Folk poetry, local knowledge, and resistance in Tunisia

Bibliographic Data

ID3979270
AuthorsLaura Rice (Oregon State University), Karim Hamdy (Oregon State University, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume21
Issue2
Pages283-300
Publication date2016-03-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of North African Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1362-9387 • E-ISSN: 1743-9345
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13629387.2016.1130940
OpenAlexW2290629829
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited14

In pre-Islamic times, Arabic poetry was a potent propaganda weapon among the nomadic Arabian tribes. More than 15 centuries later, not much has changed. In the twenty-first century, Arabic poetry is still used ritualistically to celebrate harvests, weddings, and other happy events, but also to put up a defensive shield against encroachments by outsiders, or to lament the loss of a loved one, the devastation by natural disasters, or the generation gap and loss of a traditional Bedouin lifestyle. The verbal prowess of Arabic nomadic groups led to a flourishing of poetry in both fuṣḥā/classical and dārija/dialectical Arabic. This essay looks at Tunisian folk poetry - what might be called 'literature from below' - as a potent force sustaining political resistance and cultural identity. We focus on two features of folk poetry (malḥūn in dārija) in southern Tunisia: poetry as resistance to authoritarian regimes, both before and after the January 14, 2011 revolution; and poetry as resistance to the consumerist onslaught, be it Beldi (urban) or neo-liberal, on traditional Bedouin lifestyles. In the context of the revolution in Tunisia, we also explore the reasons some poets composing in fuṣḥā share a poetics most often associated with folk poets

Lament · Poetics · Caribbean and African Literature and Culture · Hispanic-African Historical Relations · Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender