Re-Masculinizing Immigrants in Israel
The Moroccan Troubadour Sliman El-Maghribi’s Social Ballads
Abstract
Below I analyse three ‘social ballads’ by Sliman El-Maghribi, a key figure in the ‘Moroccan troubadours’ scene’ that emerged in 1950s Israel as Moroccan male immigrants encountered Israel’s then-hegemonic sabra masculinity milieu. The ballades reflect tactics that these immigrants, facing masculine marginality, adopted as they used the Scene as a platform for negotiation and reshaping of their masculine identity against their marginalization. By performing masculine compromise and adaptations, they developed a hybrid masculine model that coupled identification with Israel with criticism and rejection of its male hegemonic practices.
Submitted: April 1, 2025 | Accepted: Oct. 19, 2025 | Published Dec. 15, 2025 | Language: en
Keywords Ballads • 1950s Israel • Moroccan immigrants • Re-masculinization • Sabra • Male marginalization • Troubadours’ scene
Copyright © 2025 Haim Bitton. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/979-12-5742-004-8/005