"The rules" in Morocco? Pragmatic approaches to flirtation and lying

Abstract

This article explores the social contexts and strategies of flirtation, seduction, and relationship-building in Southern Morocco. It examines the epistemological constraints of different movements within the drama of seduction, and focuses on the ways in which people actively seek to unsettle or opacify such interactions so as to further their social ends. Uncertainty, it suggests, is not merely a social obstacle, but also a social tool. It further uses this investigation of seduction as an opportunity to explore some of the methodological shortcomings of the wider pragmatic project and adumbrate a potential remedy.