Deconstructing and Decolonizing the Historical Marginalization of Amazigh Women’s Identity in Moroccan Cinema: A Case Study of Razzia (2017) and Myopia (2018)

Abstract

This paper critically examines the historical and sociocultural factors that contribute to the marginalization of rural Amazigh women in Morocco. It traces the evolution of Moroccan cinema from portraying women as objects to depicting them as subjects, using a qualitative methodology grounded in deconstructive and decolonial readings of two visual narratives: Nabil Ayouch's Razzia (2017) and Sanae Akroud's Myopia (2018). Alongside critical discourse analysis, this study draws on Walter Mignolo’s theory of decoloniality and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s concept of subalternity to interpret the filmic language and decode the key signifiers deployed in both works. The findings reveal that the marginalization of rural Amazigh women persists through multiple intersecting forces. These include the enduring impacts of colonialism, which have contributed to the erosion and devaluation of the Amazigh language and identity, as well as the persistence of patriarchal orientations that continue to shape social life in remote Atlas communities. The analysis also highlights the cinematic reconstruction of religious discourse. In this context, Islam is at times framed through reductive and stereotypical representations as inherently gender-oppressive. Such portrayals, however, do not reflect the Islamic theology in its pure religious principles and divine precepts. Instead, they are mediated through a narrative and visual framework which may reproduce colonial and orientalist trajectories while engaging with lived socio-cultural realities. It is argued that both filmmakers employ distinct cinematic techniques and visual strategies to navigate these tensions. In doing so, they aim to challenge male-centered perspectives while exploring the ideological and political shortcomings embedded in both local patriarchal systems and broader postcolonial cultural formations that continue to shape North African visual culture.