Moroccan Girls and Youth Literature in the Netherlands: A Way to Broaden the Boundaries? 1

This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. Introduction The Netherlands has an abundance of libraries spread throughout the country. Most of them have a special youth department. Many children and young people regularly go to the library for books. Immigrant children, especially those living in cities, are no exception to this. Youth literature is also seen as a specialisation in Dutch literature. The arrival of immigrants in the 1960s and their families in the 1970s created a small flow of immigrant youth literature in the 1980s that was written in Dutch by immigrant women especially for Moroccan young people. 2 In the 1990s, a Moroccan magazine named CHEBBA, written by Moroccan girls in Dutch, was started for Moroccan girls. This creation of their 'own' Moroccan youth literature is very noteworthy. 3 Moroccans in the Netherlands can be characterised as an ethnic minority group of immigrants. Ethnic minority groups are groups whose members see themselves as being different from the people of the majority in society and are seen by this majority as different based on cultural characteristics that are considered to be socially relevant. In this article, I intend to show how the development and content, the discourse used in their 'own' Moroccan youth literature, play a role in the process of identity formation of Moroccans as an ethnic immigrant group in the Dutch society. I will first present a discussion of the position of Moroccans as an ethnic group in the Netherlands. Thereafter, I will describe the development of Moroccan youth literature, giving special attention to the books of one Moroccan woman writer, Zohra Zarouali, and to the magazine CHEBBA. This is followed by the results of anthropological research into identity formation among Moroccan young people participating in a homework assistance …