Moroccan Traditional Songs Based on Stereotypes of Mothers in Law and Daughters in Law and Their Impact on Family Life

Abstract

This research paper relates to a sociolinguistic study of Moroccan traditional lyrics that reflect the sensitive nature of the mother/daughter-in-law relationship. These lyrics produced and presented vividly in Moroccan traditional songs tend to create antagonism and conflict to Moroccan families. The data consist of recordings of some popular songs entertained in rural areas by ordinary women. We will shed light on the importance of oral tradition as a means of transmission of collective imagination and production of stereotypes and social representations. These representations and stereotypes are very dominant in the Moroccan oral tradition and continuously contribute to the maintenance of inequality and gender discrimination. We will scrutinize the connotations conveyed in these folk songs to be able to describe, analyze and subsequently enumerate the different stereotypes that this corpus reveals. The information gathered in this study up to now, as well as others, reveal the existence of different stereotypes associated with the status of both, the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law. It also describes the tense and confrontational nature of the relationship between the two women, a thing that seems inevitable. The nature of the relationship that these songs cause and tend to impart, consciously or/and unconsciously, influences family relationships. The Moroccan family lives under the weight of these representations that feed tensions, disrupt family life and consequently feed moments of domination, power struggle and even moments of crisis. Indeed, the Stereotypes linked to this relationship mother-in-law/ daughter-in-law represent real cultural challenges for family life. All in all, we will highlight, on the basis of an extended corpus of popular songs the colorful relationship between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law through analyzing the relevance of these stereotypes and social representations as well as their impact on the Moroccan family.