Westermarck’s Moroccan Ethnography

When Westermarck began his fieldwork in Morocco in 1898, ethnographic fieldwork methods did not really exist. By 1913, Westermarck spent a total of six years in the field, including an uninterrupted period of more than two years between 1900 and 1902. This chapter provides an overview of Westermarck’s fieldwork methods and outlines the key ideas of his main ethnographic works, Marriage Ceremonies in Morocco (1914) and Ritual and Belief in Morocco (1926). Westermarck was one of the first anthropologists in the world to conduct methodologically reflexive fieldwork in vernacular for many years. He focused in particular on folk religion and magic, marriage rituals, ‘baraka’ or holiness, Jinn spirits and other spiritual beings, the evil eye, curses, and proverbs, which he discusses in Wit and Wisdom in Morocco: A Study of Native Proverbs (1930). In addition, the chapter examines the connections between Westermarck’s Moroccan ethnography and his study of morality and evaluates the reception of his works.