بناء الهوية في سياق العبودية: مصادر الرق ودلالات أسماء الإماء بتطوان القرن التاسع عشر

Abstract

This article examines the phenomenon of slavery in 19^th Tetouan from a social history perspective, analysing both the sources of enslavement and the semiotic significance of female slaves’names in the construction of their identities. The study demonstrates that slavery was sustained through multiple channels, including tran - Sharan caravan trade, the enslavement of captives, and internal socio-economic factors such as poverty and insecurity. It further highlights the pivotal role of local port and prominent merchants in facilitating this trade within a broader economic network.

On a sociological level, the article argues that the naming of female slaves was far from arbitrary, rather, it functioned as a symbolic mechanism of identity reconstruction, severing ties with their ancestral origins and imposing names imbued with optimistic or aesthetic connotation. The study concludedes that such naming practices contributed to the reproduction of power relations by masking the symbolic violence inherent in slavery. Ultimately, while this process enabled a  from  of formal integration of female slaves into society, it simultaneously reinforced their marginalization within the city’s rigid hierarchical structure.