Cover not available
Part of
Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXXIV: Papers from the Annual Symposium on Arabic Linguistics, Tucson, Arizona, 2020
Edited by Mahmoud Azaz
[Studies in Arabic Linguistics 12] 2023
► pp. 255–284

When the leak becomes a flood

Vernacular literature in Tunisia

| Georgetown University
Social and technological changes over the past several decades have led to widespread writing of “spoken” Arabic dialects. In Tunisia, there has been a noticeable growth of vernacular prose literature, part of a larger development of Tunisian Arabic as a written language. Tunisia does not have a history of colloquial literature: previously even the use of “dɛ̄rja” in literary dialogue was rare. From this nearly non-existent base, a small “leak” of vernacular writing appeared in the latter part of the 20th century, followed by a flood–first online and increasingly in print–in the first two decades of the 21st. This has culminated in over a dozen vernacular novels and literary translations.
Keywords: diglossia, Tunisian Arabic, vernacular literature, Arabic dialects, colloquial Arabic, vernacular Arabic, Arabic novel
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Tunisian Arabic literature in the early 20th century
  • 3.The slow leak I: Vernacular for functional purposes
  • 4.The slow leak II: Vernacular for creative purposes
  • 5.The catalyst: Text messages and the internet
  • 6.Tunisian Arabic fiction in the post-revolution era
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 6 January 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sal.12.11mcn
References
Abdel Kader, S. B.
(2018) al-Fihris al-bibliyugrafi li-l-ruwaya al-Tunisiyya wa-l-Libiyya wa-l-Muritaniyya (1906–2015) (Bibliographic index of Tunisian, Libyan, and Mauritanian novels (1906–2015)). London: Dar e-Kutub.Google Scholar
Achour Kallel, M.
(2011) Choix langagiers sur la radio Mosaïque FM, dispositifs d’invisibilité et de normalisation sociales. Langage et Société, 2011/4(138), 77–96. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2015) “Ici on parle tunisien”. Écriture du politique et politique de l’écriture ou qui ne peut pas être passeur ? In M. Achour Kallel. (Ed.), Le social par le langage. La parole au quotidien (pp. 95–118). Paris: IRMC-Karthala.Google Scholar
(2016) « La Rolls et la Volkswagen » Écrire en tunisien sur Facebook en 2016. Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 16, 253–272. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Allen, R.
(1995) The Arabic Novel: An Historical and Critical Introduction, Second Edition. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.Google Scholar
Ayadi, B.
(2019, April 25). al-Zahira al-lughuwiyya fi tunis … ʿAudun ʿala badʾ (The linguistic phenomenon in Tunisia: A return to the beginning). al-ʿArab [The Arab], 15. [URL] [URL] (Archived on 13 March 2021)
Attessia TV
(2019, March 28). Interview with Faten Fazaâ. Abdelli Showtime (S02 – Ep24). [URL]
Ayari, R.
(2019, April 15). al-Kitaba al-sardiyya bi-“al-darija” … Jadal qadim mutajaddid (Prose writing in “darija:” An old debate renewed). Ultra Tunisia. [URL] [URL] (Archived 18 December 2020)
Bach Baoueb, S. L., & Toumi, N.
(2012) Code switching in the classroom: A case study of economics and management students at the University of Sfax, Tunisia. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 11(4), 261–282. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Balegh, H.
(Ed.) (1994) Proverbes tunisiens (tomes I et II). Tunis: La Presse de Tunisie.Google Scholar
Bassiouney, R.
(2020) Arabic sociolinguistics: Topics in diglossia, gender, identity, and politics (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Boussofara-Omar, N.
(1999) Arabic diglossic switching in Tunisia: An application of Myers-Scotton’s MLF model (K. Walters. (Ed.)) [Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin].Google Scholar
Coulmas, F.
(2002) Writing is crucial. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2002(157), 59–62. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013) Writing and society: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Daoudi, A.
(2011) Globalization, computer-mediated communications and the rise of e-Arabic. Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, 4(2), 146–163. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Daoud, M.
(2011) The sociolinguistic situation in Tunisia: Language rivalry or accommodation? International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2011(211), 9–33. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Darwish, E. B.
(2017) Factors influencing the uses, diglossia and attrition of Arabic language in social media: Arab youth case. Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 7(1), 250–257.Google Scholar
Davies, H.
(2006) Dialect literature. In K. Versteegh & M. Eid. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Arabic language and linguistics (Vol. 2, pp. 597–604). Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
de Saint-Exupéry, A.
(1997) ɛl-Amir ɛl-sghayyir (The little prince). (Hédi Balegh. (Trans.)). Tunis: Maison Tunisienne de l’Édition.Google Scholar
Dhouib, M.
(2007) Lmakki wa-Zakkiyya. Tunis: Manshurat Manara.Google Scholar
Douagi, A.
(2002) Masrah al-Duʿaji (The plays of Ali Douagi) (T. Bikkār. (Ed.); Vol. 1). Tunis: Dar Janub.Google Scholar
Doss, M., & Davies, H.
(2013) Al-ʿammiyya al-misriyya al-maktuba (Written Egyptian colloquial Arabic). Cairo: The General Egyptian Book Organization.Google Scholar
El Aroui, A.
(1984) Hkɛyɛt ɛl-ʿIrwi (El Aroui’s Tales). Tunis: al-Dar al-Tunisiyya li-l-Nashr.Google Scholar
Elinson, A. E.
(2013) Dārija and changing writing practices in Morocco. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 45(4), 715–730. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fasold, R.
(1984) The sociolinguistics of society. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Fazaâ, F.
(2017) Asrar ʿaʾiliyya (Family Secrets). Tunis: Dar Sindabad Tunis li-l-Nashr.Google Scholar
Ferguson, C.
(1959) Diglossia. Word, 15(2), 325–340. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1991) Diglossia revisited. Southwest Journal of Linguistics, 10(1), 214–234.Google Scholar
Fudge, B.
(2016) A Hundred and One Nights (B. Fudge. (Ed.)). New York: NYU Press.Google Scholar
Gherwash, G.
(2017) Diglossia and literacy: The case of the Arab reader. Arab Journal of Applied Linguistics, 3(3), 56–85.Google Scholar
Gibson, M.
(2009) Tunis Arabic. In K. Versteegh & M. Eid. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Arabic language and linguistics (Vol. 4, pp. 563–571). Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
(2013) Dialect levelling in Tunisian Arabic: Towards a new spoken standard. In Language contact and language conflict in Arabic (pp. 42–58). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hachimi, A.
(2013) The Maghreb-Mashreq language ideology and the politics of identity in a globalized Arab world. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 17(3), 269–296. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Holes, C.
(2004) Modern Arabic: Structures, functions, and varieties. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Hudson, A.
(2002) Outline of a theory of diglossia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2002(157), 1–48. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Idriss, M.
(1997) ʾIsmaʿil basha (Ismaʿil Pasha). Tunis: Dar al-Janub.Google Scholar
Idriss, S.
(2018, June 17). Azmat al-qiraʾa.. al-ʿArab aqall umma taqraʾ! (A Reading Crisis: Arabs are the least reading nation!). Aljazeera. [URL] [URL] (Archived 6 April 2021)
INS
(2002) Annuaire statistique de la Tunisie 2001 (Statistical Annual Report of Tunisia) (No. 44). Institut National de la Statistique (INS). [URL]
(2019) Annuaire statistique de la Tunisie 2014–2018 (Statistical Annual Report of Tunisia) (No. 44). Institut National de la Statistique (INS). [URL]
Jaïbi, F.
(1997) Familya (Family). Tunis: Dar al-Janub.Google Scholar
Jebali, T.
(1997) Klɛm al-lil (Nighttime talk). Tunis: Dar al-Janub.Google Scholar
Khalaf Allah, N.
(2018, November 3). al-ʿAmmiyya al-Tunisiyya fi maʿajimiha (Tunisian vernacular in its dictionaries). Al-ʿArabi al-jadid, 5(1524), 24–25.Google Scholar
Khrayyef, B.
(2000) al-Digla fi ʿarajiniha (A cluster of dates). Tunis: Dar al-Janub. (Original work published 1969)Google Scholar
Kindt, K. T., & Kebede, T. A.
(2017) A language for the people? Quantitative indicators of written dārija and ‘āmmiyya in Cairo and Rabat. In J. Høiglilt & G. Mejdell. (Eds.), The politics of written language in the Arab world: Writing change (pp. 18–40). Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Kouki, M.
(1997) 500 waṣfa min al-tabkh al-tunisiy (500 recipes from Tunisian cooking). Tunis: Dar al-turath al-tunisi li-l-nashr wa-l-tawziʿ.Google Scholar
Kréfa, A.
(2011) The Body and Sexuality in Tunisian Literature. Travail, Genre et Societes, No 26(2), 105–128. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lentin, J.
(2011) Middle Arabic. In Encyclopedia of Arabic language and linguistics. Brill Online.Google Scholar
al-Madani, I.
(1999) Tunisia. In G. Maleh & F. Ohan. (Eds.), & M. Chehade & T. Chehade. (Trans.), World encyclopedia of contemporary theatre: Vol. 4: The Arab world. London: Taylor & Francis Group.Google Scholar
Mamelouk, D.
(2010) Redirecting al-nazar: Contemporary Tunisian women novelists return the gaze (E. Colla. (Ed.)) [Ph.D., Georgetown University].Google Scholar
(2017) Tunisia. In W. S. Hassan. (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of Arab novelistic traditions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
McNeil, K.
(2019) Tunisian Arabic Corpus: Creating a written corpus of an “unwritten” language. In A. Hardie. (Ed.), Arabic Corpus Linguistics, (pp. 30–55). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2022) ‘We don’t speak the same language:’ Language choice and identity on a Tunisian internet forum.International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2022(278), 1–30. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mejdell, G.
(2006) The use of colloquial in modern Egyptian literature: A survey. In L. Edzard & J. Retsö. (Eds.), Current issues in the analysis of Semitic grammar and lexicon II (pp. 195–213). Wiesbaden: Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft.Google Scholar
Mejri, S.
(2017) La nouvelle Constitution tunisienne en dialectal. In V. Ritt-Benmimoun. (Ed.), Tunisian and Libyan Arabic dialects: Common trends – recent developments – diachronic aspects (Vol. 12, pp. 191–204). Zaragoza, Spain: Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza.Google Scholar
Miller, C.
(2017) Contemporary dārija writings in Morocco: Ideology and practices. In J. Høigilt & G. Mejdell. (Eds.), The politics of written language in the Arab world: Writing change (pp. 90–115). Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Missaoui, A.
(2011) Muʿjam al-fusha wa-al-ʿamiyya fi al-khitab al-shaʿbi al-tunisi (Dictionary of Standard and vernacular Arabic in the popular Tunisian speech). Sharika al-Tunisiyya li-l-nashr wa-tanmiya funun al-rasm.Google Scholar
Mahdi, M.
(Ed.) (1984) The thousand and one nights (Alf layla wa-layla): From the earliest known sources. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Myers-Scotton, C.
(1997) Codeswitching. In F. Coulmas. (Ed.), The Handbook of Sociolinguistics (pp. 217–237). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell.Google Scholar
Palfreyman, D., & Khalil, M.
al. (2003) “A funky language for teenzz to use:” Representing Gulf Arabic in instant messaging. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication: JCMC, 9(1). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ribeiro Daquila, J. P.
(2020) Promoting Arabic literacy in primary schools in the United Arab Emirates through the Emirati dialect. Sci, 2(4), 93. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rosenbaum, G.
(2011) The rise and expansion of colloquial Egyptian Arabic as a literary language. In R. Sela-Sheffy & G. Toury. (Eds.), Culture contacts and the making of cultures (pp. 323–344). Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University Press.Google Scholar
Sayahi, L.
(2014) Diglossia and language contact: Language variation and change in North Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2019) Diglossia and the normalization of the vernacular: Focus on Tunisia. In E. Al-Wer & U. Horesh. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of Arabic sociolinguistics (pp. 227–239). London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Suleiman, Y.
(2004) A war of words: Language and conflict in the Middle East. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
UNICEF
(2015, October 1). Education – literacy data. [URL]
Versteegh, K.
(2014) The Arabic Language (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Walters, K.
(1996) Diglossia, linguistic variation, and language change in Arabic. In M. Eid. (Ed.), Perspectives on Arabic linguistics: Papers from the Annual symposium on Arabic linguistics: Vol. VIII (pp. 157–197). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2003) Fergie’s prescience: The changing nature of diglossia in Tunisia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2003(163), 77–109.Google Scholar
Warschauer, M., Said, G. R. E., & Zohry, A. G.
(2002) Language choice online: Globalization and identity in Egypt. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication: JCMC, 7(4). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
World Bank
(2019) Individuals using the Internet (% of population) – Tunisia | Data. World Bank. [URL]