In embarking upon this study I started with a simple question: "How are the Gnawa being represented in Cyberspace?"

My first impulse was to use a representative sample of Websites that deal with the Gnawa in some form or another. How was I to find this sample? After looking around various search engines (AltaVista, Yahoo, Lycos, Eric, Lexus-Nexus) I opted for Google. If you type in the word "Gnawa" in Google's search engine you get 16,800 results. More than any other search engine. Also since English is the dominant "global" language I thought that a search engine geared toward English would give me the best results.

I was also keenly aware that there are two basic spellings of the "Gnawa" out there. The other is the French spelling "Gnaoua" and is still widely used, even in English (or northern European sites). I then typed in "Gnaoua" into the search engine and found 2,220 sites.

My intention was then sample the first 100 hundred sites of each spelling in the hope that some patterns would begin to emerge. This sampling was conducted during the month of February, 2002. Also in order to counterbalance the "scientific" nature of my sampling method, I decided to sample 25 more sites simply by freely surfing the Web. I would use any search engine and enter combinations of words like Gnawa and Tourism, or Gnawa and Sex. Armed with 200+ hundred sites my intention was first to categorize them all the while conducting a simple content analysis with an eye toward the various cultural "assumptions" made by the authors. I was also interested in finding out what these Websites revealed and omitted about the Gnawa in the process of representing them.

The intent here is to not only explore the representation of the Gnawa in all its complexity but also to determine the reason for that representation: Commercial? Personal? Educational? Altruistic? At the same time I believe it's important to look for Gnawa voices. Can we assume that an mp3 sample is better than a interview? And how many interviews are there of Gnawas? And if there are, are they only of Gnawas who perform either in Europe or with Western Musicians? How is success being represented? What about the other Gnawas? What about the ones who have not been "discovered" by Western music producers? Are they also living in Cyberspace?

Of the 200 Websites Sampled 11 have dead links

-107 offer a commercial Gnawa product (CD's, concerts, groups). (56%)
-87 offer non commercial information (ngo's, government, news articles, personal sites). (46%)
-119 present specific musical groups (62%)

When typing Gnawa 81 sites are about a specific musical group:
-11 are presented as traditional.(13.5%)
-35 are presented as having played with western musicians.(43%)
-35 are presented as non-Gnawas collaborating with Gnawas. (43%)

When typing Gnaoua 38 sites are about a specific musical group:
-13 are presented as traditional. (34%)
-11 are presented as having played with western musicians. (28%)
-14 are presented as non-Gnawas collaborating with Gnawas. (36%)

Gnaoua and Gnawa combined out of 119
-24 are presented as traditional.(20%)
-46 are presented as having played with western musicians. (38%)
-49 are presented as Gnawas collaborating with Gnawas. (41%)

Of the 119 specific musical groups sites:
-0% have never been outside Morocco
-119 have been outside Morocco (100%)
-3 sites have been made by actual Gnawas (2.5%)
-11 quote actual Gnawas (9%)
- 40 offer audio samples (33%)

These findings indicate that the representation of the Gnawa on the Web favors those who are turned toward the West:

-Gnawas who have traveled to the West.
-Gnawas who collaborate with western non-Gnawas
-Non-Gnawa musicians who collaborate with Gnawas.

These numbers might be change in the future since there's no indication that those 20% of sites that represent Gnawas who have not performed with other non-Gnawa openly pride themselves in not performing with other musicians. Therefore, we could assume that if given the opportunity they would perform and collaborate with non-Gnawa musicians.

Are these numbers an accurate representation of trends in Gnawa culture and the way its adapting to change? Only a study on the ground, so to speak, would illuminate this question.
My personal experience tells me that unlike these numbers, most Gnawas have not traveled outside Morocco or collaborated with Westerners. These groups on the Web therefore represent an elite.

For now we can conclude that these numbers point to a particular definition of success which is determined by Western standarts. After all, Web production is primarily in the hands of western producers such as myself. For example the the first two hits when one types "Gnawa" in Google are for the french fusion group Gnawa Diffusion and Dar Gnawa who play with Jazz legend Randy Weston. In fact the majority of the representations of the Gnawas on the web follow this path (81%).

The Web therefore is not yet a place where an accurate representation of the full spectrum of Gnawa culture is taking place. In order for this situation to change there needs to be a conscious effort on the part of Western Web producers to seek out Gnawas "outside" this western oriented system of success and support Gnawas who are trying to go beyond their historical and economical limitations in order to voice their presence on the Web.