Tunisian literature and the language question: the long view of a recurring debate

This paper traces the life and afterlife of Tunisia's literary avant-garde (al-tali’a al-adabiyya), which thrived between 1968 and 1972. Al-tali’a sought to ‘revolutionize’ literary language and to root Tunisian literature in the multilingual environment and social reality of the country, at a crucial period of social and political change and against the backdrop of a Leftist turn in local dissident politics. Al-tali’a sought to complete the process of language and literary decolonization in intersection with key global tendencies, including Tiermondisme and decoloniality. The language question was articulated, then as in post-2011 Tunisia, in terms of democracy and justice. While the state promoted fostering Tunisianness as state policy, there were other takes on this concept that were progressive, more deeply decolonial and justice-driven. This paper uncovers the genesis of the movement through the work of Izzeddine al-Madani in drama and Tahar Hammami, among others, in fiction and poetry

Molecular generation and characterization of an efficient recombinant vaccine for avian influenza A/H5N8 in Saudi Arabia

Purpose: To characterize a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N8 for engineering recombinant 6-+ 2 vaccine strain based on reverse genetic technology. Methods: A total of 135 swab samples from various birds were collected from different parts of Saudi Arabia as part of an influenza surveillance activity. The samples were checked for influenza virus infection using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Furthermore, Avian influenza H5N8 (A/chicken/KSA/1-NRC/2018), was used for the generation of H5N8 vaccine strain. The vaccine was tested on specific pathogen-free (SPF) chicken purchased from a local market. Results: The results indicate that the candidate vaccine (rgH5N8/KSA) induced specific neutralizing antibodies in chicken, and thereby protected the chickens from subsequent infections of H5N8. Conclusion: The study reinforces the development of a vaccine against avian influenza H5N8 virus isolated in Saudi Arabia, suggesting its possible application against the influenza virus associated with bird fl

Écriture et liberté en Tunisie

Je suis devenu écrivain parce que j’étais en prison.Je ne suis pas allé en prison parce que j’étais écrivain.Gilbert Naccache, Cristal . Justice transitionnelle, histoire et mémoire nationale La révolution de 2011 en Tunisie a rouvert de vieilles blessures et suscité un appétit de vengeance, mais elle a également rendu possible un processus de justice transitionnelle (JT) effectif. Le besoin de justice dans le pays était immense et des organismes étrangers l’ont rapidement soutenu. Des ONG on..

Reading between the lines: Arabic fiction in Israel after 1967

Arabic literature in Israel has evaded critical attention, or has been treated as an uncomplicated part of Palestinian national culture, on a quest for unification and an identity that was devastated in 1948. This dissertation complicates that narrative through close readings of short stories by five Arab citizens of Israel—Imil Habibi, Muhammad ‘Ali Taha, Muhammad Naffa‘, Hanna Ibrahim, and Zaki Darwish—between 1967 and 1983. Focusing on the relationship between geography and fiction, I suggest that literary constructions of “place” and “space” by these authors reveal a range of cultural negotiations that break down entrenched dyads: Palestinian yet Israeli; Palestinian on the one hand, Israeli on the other; spared exile, but suffering occupation. Instead, these writers evoke the hybrid and ambivalent experiences produced in the paradoxical spaces of Israeli-Palestinian life. I develop an analytical framework that incorporates geographic and literary theory. I use the work of humanists such as Gaston Bachelard, Yi-Fu Tuan, and Edward Casey to suggest that literature mediates geography in a way that communicates belonging, alienation, or personal and collective meaning. The framework is bolstered with the work of postcolonial theorists such as Homi Bhabha, along with historical and political sources, to capture the contextual resonance of the texts. After laying out these theoretical guidelines, I offer a historical account of Arabic literature in Israel and embark on four analytical chapters. Chapter Two explores Imil Habibi’s portrayals of anxiety around post-1967 Palestinian reunions. Chapter Three focuses on the themes of Muhammad ‘Ali Taha’s Palestinian collective identity in Israel. Chapter Four takes up the theme of “the land” in the works of Muhammad Naffa‘ and Hanna Ibrahim, in the context of 1970s land expropriations. Chapter Five explores a long story by Zaki Darwish and its depiction of the body’s phenomenological relation to the homeland. Rather than portraying counter-narratives that suggest a binary of “Israeli” and “Palestinian” always at odds, these authors portray the spaces and characters in between. They disclose the anxieties of finding a sense of place in the context of a dispersed Palestinian nation, geopolitical uncertainty, social marginalization within the state, and the subtle geographies of a historic homeland that both is—and is not—one’s own.This thesis is not currently available in ORA