bekri morris - french-language tunisian literature

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On French-Language Tunisian LiteratureAuthor(s): Tahar Bekri and Richard E. MorrisSource: Research in African Literatures, Vol. 23, No. 2, North African Literature (Summer,1992), pp. 177-182Published by: Indiana University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3820404.

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n F r e n c hanguage

Tunisianiterature

TaharBekri

Unlike the French-languageiteraturesof AlgeriaandMorocco, thatof Tunisia has been of secondaryimportancefor a long time, although itincludes workswith obvious literaryambitions. Tunisianwriting in Frenchmustbe understoodwithin the context of the 1881establishmentof the FrenchProtectorate n the country,but it must be remembered hat, even after thatdate, teaching in the schools continued to be conductedin both French andArabic. For this reason, French-languageTunisianwriting cannot be com-pletely isolated from two other forms of literary expression:written Arabic-language iteratureand a so-calledpopular iterature n the Tunisianoraldia-lect. This situationcould not help butinfluencethe education of writers, heircreative efforts, and their writing styles. In fact, it producedwhat linguistand authorSalah Garmadihas called themutilationofbeing by language.Tunisianwritershave often felt that the conflationof severaldifferent in-guisticfields(writtenArabic/dialectalArabic/French)with politico-linguisticattitudes that were imposedon literaryproductionhas createda numberofdilemmasin which choices often cannot be madewithout conflict and con-straint. Since independencein 1956, bilingualismand diglossiahave helpedbringabouta linguisticreality hat iscapableofevokingpassionatelyheldopin-ions and violent disagreements.Writing in the languageof the Other, espe-ciallywhenthe latterwasthe colonizer,becameanobsessively ecurrent ssueofliterarydebate,distractingattention fromthe works hemselvesas well asfromthe readingandcriticizingof them.Yeta careful crutinyof the current ituationreveals hatsuchjudgmentsareconstantlybeingcontradictedbythe new works hat arecontinuallybeingadded to the growing corpusof French-languageTunisianliterature. EvenArabic-languagecritics, who have traditionally gnoredthis literature,nowrecognize ts importance n the Tunisian iterary andscape.Butmuch remainsto bedone inorder o transcend he dichotomiesthathave been usedto charac-terize Tunisian authors, especially when they themselves are perfectlybilingual.

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178 I ResearchnAfricanLiteraturesFrenchmen ivinginTunisiadidwriteseveralearly iteraryworks,but thefirstworkswritten in Frenchby Tunisianswere Salah Ferhat'sPoemes 1918)

andSalahElatri'sLesChantsdel'aurore1931). References o differentciviliza-tions-Berber, Phoenician, Roman, and Arabo-Islamic-are presentin suchworks,which thereby inscribethemselves in a broaderconceptualizationofTunisia'social andculturalpast.Somewhat ater,AbdelmajidTlatli, imitatingFrenchpoetic fashions,cultivateda similarattitudein his CendresdeCarthage(1952). In 1948 the youngFaridGazi (a brilliantArabic-languagecholarandwriter)publishedamoreromanticcollection ofpoems,Night,although t couldhardlybe viewed as an accomplished iterarywork. Despite effortsby writerssuch as MahmoudMessaadi(whose Le Voyageurwas publishedin 1942) andAhmed Ben Salah, French-languageTunisian iteratureproduced ittle of realvalueduring he colonialperiod.The worksof novelistandplaywrightHachemiBaccouche are morefullyelaborated,althoughhe himself latercame to be seen as an authorwho hadattemptedto reconcile the differencesbetween colonizer and colonizedin anunrealisticallygenerous mpulse.Linkinghis work to Tunisia'spast, he unsuc-cessfullyattempted, in his novel La Dame de Carthage 1961), to salvageafriendshipwith Franceabove andbeyondthe inherentantagonismsof the colo-nial situation. In his earliernovel, Ma Foi demeure 1958), Baccouchehadalreadyrefused o be ashamedof his attachmentto France,an attachment thatdidnot, in hisopinion, conflictwithhis statusasapracticingMuslim.With itsallusionsto events in contemporaryTunisianhistoryandin lightof its obviousautobiographicallements, Ma Foidemeure an be consideredas the firstTuni-siannovel that convincingly (albeitsubjectively)raises he issuesof coloniza-tion andindependence.Yetfor thisveryreason,the book later becamesuspectin the eyes of post-independenceTunisian authors. Baccouche'snovel wasquicklyforgotten,and when it is mentionedtoday, t is usuallycriticized or itslack of politicalinsightfulness.

Perhaps his situationhelps explain the absence of foundingathers nFrench-languageTunisian iterature,or, for that matter, n Algerianliteratureof the sameperiod. Fora time, this fact weighed heavily upon the writersofTunisia, ordespiteAlbert Memmi's eputationand the uniquenessof hisvoice,he had proved incapableof layingthe foundations or a genuine literary radi-tion. Defendingthe ideaof communaldifference,fightingagainstracism,situ-ating his work between sociological scholarshipand the novel, the JewishMemmi adopted a Camus-like attitude toward his insertion into French orTunisianculturalcontexts in the sense that he repeatedlyemphasized he diffi-cultyof choice. Nevertheless,hisprojectdididentifysignificantproblemswithwhichsubsequent iterary ritics and historianswouldhave to grapple.His ownstatements make his literarynationality extremelyambiguous, o borrowanexpressioninitially proposedby the Algerian writer Malek Haddad. In any



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TaharBekri 1 179case, from Memmi's irstnovel, LaStatuede sel (1953), to his last, LePharaon(1988), Tunisiahas been present n his work.

During he 1970sTunisian iteraturewas enrichedbyMustaphaTlili'sLaRageaux tripes 1975) andLe Bruitdort(1978). In them, Tlili articulates hepreoccupationsof third-world ntellectuals who areobligedto confrontcon-temporary vents and the contingenciesof afundamentallyunjustworldorder.Hisnovels, likemanyof those thatfollowed,expressaprofound ommitmenttochangeon an international evel.Yetonly duringthe 1980s did French-languageTunisian iteratureactu-allyconfirm ts dynamicpresence.At the crossroads etween the EastandtheWest, movingbackand forth between ParisandTunis,AbdelwahabMeddeb'sTalismano1978) articulateda culturalperspective hat ismarkedbyagenuineinterestin artand aesthetics.Anchoredinphilosophicalreferences,suchwrit-ingseeksto resurrect he Arabo-Islamic eritage norder odrawuponitsmysti-cal dimension, particularlyas it was defined by the Sufis. Meddeb'ssecondnovel, Phantasia1987), returns o the samequestand to the same sourceofinspiration.In contemporaryTunisia,Sufismappears o be gaining groundto thepointwhereitmightwellbeconsideredaliterarymovement,althoughmultiplelevels ofsignificationmakemanyworks n this vein difficult o interpretncom-parisonwith those of the earlymastersof MedievalMuslimmysticism.What isthe Sufismthat has inspiredso manyrecent Tunisianworks? s it a laymysti-cism, a mode of writing,a formof expression hat breakswith overlymechani-cal or limited ideologies,or is it an attemptto experiencethe deepest partofone's innerbeing?Such problemsmust be addressed n anyapproach o theseworks,especiallyin a context where Muslimextremismtends to obscuretheobstaclesthatstandin the wayof modernization.

This set of problemsis articulatedin Hele Beji'snovel L'Oeildujour(1985) as well as in FawziMellah'sLe Conclavedespleureuses1987) andElissa,la reinevagabonde1988). Also an essayist,Beji focusesupon falsemodernityin L'Oeil dujouras she nostalgicallydescribesher childhood in a Tunis cir-cumscribedbytraditionand the simplicityof dailylife. Tunisian ndependencepromotedthe rise of a new class of individualswho were conspicuouslyarr-ogant and lackingin aesthetic taste-attitudes that dehumanizedpeople anddisfiguredheirsurroundings.Beji'sanalysisof suchfacetsof modernity s notwithout insightfulnessand lucidity.As forMellah, he addresses imilarques-tions at the level of politicsandstate-formation,ocusing n particular n theirrelationshipto tradition, modernity,and the exercise of power.In ordertoaccomplish he goalhe set forhimself,Mellahanalyzesheworkings fTunisia'searliesthistory,of myth and legend. He interrogates he present by penetrat-ingly scrutinizing he past, althoughhe does not actuallycouch his observa-tions in the formofanhistoricalnovel;infact,he placeshistoryattheserviceofaparable-like ecriture, herebyendowingit with apoliticaldimension.



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180 I ResearchnAfricanLiteraturesTunisian authorssuch as SouadGuellouz,JelilaHafsia, AnouarAttia,Aicha Chebbi, andHafedhDjedidi(whoseLe Cimeterre u lesouffleduvenera-

blewaspublished n 1990)havealsocontributednew dimensions o the novelis-tic genrein Tunisia; orexample, languageacquiresa particularnterestin theworks of Attia and Arabic narrative traditionsare perceptivelyexplored inDjedidi'snovel.In the area of French-languageTunisianpoetry,a substantialnumberofworkshave been published,but most of them have experiencedonly limitedsuccess, althoughcollections such as Salah Garmadi'sChairvive(1970) andNosAncetresesbedouins1975) do have a certainoriginality.As a linguist,Gar-madicreatesapoetic universe hat, filledwithpunsandwordplays,hassurreal-istic dimensions reminiscent of JacquesPrevert'swork. While introducingaudaciouslinguistic innovations inspiredby the languageof the people, hedelightsreaderswithhisjubilantsavoringof wordsand thussucceeds ncreatingan unusuallysubversiveform of humor. After Car vivre est un pays (1978),Moncef GhachempublishedCapAfrica(1983). Hispoetry expressesan angerthat scoldsandcriesout in a mannerthat echoes the clamorof the streets.Hispoetic voice embraces social concerns in a lively outburst of passion thatremainsrootedin the livesof commonpeople. Hisseasideuniversecataloguestheir everydaytasks and sorrows.In contrast, Majid El Houssi seems to beevolving towarda style that retraces he course of Tunisianhistoryback to itsLatin dimensions. After cultivating a form of social poetry in Iris-Ifriquiya( 1981) andAhmeta-Q 1981), he is nowdevelopinganewstyleofwriting.As forAminaSaid, she writesabouta sensitiveand secretworld n whichsilence domesticatesan idiolect that has decidedlyintimate overtones. In herMetamorphosesel'ileet de lavague 1985) andSablesunambules1988), a richinteriorworldconstitutes a prism hat refractsperceptionsof a sereneuniversethat nothing seems to disturb.In the numerouspoetrycollections that he haspublished, Hedi Bouraouigives expressionto a transculturalperspective byseekingto reconcile strandsof influencefromthe threeplacesthat haveshapedhisconsciousness:Tunisia,where he wasborn;France,wherehe waseducated;and the Anglo-Americanworldin which he has workedmost of his adult life.Hishumanisticobjectivesareevidentin hiswriting,whichaccordsasignificantplaceto linguisticexperimentation.Publishing nFranceor inTunisia,newpoetscontinue toemerge:HafedhDjedidi, SamirMarzouki,Hichem BenGuemra,and the author-editorRidhaKefi,who recentlypublisheda collection entitled Errance1989). Regrettably,severalauthorshave fallensilent, discouraged ythe decline of the French an-guage n Tunisia,bythe lack of editorialencouragement,orbythe indifferenceof governmentalinstitutions, which have promotedan increasinglyradicalArabizationofTunisian ocietyduring he pastfewyears.Nevertheless, French-language Tunisian literature is flourishing.Althoughmost Tunisianauthorswhowrite n Frenchare ivingabroad, heyareproducingmorehigh-qualityworks haneverbefore.It isalmost asif theyneed



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TaharBekri I 181to inhabit a foreignspacebeforetheycan situatetheir own works n relationtothose from other Maghrebiancountriesand other partsof the world; t is as ifthey must distance themselvesfrom their homeland to escapeobstaclesthatblock the expressionofcreativeimpulses nTunisiaand lead to self-censorship.Residence abroadofferedthem the spacein which they couldenjoythefreedom o appreciate he universalityof humanexperienceand to exposetheirworks o a largerreadingpublic.They didnot divorce themselvesfromthe cul-turalmemoryin relationto which most Tunisianauthorscontinue to definethemselves,but theircontact with the complexitiesand interdependenciesofmodem Europeanliteraturegenerated new ways of looking at the world.Beneath the burden of political urgency,Tunisian iteraturehad been impris-oned in a discoursethat was dilutedby the overt messageof ideology. Today,however,Tunisianwritersemployavarietyof literary tylesin theirattempts oexpress he uniquenessof the selfor its innermostnature.Ifcollective discoursepreviouslydominated hecountry'siterature,con-temporaryTunisianwritersareseekingto express heirindividuality,not in afitof indifference owardothers,but because heyare ntentuponliberating hem-selves andbreakingwith deceptionsthat have been imposeduponthembytheprevailingpropaganda. n search of profound ruths, the most recent French-languageTunisianworksset out to conquernew geographicspacesin ordertotranscendcommonplaceor repetitivethemes. The rereadingof one'sculturalheritageis a means of provokingreflectionsabouta possiblecrisis of identity,aboutgaps nhistory,about the burdenof secular ethargy,and aboutone's ownfascination with a glorious, intriguing,tolerantpast. All of these reflectionsmerge with the unique geographicaland culturalallegiances that motivateindividualwritersand constituteavariegatedpanorama:Arabic, Islamic,Afri-can, Mediterranean,Maghrebian,Western.

The workof Chems Nadir(MohammedAziza)isperhaps he most Afri-can in the author'saffirmation f its affiliationwith the Continent. Yet,Aziza'smodernistpoetryand particularlyhis bookCelebrations (1983) remain rootedin a Muslim frameof artistic and spatialreference,while elaboratingsome ofthe most traditionalnarrativeandpoetic techniques.Ingeneral,the tradition-modernityquestion is more than merely a theme that inspiresthe creativeeffortsofTunisianwriters;t actuallyconstitutesa formalaesthetic concernthatcharacterizesTunisian iteratureperhapseven more than it doesthe twootherliteratures f the Maghreb.These formalconcerns can of course also be found in recent Arabic-languageTunisianworks.Infact, asortof osmosisexists betweenthe two litera-turesbecause a new generationof writershasbecomeconvinced that genuineliteraturesabove all aquestfor anguageand anelaborationofstyle, regardlessof the mediumin which an authordecides to write. The most recentTunisianliterature eems to bemovingtowardanacceptanceof thisattitude;at the sametime, it strives to dispelmisunderstandingshat are laden with the unspokenandthe repudiated.Will the latestpolitical changesinTunisiaopennewspaces



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182 I Research nAfricanLiteraturesfor the expression of creative impulses? Will the reading public support thesechanges? Will recent international developments change the attitudes of Tuni-sian readers with respect to the work of writers from their country? Only thefuture can provide answers to such questions. translated by Richard E. MorrisWORKSCITEDAttia, Anouar.De Ajusqu'dT Paris:Publisud,n.d.Baccouche,Hachemi. La DamedeCarthage.Paris:Nouvelles EditionsLatines, 1961.Ma Foidemeure.Paris:Nouvelles EditionsLatines, 1958.Beji,HIel. L'Oeildujour.Paris:Nadeau, 1985.Chebbi, Alcha. Rached.Tunis:MTE, 1975.Chems, Nadir.Celebrations. aris:Publisud,1983.Djedidi, Hafedh. Le Cimeterreou le souffledu venerable.Paris: Presence Africaine/ACCT, 1990.ElHoussi,Majid. Iris-Ifriquiya.aris:EditionsSt-GermaindesPres,1981.Ahmeta-O.Padua:Francisci,1981.Elatri,Salah. LesChantsdel'aurore.Tunis: mprimerie eTunis,1931.Ferhat,Salah. Poemes.Tunis,1918.Garmadi,Salah. Chairvive.Tunis:CeresProductions,1970.

. Nos Ancetresesbedouins.Paris: . P.Oswald, 1975.Ghazi,Farid.Night.Tunis:Editions e Nord, 1949.Ghachem, Moncef. Carvivre stunpays.Paris:EditionsCaracteres,1978.CapAfrica.Paris:L'Harmattan,1989.Guellouz,Souad.LesJardinsunord.Tunis:EditionsSalambo, 1982.Hafsia,Jelila.Cendre l'aube.Tunis:MTE, 1978.Kefi,Ridha.Reperesomades.Collection Errance.Tunis:EditionsLaNef, 1989.Marzouki,Samir.Braderies. unis:MTE, 1991.Meddeb,Abdelwahab.Talismano.Paris:Ch. Bourgeois,1979.Phantasia.Paris:Sindbad, 1987.Mellah,Fawzi.Elissa, areinevagabonde. aris:Seuil, 1988.LeConclave espleureuses. aris:Seuil, 1987.Memmi,Albert. LaStatuede sel. Paris:Buchet-Chastel,1953.. LePharaon.Paris:EditionsJulliard,1988.Messaadi,Mahmoud. LeVoyageur. friqueLitteraire. 942.Nadir,Chems. LeLivredesce'lbrations.Paris:Publisud,1983.Said, Amina. Metamorphosee l'ileet de lavague.Paris:EditionsArcantere, 1985.- Sablesunambules.Paris:Arcantire;TroisRivieres,Quebec:Ecritsdes Forges,1988.Tlatli, Abdelmajid.Cendres eCarthage. t-Etienne:La PenseeFranqaise,1952.Tlili, Mustapha.LaRageauxtripes.Paris:Gallimard,1975.. LeBruitdort.Paris:Gallimard,1978.

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bekri morris - french-language tunisian literature

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