Entangled Histories: Religious Discourse and Franco-Spanish Colonialism Through the Lens of an American Travelogue

Abstract

This paper critically engages with Vincent Sheean’s An American Among the Riffi - a 20th-century American travelogue - to interrogate the intertwined histories of religious rhetoric, socio-cultural portrayal, and Franco-Spanish colonialism in Morocco’s Rif region (1921-1926), shortly after the Annual Battle, headed by Mohamed Ben Abdkrim EL-Khattabi. Focused on Islamic studies in the West and the reevaluation of Orientalist narratives, the article utilizes a bi-faceted methodological approach: comparative historical analysis to examine Sheean’s account against colonial archives, employing the Foucauldian discourse analysis to dismantle his cultural perceptions of the Riffian community. By situating the text within the broader context of Western travel literature on Muslim societies, the study identifies a gap in the literature, particularly regarding the Rif War’s religious and anti-colonial dimensions. The analysis unravels a pivotal critical finding: Sheean’s representation of Riffi cultural and religious practices - often framed through vilification or miscomprehension - reflects established Orientalist tropes that conflate Islamic identity with resistance to European colonialism. The essay contributes to the “Studies of Islam in the West” by chronicling how American travelogues shaped perceptions of Muslim societies during colonial conflict.