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This carefully curated collection is the first English-language volume focusing on the varieties of modern Tunisian literatures. Unlike most national literatures in the Middle East and North Africa, Tunisian literature roams large across languages and modes. Yet, its study remains fragmented along linguistic divisions, selective and woefully underrepresented in the anglophone world. Tunisian Literatures aims to redress this imbalance and fill this gap not by moving away from canonical figures and case studies but by being inclusive, open and dynamic. The 13 chapters of this volume explore the multiple facets of Tunisian literature in the modern period, from the anti-colonial movement of the first half of the 20th century to the present, embracing its plurilinguality, its literary historical genealogies and testimonial functions during times of profound political and social change. The chapters cover poetry, fiction and drama written in Arabic, French and variations of the local dialect ( darija ). The contributors approach Tunisian literatures from various angles: introducing concepts and formative authors and trends, and considering Tunisian literature in light of foundational historical and political events, such as the country''s independence in 1956 and the Uprisings of 2010-11, referred to in Tunisia as the Revolution ( thawra ). Together, these perspectives set the ground for a discussion of Tunisian literary voices within their significant geographies, locally and globally. They also pay special attention to points of intersection and confluence within this multilingual literary corpus.
Über den Autor / die Autorin
Hanan Natour is Postdoctoral Researcher of Arabic and Comparative Literature at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, Associated Fellow of the programme Europe in the Middle East — The Middle East in Europe (EUME) at Berlin’s Forum Transregionale Studien and author of The Tunisian Novel – Narratives of Liberation, Emancipation, and Decoloniality (forthcoming).Mohamed-Salah Omri is Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature, University of Oxford, UK, and Fellow of St. John´s College, UK. His main research interests are in Arabic literature, both classical and modern; Tunisian literature written in diverse languages; comparative literature and the relationships between literature, society and history. He has published extensively on Tunisian literatures, including the monograph Nationalism, Islam and World Literature: Sites of Confluence in the Writings of Mahmud Al-Mas?adi (2006). His publications include co-edited volumes and special issues including Literature, democracy and transitional justice: Comparative World Perspectives (2022); Minding Borders: Resilient Divisions in Literature, the Body and the Academy (2017); Comparative Criticism and Methods (2015) and The Novelization of Islamic Literatures (2007); as well as peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters on Tunisian literature, the Arabic novel, and the Maghreb.
