Scribal Networks and Diplomatic Knowledge Production Across North Africa
Episode 197 Scribal Networks and Diplomatic Knowledge Production across North Africa What did trans-Maghribi society look like on the eve of colonialism? Who travelled across these spaces and for what reasons? This interview is an early exploration into Dr. Kitlas’ second project, which proposes a more attentive engagement with the history of a dynamic and multifaceted eighteenth-century trans-maghrib society. Spanning Tunis to Tangier, this project examines the networks of traders, Sufis, consuls, translators, and court advisors that embedded themselves in Maghribi locales outside their home cities and, in doing so, took part in producing a distinct trans-maghrib socio-cultural sphere. Building on his first monograph that focuses on the layers of diplomatic practice in Morocco, this interview thinks through ways to expand these networks and the knowledge production attached to them across localities in the wider Maghrib. The project questions the historiographical focus on north-south...
