Repertoires of Identities: Language, Intersectionality and Memory in Tunisia (1881-Present) Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Rahmouni, Kamilia Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction, presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 07/10/2021 06:27:49 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/633222 REPERTOIRES OF IDENTITIES: LANGUAGE, INTERSECTIONALITY AND MEMORY IN TUNISIA (1881-PRESENT) by Kamilia Rahmouni __________________________ Copyright © Kamilia Rahmouni 2019 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF MIDDLE EASTERN AND NORTH AFRICAN STUDIES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2019 1 2 Dedication To my most beloved and supportive mother and father… 3 Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisors Dr. Samira Farwaneh and Dr. Julia Clancy-Smith for their time and patience in guiding me through every major step of the dissertation process, and for their mentorship, guidance and tireless support throughout my journey as a graduate student. I am very grateful for the contributions that each of them made to my intellectual growth during my years of study at the University of Arizona. Special thanks are also due to Dr. Anne Betteridge and Dr. Leila Hudson for their valuable insight into this dissertation and for their generous support and assistance throughout the course of my studies. I am very grateful to my parents, my sisters and my brother for continuously supporting me in my journey in life, and I am also thankful for the unflagging support and encouragement of my friends during the dissertation writing process. I owe my deepest gratitude to my mother for her endless love, tireless support, continuous encouragement and guidance throughout my journey in life. Thank you for always being there for me, mama! This project would not have been possible without you! 4 Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………...…………….. 8 I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 9 1. Statement of purpose .................................................................................................... 9 2. Methodology ................................................................................................................ 10 3. Conceptual framework: intersectional performativity ........................................... 11 3.1. Placing identity ............................................................................................................ 11 3.2. Intersectional performativity ..................................................................................... 15 3.2.1. Performativity ....................................................................................................... 15 3.2.2. Ethnic performativity ........................................................................................... 17 3.2.3. Intersectional performativity ............................................................................... 20 4. Native research: the complexities of a shared culture ............................................. 23 5. Structure of dissertation ............................................................................................. 27 II. HISTORIOGRAPHY AND CHANGING IDENTITIES ....................................... 30 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 30 2. A stereotypical identity in the service of an integrationist political project .......... 31 3. A disillusioned identity in face of modernization ..................................................... 40 4. Impact of Colonialism on Tunisian Jews: the rise of a Gallicized Identity ........... 43 5. WWII: an introspective turn in self-identification .................................................. 51 5.1. Trauma of WWII ........................................................................................................ 51 5.2. Decline of Gallicization and rise of nationalist identities ........................................ 54 5.3. The shaping of a Zionist identity ............................................................................... 57 5.4. Leftist movements: a universalist identity in a fight for freedom .......................... 60 5.4.1. Socialism: the rise of a complex and polyvalent identity ...................................... 60 5.4.2. Communism: “Communism is the end of racism. We are neither Jews nor Muslims nor French. We are above all Bolsheviks” .................................................... 63 6. Independence ............................................................................................................... 67 7. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 70 III. PERFORMING INTERSECTIONAL IDENTITY THROUGH LANGUAGE, LITERATURE, MUSIC AND RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS ............................................. 74 5 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 74 2. Section I: Genealogy of Judeo-Arabic ....................................................................... 75 2.1. Pre-Islamic JA ............................................................................................................. 76 2.2. Second period: Early JA ............................................................................................ 77 2.3. Third period: Medieval JA ........................................................................................ 77 2.4. Fourth period: Later JA ............................................................................................. 78 2.5. Fifth period: Modern JA ............................................................................................ 78 3. Genealogy of Hebrew is relation to Arabic ............................................................... 80 4. Genealogy of Hebrew is relation to Israeli Hebrew ................................................. 82 5. Judeo-Arabic: labelling implications ........................................................................ 83 6. Intersectional linguistic repertoire ............................................................................ 86 7. Judeo-Arabic and intersectional identity: a mutually performative relationship 91 7.1. Ideological essays ........................................................................................................ 94 7.2. Malzūmāt .................................................................................................................... 100 7.2.1. Malzūma: “Qāʼim wa-nāʼim” (Falling Asleep on One’s Feet) ......................... 101 7.2.2. Code-Switching ................................................................................................... 106 7.3. Ghnāyāt ...................................................................................................................... 110 7.3.1. Ghnāya “Yā mūlānā” ......................................................................................... 111 8. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 113 IV. INTERSECTIONAL PLAYS OF IDENTITY: TUNISIAN JEWS IN PARIS ... 116 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 116 2. History of migration to Paris ................................................................................... 116 3. Fieldwork experience ................................................................................................ 121 3.1 Ethnographic work and surveys .............................................................................. 122 4. Intersectional plays of identity: Tunisian Jewishness in the diaspora ................. 126 4.1. Linguistic attitudes ................................................................................................... 127 4.2. Data analysis .............................................................................................................. 130 5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 149 V. CONSTRUCTING ABSENT IDENTITIES: INTER-RELIGIOUS RELATIONS IN TUNISIA (1881-PRESENT) ........................................................................................... 151 6 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 151 2. Collective memory: definition, elements and approaches ..................................... 152 2.1. The presentist memory approach ............................................................................ 154 2.2. The popular memory approach ............................................................................... 159 2.3. The dynamics of memory approach ........................................................................ 161 3. The role of oral and written narratives in the formation of Muslim