This book, published by Dar Al-Janoub (South Editions) in Tunisia by researcher Ibtisam Oueslati, is the first academic work (doctoral thesis) that presents a comprehensive and objective approach to the experience of the “Under the Wall” Group (Jama’at that essour) in the various fields of Tunisian cultural and artistic creativity, music, poetry, novel, theater, literary article and other arts and literary products that became famous in the thirties of the twentieth century.
It is a book that corrects many errors, impressions, and judgments about the stature of this group in Tunisian culture, which are often repeated in the media.
The book consists of more than 370 pages.
In addition to the introduction and conclusion, it includes two chapters:
The first chapter has sixty pages and forms the theoretical and historical framework for the study. It contains research on the concept of marginality, the individual and the marginal group, studies in private clubs and literary cafes, and a definition of the “Under the Wall” Group.
The second chapter, which is the longest, has five chapters: 1) the characteristics of the journalistic movement, 2) the features of the lyrical scene, 3) the Tunisian theater between foundation and renaissance, 4) the formations of narrative awareness, and 5) the nature of the poetic movement.
This book presents a new look at the “marginality” of the “Under the Wall” Group, which differs from what is common in a number of research and studies. This marginality is of a great deal of richness and depth of knowledge, and it represents a conscious choice in which the members of “Under the Wall” responded to the nature of their psychological and intellectual formation and coped with various social transformations at a crucial stage in Tunisia’s history.
In this research, Ibtisam Oueslati concludes that the marginality of the “Under the Wall” is a national project that aims to preserve the elements of Tunisian identity and protect it from the policy of exclusion practiced by colonialism.
At the hands of these artists, the concepts of art in its various forms and images deepened. Thanks to their creativity, a literary practice was established, a practice that opened to different genres and absorbed all artistic colors. Their work contributed to the intellectual and literary renaissance during the 1930s and marked Tunisian culture with a creative spirit that yearned for intellectual emancipation.
The writer also concludes in her research that one of the most important contributions of this group to Tunisian culture is the emergence of a different journalistic practice in which these creative people tried to approach the concerns of the people and focus their activities on making them aware of the nature of the conditions surrounding them.
Thanks to them, the Tunisian song has also developed and turned into a text that carries a message that contributes to raising public taste. In the same context, the foundations of the Tunisian theater were concentrated, which became faithful to the specificity of the Tunisian environment, away from distortion and falsehood. Theatrical texts at that time helped spread the Arabic language and promote the local vernacular dialect.
Given the belief of the “Under the Wall” Group in the role of the various arts in communicating with the public, its members contributed to the emergence and development of the Tunisian story art, as they sought liberation from the captivity of traditional artistic molds and tended towards the artistic nature that further supports the independence of the literary personality.
They charged the traditional molds with their marginal vision, such as the poem, which expressed their desire for change by realizing the various aspects of creativity through liberation that brings them closer to the concerns and suffering of the masses.
* Ibtissam Oueslati: Assistant professor at the University of Tunis and researcher in Tunisian literature, she published in 2008 Tunisian Modern Poetry between 1900 and 1930, in addition to articles published in refereed scientific journals, as well as participating in many national and international forums.
