Memory and History in Modern and Contemporary Morocco

Abstract

The importance of memory in historical knowledge increased after World War II, including in Morocco. Following the era dominated by colonial writing, historians began writing a national history to strengthen national identity and unity. During the early years of independence, national struggles against the protectorate were invoked to build political legitimacy, while during the “Years of Lead”, the state’s monolithic perspective on memory prevailed. In the 1970s, a new trend influenced by the French Annales School emerged in historical writing, focusing on social and economic history without emphasizing memory. With the transformations since the 1990s and the establishment of the “Equity and Reconciliation Commission”, the narrative of memory was reconstructed with a reconciliatory perspective. Today, Moroccan historical writing has seen the birth of a new subject in the shape of memory.