“Gnawa” is the most common of various transliterations into English.
The word refers to a so-called “ethnic group” (albeit one whose members’ ethnicity is not in fact singular), a member thereof, the Sufi brotherhood to which many Gnawa men belong, and – most especially – to a musical genre which is distinctive, mesmeric and usually (simultaneously) both “devotional” and “funky”.
As “Flamenco” is to the global perception of Spanish music, “Gnawa” is to how the world perceives Morocco’s: “emblematic”.
For many foreigners, flamenco is the only Spanish musical form that rings a “bell”.
Most foreigners cannot name any Moroccan genre; if they can, chances are it will be Gnawa music.
In each case, the genre’s emblematic national status is highly paradoxical.
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