A recent podcast interview with Brahim El Guabli, an associate professor of comparative thought and literature at Johns Hopkins University, has highlighted a growing scholarly focus on the impact of sub-Saharan African migration on Moroccan literature and national identity. The discussion, hosted by James Ryan, Executive Director of the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), centered on El Guabli’s 2021 essay, “The Sub-Saharan Turn in Moroccan Literature,” originally published in Middle East Report.
El Guabli’s work examines how Moroccan literary production has responded to, and reflected, the increasing movement of people from sub-Saharan Africa into Morocco over the last three decades. The conversation, recorded on February 13, 2026, and released as part of MERIP’s “In the Archive” series, explored how these demographic shifts have reshaped political discourse and conceptions of identity within the country. The podcast details how El Guabli analyzed contemporary Moroccan novels to understand these evolving dynamics.
The discussion as well touched upon El Guabli’s development of the concept of “saharanism,” which he further explores in his forthcoming book, Desert Imaginations: A History of Saharanism and Its Radical Consequences, scheduled for publication by the University of California Press in November 2025. According to a summary of the book, “saharanism” offers a recent framework for understanding the complexities of race and prejudice within Moroccan society as it adapts to its changing population.
El Guabli’s research builds on existing scholarship concerning migration, identity, and cultural production in North Africa. His earlier work includes publications such as “Forgettable Black and Amazigh Bodies: Boujemâa Hebaz and the Moroccan Racial Politics of Amnesia” (2024) and “The Idea of Tamazgha: Current Articulations and Scholarly Potential” (2023). He also referenced the work of Abdel Rahman Munif, specifically his novel Cities of Salt, as relevant to the broader context of the region.
MERIP is currently accepting submissions for its summer issue, focusing on visual art and cultural production in the Middle East and North Africa, with a submission deadline of February 23, 2026.
