"Moroccans deploy Malhun for various social projects, including forces of unification, differentiation, and reconciliation. Together, both written instances of malhun and live performances of malhun attest to the relevance of this poetry in places of public discourse..." - Melanie Magidow, Multicultural Solidarity: Performances of Malḥūn Poetry in Morocco Malhun is a genre of sung poetry that has existed in Morocco for more than five centuries. The poetry is sung in colloquial Moroccan Arabic (Darija), and is associated with the working-class artisans in Morocco. The origins of the word Malhun point to the duality of the genre: some say it derives from the word laḥn, meaning "tune", and others point to the word laḥana, meaning "grammatical errors." Malhun continues to appeal to different classes in Morocco, from the royal family to the working class.
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