Bringing into focus narrative text and subtext in Moroccan film: Marock's Hors-Champ

Abstract

As a reading of a (forbidden) Moroccan love story, this article examines the ways in which the narrative structure of Laila Marrakchi's Marock (2005) creates meaning by presenting the image not only as a ‘story’ (or content), but also as ‘narration’ (or an act of enunciation) that delivers ‘new images’ (in the Deuleuzian sense) of Moroccan society. In addition to the emblematic title, which expresses the notion of identity formation through processes of interaction with Western cultural otherness (the word ‘Maroc’ fused with the word ‘rock’), several structural elements in the narrative text are activated to develop a religious and gender subtext that highlights dialogue with otherness within. It is argued that these elements have the effect of generating deeper insights about the complexity of Moroccan identity, translating Marrakchi's auteurist move to leave individual imprints, and offers a gendered take on a reality that reflects a changing social landscape.