| Literature |
Literature
If Tunisia still lags behind Morocco, and especially Algeria, in
Francophone literary production, its Arabic-language literature is
more significant both in quantity and quality. In Tunis, two
institutions have fostered the revival and continuation of Arabic
teaching, the secular and bilingual Lycee Sadiki and the conservative
Al Zituna University. The best exponent of this new intellectual
thinking is undoubtedly Tahir Haddad (1901-1935), who advocates a
revamping of old traditions and values, emphasizing the catalytic
role of the working class (as in his 1927 essay "Tunisian
Workers and the Emergence of Trade Unionism") and especially of
women (in his 1930 provocative but foresighted essay "Our Women
before Shazia [body of Islamic law] and Society") in this
rebirth. Politically, this rebirth coincided with the emergence of
the Neo-Dustur Party, which espoused a radical platform of national
independence.
This desire to forge a new and distinctively Tunisian identity is
reflected in the works of a group of poets, short-story tellers,
polemicists, and journalists known as Taht Al-Sur (Under the
Ramparts), named after the cafe where they met. The most talented of
this group is Ali Du'aji (1909-1949). His short stories, full of
humor and mordant wit, are still widely read in Tunisia. Yet in the
belles lettres of the period, the most popular genre was poetry, and
in this province Abul Kacem Al-shabbi (1909-1934), the poet of love
and youth, reigned supreme. Indeed, Al-Shabbi, Tunisia's best-known
poet in the Arab world, was also the first to break away from a
classical rhetorical tradition that was out of touch with modem
sensitivity and concerns. However, Al-Shabbi was a lone voice in
Tunisia, indeed in the Maghreb, as he had little influence on his
contemporaries who continued writing traditional verse, using
time-honored rhetorical devices.
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