Singing Protest … A History of “Committed Art” in Modern Tunisia

Music styles such as rap have become a favorite medium for Tunisian youth to express their protest and hopes. Yet the legacy of protest songs dating back to previous decades is still present in the collective mind of the country’s young left-wing activists.

In 2011, the song “The President of the Country” – which was the first time Tunisians had a rap music – was widely spread on social media, at a time when popular protests were shaking the pillars of the ousted regime, and at that time it was the first musical act exposed to the corruption of the regime. Read also Tunisian writer Amin Al-Ghazi: I believe that there is a comprehensive Arab revolution, and we need freedom of expression to express our anger, cynicism and despair.It establishes for reform, democracy and comparative experiences … The first book on the Tunisian public media crisisAl-Bey Ahmed Pasha preceded Western countries … 175 years after the abolition of slavery in Tunisia Preserving memory and dialogue between two tongues … Berber stories from the Tunisian island of Djerba

The popularity of these songs, especially among the youth – where millions watch them on YouTube – is due to their approach to youth issues and touching on their concerns such as unemployment, dreams of immigration and others, in addition to their clash with the political situation to represent a loud protest voice in the country.

Protest singing

Writer Alicia Carnevale, in the report published by the Australian website The Conversation, says that since the mid-seventies and during the eighties of the last century, during the rule of Habib Bourguiba, protest songs developed as a different culture in the artistic scene. This period was characterized by economic turmoil, successive waves of protests, and political problems.

The author, the academic at Sapienza University in Rome, adds that the protest songs are a product of the cultural work carried out by left-wing parties and organizations in Tunisia, within the framework of student movements and trade union organizations.

She believes that the importance of this folk art for the left in Tunisia lies in the fact that left activists found in this kind of singing in particular a powerful tool, suitable for spreading awareness among the youth, stimulating activists and spreading revolutionary socialist ideas at the time.

Art and Politics

The writer says that these protest songs are called in Arabic the “committed song” that focuses on political and social contexts, and aims to convey a specific message.

During the seventies and eighties, artists and orchestras appeared performing this genre, and among the most prominent of these were the committed artist, Al-Hadi Few, and the Imazigen Group. They used to hold parties in universities, union headquarters and political meetings, but their songs were rarely broadcast on television and radio stations, although they were widely spread among the people.

New popular culture

During that period, these songs represented an expression of a culture contrary to the ideology that the Bourguiba regime was spreading. The late president, who came to power in 1956, was an educated, middle-class, Western-modeled person who promoted a progressive, reformist ideology. But during the last two decades of his rule, he lost much of his popularity, with the people in general and among the new intellectual and cultural elites in particular. Advertising

During this period the new radical left was influenced by Maoist ideology and Arab nationalism. Nor did they lose sight of considering that linking with the working class would be impossible without taking into account the Arab-Islamic identity of the Tunisian people.

During those years, songs were the most powerful tool for conveying political messages, and their spread was easy with the emergence of a new and cheap technology represented by the cassette recorder. The parties were also held on a tight budget and attracted hundreds of people.

The oasis and the mine

Among all the names known to perform protest songs, two groups stand out, the first of which is the musical research group, which originates from the city of Gabes in the southern Mediterranean, which is distinguished by its oases, and in which huge chemical industrial complexes have been established since the seventies. And the second group is the children of miners, which comes from Umm Al-Arayes, a town located in the state of Gafsa in the mining basin.