The new city of Tetouan (1860-1956): Summary of its urban and architectural history (Tribune)

Thursday 09th January 2025 12:53 PM

By: Rachid Barhoune, Author and translator: a pact of trust

The relationship between the author and the translator says a lot about the conception, of one or the other, of thewritingof bookof the very meaning of the work to be translated. There are in fact two categories ofwriters. Those who exercise total control over the translation, want to have the last word, the exclusive right of review over “their text”, and therefore hope to see it reproduced as is, in a version perfectly identical to the original, the very one they created, or think they created. As if that were possible! This forgets that every translation is an interpretation, and that it is therefore impossible to reproduce the same text in another language, or even in the same language, in other words. According to our discussions, Mustafa Akalay is in the category of writers who immediately establish a contract of trust with their translatorsallowing them freedom of interpretation while giving them increased responsibility.

Architect and translator: privileged smugglers

Moreover, the book presents avatars of the translator, in the person of thearchitect : architects, particularly those engaged in intercultural contexts, play the role of conduits and translators. They interpret the needs and visions of both cultures, creating works that incorporate elements of each tradition. Architecture thus becomes a language through which cultural fusion is achieved, a process of translation and continuous adaptation.

There is also the image of the stroller, an image dear to Walter Benjaminvery present in the book echoing the medinalike a maze of alleys, dead ends, winding paths. The description of the medina refers to the image of a text to be deciphered: perceptible from the outside, as an ordered structure, it shifts into a maze and chaos as soon as you enter. Visitors venturing into its alleys, lined with houses with roofs brushing over arched passages, can have the impression that the medina is transforming into an immense underground anthill. Or again, when suddenly the buildings lower, we find ourselves strolling along the walls of an orchard that springs up from nowhere, giving the illusion of being light years away from any human presence, until at the turn of a bend, we find ourselves submerged in the tumult of people, animals and goods squeezed into a busy commercial artery. Isn’t it the image of the text which presents itself as a coherent, peaceful whole, which lends itself to easy reading, then, as soon as we try to understand its meaning, detect its nuances and we rush in? in its small details, where the devil nestles, do we end up getting lost? To then find yourself, catch your breath and put your ideas in order, in the form of a text. Borrowing its lexicon from architecture, isn’t interpretation an act which consists of breaking the labyrinthine tangle in favor of straight lines and geometric shapes? Hence the image of the flâneur. The translator must navigate the efforts condensed into words to extract the meaning, wander, oscillate, choose, hesitate, opt for this or that path. Each term, each architectural description carries a historical and cultural weight that must be transmitted faithfully, while maintaining the elegance of the style and the rigor of the argument and description.

The City as a text to read

The city of Tetouan can be compared to a text to read, where each architectural element tells part of its story. This metaphor highlights the importance of deciphering the logic and coherence hidden behind the apparent disparity of urban elements. Architecture reveals how power is inscribed in urban space, addressing questions of otherness, hybridization and stereotypes. With this in mind, the medina is transformed into a palimpsest lending itself to varied readings. Arcatures, portals, weathered wooden windows, facades marked by the wear of time and the elements, stucco ornaments, every detail of its urban planning reads as a projection of life, also as testimony to variable historical and cultural flows.

Translation Difficulties

Translating a work that examines the urban and architectural transformation of Tetouan poses a large number of challenges. Technical jargon, first of all. To convey the scientific rigor of architectural analysis, precise terminology and measured description are required. There is, on the other hand, the poetic language, inspired, among other things, by strolling through the streets of the medina, which is just as essential. And it’s not easy to capture the richness of the description. These two registers, the technical and the poetic, reflect the complexity of architecture as an art and a science, where precision is always essential.

Urban transformation and colonization

The vision underlying this book is not Manichean. It does not demonize the work of the colonizer nor idealize the colonized. It highlights the contribution of the colonizer and the limits of his work in terms of architecture. There is also nothing naive about her. She is aware that the colonizer sought to appropriate the space. By the route, the development plan, also by the toponymy: the appropriation of space by the Spaniards also goes through toponymy, with the granting of new new names to emblematic places. For example, Rersa el Kbiraonce a charming orchard belonging to the Andalusian family Oulad Soleimanis transformed into “Seville Square», a large rectangular space bordered by buildings with flat roofs, often used as stores or arbors. Likewise, Souk el Hout, a commercial axis animated by grocers, potters et ferblantiersbecomes “Pamplona Square“. The old Hipused as abattoiris reconverted into a promenade under the name of “Theater Square».

Toponymy thus turns into a means of taming and breaking through the unknown: devoid of its usual points of reference, the colonizer encounters significant difficulties in orienting itself in this “indecipherable” maze that is the Medina. This led to one of the first measures for circulation in Tetouan: the introduction of a new nomenclature to identify, adapt, socialize and master the labyrinthine space of the Islamic city. We remember this image of Morocco : Morocco is comparable to an untamed horse which requires an exceptional rider. The greatest triumph forSpain would consist of preparing these refractory peoples, although brothers of ours, for the saving inoculation of humanity and culture…”