AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies, Volume 10. Number 2. May 2026 Pp.83-96
LALITRA Research Laboratory. School of Arts and Humanities, Mohammedia, Hassan II University in Casablanca, Morocco
Department of English, Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Dhar El Mahraz, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University in Fez, Morocco
This article examines how Moroccan female diasporic cinema subverts conventional models of femininity. It aims to demonstrate how Laila Marrakchi’s diasporic experience and transnational mobility shape her conceptualization of womanhood. The significance of this study lies in its contribution to ongoing debates on gender representation in Moroccan cinema, while also foregrounding female diasporic voices within both national and transnational film studies. Methodologically, the paper adopts a textual and thematic analysis, drawing on feminist film theory and transnational cinema studies to examine Marrakchi’s film Rock the Casbah (2013). Through this lens, the study explores how the film stages unconventional models of femininity in order to challenge androcentric practices deeply rooted in Moroccan culture. In so doing, the film creates a cinematic space that allows North African women in general, and Moroccan women in particular, to articulate their identities more freely and with fewer cultural restrictions. As a product of international funding and global distribution, the film exemplifies the dynamics of transnational cinema, a framework that disrupts the primacy of the nation-state as the central unit of analysis (Stam, 2019, 136). Within this context, migration emerges as a key factor shaping both gender and cultural identity, rendering boundaries increasingly porous. Ultimately, this study contributes to scholarship on Moroccan and transnational cinema by foregrounding the intersection of diaspora, gender, and cinematic form, and by positioning female diasporic subjectivity as a critical site for rethinking cultural identity beyond national frameworks.
Touhami-Ouazzani, A., & DAHMAN, A. (2026). Gendering Transnational Moroccan Cinema: Female Identity Formation in Leila Marrakchi’s Rock the Casbah(2013). Arab World English Journal for Translation & Literary Studies 10 (2):83-96
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Ahmed Touhami-Ouazzani is an assistant professor at the School of Arts and Humanities, Mohammedia, Hassan II University in Casablanca, Morocco. He is a member of LALITRA Research Laboratory. He earned his Ph.D. in Diasporic Cinema from Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University, Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences in Fez, Morocco. His research focuses on film and literary criticism, particularly within the context of gender and Moroccan diasporic cinema. He has published numerous articles exploring women’s agency in cinema and delivered lectures on Moroccan cinema, gender studies, and feminism at both national and international conferences. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1052-0405
Abdeghni Dahman holds a Ph.D. in Language and Cultural Studies from Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Fez, Morocco. His research interests include Moroccan, African, and transnational cinemas, cultural studies, media studies, travel narratives, postcolonial literature, gender studies, and language education. He has published articles in the Quarterly Review of Film and Video, the Journal of African Cinemas, and the International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translations. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0041-2841