The Oral Discourse of Religious Minorities and Coexistence in the Ottoman Tunisia

Abstract

The written form was widespread in Ottoman Tunisia, whether at the center or amongst local groups and minorities that made up Tunisia at the time. For some purposes and spheres of life, however, writing was inextricably linked with orality. In his study, Muhammad al–Mremi examines the local history of the island of Djerba situated off the southeastern coast of Tunisia, where oral traditions were prevalent and embedded in the heritage of the local communities that make up the inhabitants of Djerba, including Ibadis, Berber, African Arabs, Arabs, Maliki Sunnis and Jews amongst others. The study explores a number of questions related to the rights of these local communities and how oral traditions guaranteed them. Al-Mremi tackles the nature of the social relations as reflected in the oral narratives explored, observing the circumstances in which the oral transformed into written form, in a situation imposed by the social bond underlying coexistence on the island of Djerba in the modern period. Orality, asserts the author, contributed to the organization of the people of Djerba, founded the hierarchy, and defined clear and precise social relations, which represented the rules of the game for the various social actors.