Published in Arabic, French and English, the 24-chapter book by Aomar Boum recounts the life of his late father, Faraji Ben Lahcen Ben Bourhim Ben Boum, who is believed to have been one of Morocco's last Rekkas, the couriers who carried letters on foot before the advent of the post office.
Little-known to younger generations in our digital age, this profession is demystified in this family and historic story of passing on and sharing, illustrated by Majdouline Boum-Mendoza, the author's fourteen-year-old daughter, born in the United States.
The author and his daughter cement the links between three generations and combine their own family story with the broader history of Morocco, bringing to light little-known aspects of our past.
In this interview with the Moroccan press agency (MAp), the author explains the reason why The Last Rekkas is a "biography of the family and a narrative of historical Events from the perspective of an ordinary inhabitant of south-eastern Morocco".
"Majdouline and I have used an ethnographic narrative from Faraji - my father and my daughter's grandfather - to tell a local story that has been either ignored or neglected. In this sense, Faraji and the Tata region have become the anchors of our storytelling.
Transmission is at the heart of the work of the anthropological historian, who teaches at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in addition to his contributions as Associate Professor at the International University of Rabat.
"As an "educator", he maintains his belief in "the importance conveyed by the message and methods for a successful transmission on knowledge", and as a Moroccan living in the USA, he is committed to " maintaining ties with the Bled, relatives and family", and as a father, he wishes to " preserve a tie between my daughter and her native oasis".
"The Last Rekkas" is "a creative and literary exercise in conveying not just family memory, but national history", he continues, adding that today he sees illustrated books and comic books as "a requirement in order to involve the younger generation, who is largely connected to images and visuals".
Given his father's job as a “rekkas”, his story naturally goes back to " the origins of the Moroccan postal service " since the colonial era when, until the telegraph was introduced, it was indispensable to use the services of the “rekkas”, as many regions of Morocco had no roads or railways.
Aomar Boum's richly documented book is supported by interviews with Faraji, his wife Mahira and other villagers from the Anti-Atlas, as well as by archive collections from the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial periods, and research carried out in various institutions around the world, including the Moroccan Archives, the Centre des Archives Diplomatiques de Nantes (CADN) and the UCLA Library
In his preface to the book, Council Chairman Mr Driss El Yazami also points out that “Aomar and Majdouline Boum also functions as "a fine history lesson in itself, inviting us to revisit, through the tribute to the last Rekkas, a number of grey areas in our recent past, including the issues of discrimination, skin colour and racism, slavery, etc…".
He goes on to say that the story raises "a key issue for all parents, particularly those of immigrant families, namely that of transmission".
Aomar Boum, historian and anthropologist, is the Maurice Amado Professor of Sephardic Studies in the Department of Anthropology, the Department of History and the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA. He is co-editor of several journals, including Souffles Monde, Revue d'Études Tamazgha, and the series (in French) “Maroc et son espace méditerranéen: textes et traductions”. He is also co-founder of the Amazigh Studies Initiative at UCLA, and co-director of the Moroccan Jewish Studies Initiative at the same university.
With MAP
