Zouj: Dynamic Jewish-Muslim Interaction in Popular Maghribi Comedic Performance Culture since the 1920s

Project Information

DJMI

Grant agreement ID: 886481

DOI

10.3030/886481

EC signature date 9 March 2020

Start date 1 December 2020

End date 25 December 2026

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 261 975,36

EU contribution

€ 261 975,36

Coordinated by

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DJMI (Zouj: Dynamic Jewish-Muslim Interaction in Popular Maghribi Comedic Performance Culture since the 1920s)

Reporting period: 2020-12-01 to 2022-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Dynamic Jewish-Muslim Interactions in Popular Maghribi Comedic Performance Culture since the 1920s (DJMI), investigates the historical and contemporary interactions between Jewish and Muslim communities in the Maghrib region through cultural and comedic performance. It challenges the dominant historical narratives that often emphasize conflict by exploring how cultural collaboration and artistic coexistence. The study aims to reassess, deconstruct and reframe ethno-national and religious impositions that have shaped perceptions of Jewish-Muslim relations over time.

The project holds societal significance in its contribution to a more nuanced understanding of Jewish-Muslim relations, countering the often oversimplified and conflict-centric narratives. By examining historical and cultural interactions, DJMI promotes social cohesion, intercultural dialogue, and alternative frameworks for coexistence. The research is particularly relevant today, given the rising polarization and the impact of geopolitical tensions on interfaith and intercultural relations.

Objectives:

Scientific:
Investigate bottom-up Maghribi cultural entrepreneurship through artistic spaces.
Examine top-down political ideologies that have shaped Jewish-Muslim interactions in the Maghrib, particularly through key cultural producers.
Explore the role of comedy and performance cultures as tools for easing intercommunal tensions and promoting shared cultural experiences.

Training and Research Development:
Develop new expertise in archival history and Jewish-Muslim popular culture.
Study contemporary Jewish-Muslim festival interactions.
Enhance language proficiency in Arabic, Hebrew, and Judeo-Arabic to facilitate deeper engagement with source materials.

Public Engagement and Knowledge Transfer:
Create and disseminate digital media
Observe and create festivals (including participant observation) and workshops.
Engage with institutions in the creative sector.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Archival Research and Fieldwork:
Investigated Maghribi Cultural Entrepreneurship through city-based cultural production particularly in peri-urban Paris.
Conducted extensive archival research using sources like the French National Library online archive, INAthèque (French audiovisual archive), and Mucem collections.

Public Engagement and Knowledge Exchange:
Produced two digitally animated films, Zouj I & II, exploring Jewish-Muslim cultural interactions.
Organized and participated in the Festival of North African Jewish Cultures in Paris (May 2023), attracting over 1,000 attendees.
Delivered seminars and workshops at Iméra (Aix-Marseille University), the European Association of Social Anthropology, and the Museum of Immigration in France.

Training and Language Development:
Improved archival research skills working with institutions such as the Cairo Genizah Research Unit (Cambridge).
Enhanced language proficiency in Arabic, Hebrew, and Judeo-Arabic through the Dalâla Association.
Developed ethnographic fieldwork expertise, particularly in performance studies.

Academic Contributions and Dissemination:
Published research in high-impact journals, including Cahiers de la Méditerranée (2022), Jewish Quarterly Review (2023), and Material Religion (2024).
Delivered conference presentations at major international academic forums, such as the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), British and Irish Association of Jewish Studies (BIAJS), and the University of Heidelberg (Germany).

Results achieved:
New Insights into Jewish-Muslim Cultural Relations:
Challenged dominant narratives of conflict by highlighting historical and contemporary artistic collaborations. Engaged with comedy as a tool for coexistence and cultural exchange and broadened this out to performance culture at large.

Brought forth previously overlooked cultural producers that reveal the fluidity of Jewish-Muslim relations.

Contributed to European policies on social inclusion and intercultural dialogue.
Engaged in museum collaborations for future exhibitions, including the Manchester Jewish Museum.

Enhanced the researcher's profile, leading to an appointment as Shadow General Secretary of the European Association for Jewish Studies (EAJS).
Established collaborations with cultural sector institutions particularly in the UK and France.

Developed animated films, a podcast series, and online engagement through blogs and social media.
Created and delivering interactive educational workshops on Maimonides and Jewish-Muslim interactions, linking historical archives with contemporary cultural dialogue.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

DJMI advances existing research on Jewish-Muslim relations in the Maghrib and the broader Mediterranean region. It provides an interdisciplinary and transnational approach to scholarship integrating history, anthropology, media studies, and performance studies, to offer a holistic view of Jewish-Muslim cultural interaction. DJMI links the Maghrib with diaspora communities showcasing transnational cultural connections.

Historical studies to date have emphasized Jewish-Muslim tensions and focused on the lens of political and religious conflict (e.g. the Israel-Palestine binary). DJMI reframes this dynamic by highlighting cultural collaboration and artistic exchange, demonstrating that these communities have co-created cultural spaces through humour, music, and performance for centuries. DJMI provides alternative chronologies that de-emphasize European-imposed colonial periodizations and instead consider Maghribi perspectives on coexistence.

The research has uncovered new historical materials on Jewish-Muslim artistic tandems. It has mapped cultural entrepreneurship in Algiers, Northern Morocco, and peri-urban Paris, demonstrating how performance spaces evolved over time and in different national, imperial and diasporic contexts.

DJMI has innovated particularly through an engagement with multimodal storytelling, developing and producing historical and anthropological research that is accessible to a broad audience.

Expected Results and impact:

The research and book proposal for a monograph exploring Jewish-Muslim comedic tandems and performance culture, based on the project’s findings, will be completed.

Two more journal articles (2025, 2026) are planned.
Public-facing exhibition at the Manchester Jewish Museum is planned for September 2025 on Maimonides and Jewish-Muslim cultural exchange.

Further Festival Participation: engagement with Jewish-Muslim cultural festivals in Morocco (Essaouira, Marrakesh, Nov 2025).

Educational Workshops: development of school workshops in France and Morocco based on the "Maimonides from Scratch" project.

Development of podcast series ("Fragile Encounters") with podcast and film-maker Cléo Cohen, focusing on intercultural Muslim-Jewish exchange across the Mediterranean (Sept 2025).

Long-Term Cultural and Societal Effects
By documenting and preserving Jewish-Muslim performance traditions, the project ensures these cultural histories are not forgotten. It promotes alternative narratives of coexistence that challenge polarized media representations. The study of humour and stage production more broadly as a cultural bridge can be applied to contemporary efforts at social integration.

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