Tunisian women of the book.

Image: Sophie Bessis, Carthage. May 2014. ‘Are books any use? They have to be put to some use. So I gather up words and I put them in books. At least they don’t get lost.’ 

Tunisian women of the book. Encounters with remarkable women 

Exhibition by Dr Dora Carpenter-Latiri in collaboration with Simon Sandys, University of Brighton.

During the academic year 2013/14 Dr Carpenter-Latiri conducted fieldwork in Tunisia and France, meeting, interviewing and taking the photo-portrait of women writers, women academics, women editors, women artists, 15 in all, who have contributed to the production of books and who all have a strong connection with Tunisia: some were born in Tunisia, some chose to live in Tunisia, and some simply chose a Tunisian identity for themselves. For this project the women are called ‘Tunisian Women of the Book’, by analogy with the Arab-Islamic expression ‘People of the Book’ that refers generically to the three revealed religions.

Using oral history methodology Dr Carpenter-Latiri interviewed and recorded the testimonies of these fifteen Tunisian women of the book who spoke of their life histories and their coming out as writers, editors, artists. The project sheds light on their individual experiences and on the practicalities of time, space and visibility, either in Tunisia or in migration, with a comparison between the era of dictatorship/censorship and the post-Revolution struggle for freedom of expression and gender equality. The project examines research questions about the journey of women writers and many of the answers are transferrable to other art forms in Tunisia or elsewhere. 

The preparation for the collection of narratives during fieldwork was done with Dr Sam Carroll; the photographic preparation for fieldwork and the final selection and editing was done with Simon Sandys. The French text was translated by Edwin Carpenter.

This research project won funding from the University of Brighton sabbatical scheme and is leading to exhibitions and talks (Toronto at NeMla conference; France and Tunisia in 2015). Dr Carpenter-Latiri is currently also finalising a monograph.