Preserving Morocco's Judeo-Spanish culture in the 21st century

Jewish-Hispanic-Moroccan culture is rich in over five hundred years of history. It was forged, after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal in 1492 and 1496, by combining loyalty to a peninsular memory with the multiple contributions found or rediscovered on the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar.
The ḥaketía (language of the Spanish-speaking Jews of northern Morocco and the Oran region) reflects this; from a foundation of medieval Spanish and Hebrew, it has been enriched by Portuguese, much Arabic, Tamazight, modern Spanish and a few words of English. It's a language that's "ineffable as much as misunderstood", according to Tangier writer Ángel Vázquez (1976), but has remained predominantly oral.
The mass departure of Jews from Morocco in the mid-twentieth century and their dispersal around the world (Canada, USA, Venezuela, Israel, Spain, France, etc.) had a paradoxical effect: it greatly weakened this culture and its language, but at the same time provoked an awareness of its long-depreciated value in a colonial context.

As a result, the new diaspora began to show a surge of interest in the subject, and numerous initiatives were launched from the late 1970s onwards, such as the creation of associations, community events, the production of shows, literary texts and scientific studies, notably in Canada and Venezuela, Spain, France, Israel and Morocco. Since the beginning of the 21st century, we have witnessed an intensification of actions to safeguard its extremely threatened tangible and intangible heritage in all the countries of its diaspora and in Morocco. These are often individual projects, but also the declared will of the highest authorities in countries such as Morocco, Spain and Israel. Among the most notable recent achievements is the opening of the Beit Yehouda Museum in Tangier (2022).
In the great urgency linked to the extreme fragility of this language and its culture, we are aware that we are living through a moment of rapid transition between memorial transmission and patrimonialization.
Our symposium aims to bring together players and observers of initiatives to preserve the Hispanic Jewish culture of northern Morocco today, in order to interrogate this historical momentum and make it visible.
We will address aspects concerning tangible (places, objects) and intangible (language, literary and cinematographic representations, historical narratives) heritage, as well as the social, confessional and political aspects of this issue.

Languages: French, Spanish, English, ḥaketía