Tunisian literature exists primarily in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and in French.

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...

in Tunisia dates to the 7th century, with the arrival of Arab civilization in the region. Arabic literature is more important than

francophone literature Francophone literature is literature written in the French language. The existence of a plurality of literatures in the French language has been recognised, although the autonomy of these literatures is less defined than the plurality of liter ...

—which followed the introduction of the French protectorate in 1881 "La littérature tunisienne de langue française"
Memoire Vive (project funded by le Fonds francophone des Inforoutes, Organisation internationale de la Francophonie).—both in volume and value. The

national bibliography A national bibliography is a systematic bibliography of acquisitions of a national library. Most countries either have a national bibliography or are in the process of compiling one. Some countries that do not have a national bibliography of their ...

lists 1,249 non-academic books published in 2002 in Tunisia, of which 885 titles are in Arabic. Nearly a third of these books are intended for children."Le Livre culturel"
. Tunisian Ministry of Culture. In 2003, the state budget dedicated 3 million Tunisian dinars to the support of literature. There are approximately 100 private Tunisian publishing houses that publish virtually all books.

Arabic literature

Arabic literary figures include Ali Douagi, who has written more than 150 radio plays, more than 500 poems and songs, and nearly 15 plays."Les Arts"
. Tangka guide to Tunisia. Béchir Khraief gave new life to the Arabic novel in the 1930s and caused a scandal by including dialog in Tunisian dialect in his first short story. Other literary figures include Moncef Ghachem, Hassan Ben Othmen, Habib Selmi, Walid Soliman and Mahmoud Messadi. Messaadi was known for points of intersection of Islamic themes and nationalism within his work. Tunisian poetry is non-conformist and innovative: the language of Aboul-Qacem Echebbi opposes the lack of imagination in Arabic literature.

French-language literature

Francophone literature in Tunisia began, strictly speaking, in the 20th century. It was initially powered as much by Arab Muslim authors like Mahmoud Aslan and Salah Farhat as by minority authors of Jewish (e.g. Ryvel and César Benattar), Italian, or even Maltese (e.g. Marius Scalési) descent. Francophone literature has blossomed thanks to French people living in Tunisia who founded a Tunisian literary life modeled on that of Paris. Today, Tunisian francophone literature is characterized by its critical approach. Contrary to the pessimism of

Albert Memmi Albert Memmi (; 15 December 1920 – 22 May 2020) was a French-Tunisian writer and essayist of Tunisian Jewish origins. A prominent intellectual, his nonfiction books and novels explored his complex identity as an anti-imperialist, deeply re ...

, who predicted that Tunisian literature was condemned to a young death, Tunisian writers like Abdelwahab Meddeb, Tahar Bekri, Mustapha Tlili, Hélé Béji, Aymen Hacen and Fawzi Mellah have broken through abroad. The themes of wandering, exile, disconnection
memory and representation
ref> are prominent in their writing .

References

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Arabic literature

French-language literature

See also

References