The International City of Tangier between history and memory: The case of the Italian community
Federica Ferrero and Antonio M. Morone
Department of Political and Social Sciences
University of Pavia
ORCID (Morone): 0000-0003-2072-9301
Published: 21/12/2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31338/ahi.2024.3.5
ABSTRACT: Tangier, the door of Africa and the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic world, was the diplomatic capital of the Moroccan sultanate in the 19th century, and its cultural and commercial heart connected with Europe. The Italians who migrated from Italy or other North African colonies to settle down in Tangier constituted a small community that contributed to creating the cosmopolitan nature that defined Tangier until the Moroccan independence in 1956. The end of the international regime and the colonial occupation caused the loss of the privileges the Italians and, in general, the Europeans had enjoyed. Furthermore, they were compelled to relocate themselves to the new society, the Moroccan one for those who decided to remain, or the Italian, Spanish or French one for those who chose to leave. In other words, they had to rethink their cosmopolitan identity in national terms alone. During the process of re-negotiation of their belonging, consciously or unconsciously, they found themselves partially Moroccan, proving that cosmopolitanism was also related to Africa and the Africans.
KEYWORDS: Morocco, international city of Tangier, cosmopolitism, colonialism, national communities.
