemporary Moroccan Women’s writing: Fatiha Morchid’s Novel Makhalib al-Mot’aa as a Case Study

Abstract

This article attempts to investigate the way in which 21^st century Moroccan women’s writings mirror social and spatial transformations in Morocco in the age of globalization. Drawing on insights from the work of the Moroccan sociologist Fatima Mernissi as well as those of Feminist human geographers, such as Doreen Massey and Elizabeth Wilson, the article shows that the novels of the Moroccan writer Fatiha Morchid, namely Makhalib al-Mota’a (Shackles of Lust), produce representations of space and gender that disrupt the gendered spatial divisions implied in the Moroccan patriarchal social order. Relying on a textual analysis of the novel (Makhalib al-Mot’aa) which is informed by the theories of feminist Human geographers on Gendered space, the article demonstrates that Spatial and gender representations in this novel destabilize and challenge the hierarchical gender relations within Moroccan society and also mirror transformation with regard to women’s conception of gender and sexuality in contemporary times.