This book follows the process that an Australian couple goes through to restore a riad in Fez, Morocco, in an effort to preserve Moroccan culture. The different arguments in this book are; rich foreigners have a responsibility to help preserve this culture they are taking advantage of, tourism is killing culture because people prioritize making money off cultural pieces rather than preserving them (for survival), renovation must include the people in the culture to ensure proper restoration.
This was an intellectually stimulating book in that I got to understand a little more about Fassi culture but also I was challenged to debate the merits of the intersecting cultures in Fez/Morocco; that of a tourism-based economy and that of an ancient culture. Some insights I gained from this book was to look at this issue of cultural appropriation, white-savior complex, and preservation from multi-faceted, dynamic perspectives.
I already went in with a cautious mindset because I knew that the people who were looking to restore this house was a couple from Australia, both of whom had no cultural ties to Morocco. They have an interesting dynamic within the community they’ve inserted themselves into. On one hand, they are foreigners who come into Morocco with the intention of “saving” a house/piece of cultural history after falling in love with the “exoticism” of Marrakesh, and so stray closely to the white-savior complex; on the other hand, throughout the book the author seemed to be aware of the power differences her and her husband had and how that plays into their living in Fez. From a cultural preservation standpoint there are still nuances that were also interesting to think about as I read; the couple wanted to buy a house to renovate because they had the money and time to do so and wanted to preserve this culture that was being swallowed up by tourism. And this goal was inspired by their tour guide and other Moroccans they interacted with. But a part of me is wary simply because these people were making an assumption about a community they weren’t a part of. Inevitably, the image they had of Morocco is tainted by Western exoticization of brown and black cultures, and repeatedly the author makes comments about how the culture of Morocco was more alive than the culture in Australia. So it would be very easy for the couple to prescribe this idea of Moroccan culture to the people around them and the house they wanted to restore.
Something that stuck out to me was the author’s inner monologue when she returned to Marrakesh after four years to find more tourism. She is lamenting the fact that Marrakesh has sold out its culture for tourism as if it was a sinful thing to do, though it is understandable why tourism would’ve been welcomed. Not only is it money, but it’s no different than how Western countries also cater to tourism and capitalism. Moroccan society is simply taking advantage of a system that was built to disadvantage it. The author is not as scathing as I’m making her out to be though. She has repeatedly mentioned the fact that the only reason Moroccans aren’t restoring anything is because of the lack of money and priorities towards food and clothes rather than old houses. By the end of the novel, I feel she presented her reasoning well, and unconsciously uncovered the nuances that surround this age old debate.
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