Remembering the Jewish Past through Song in Contemporary Tunisia

Tunisian Jews and Muslims have reclaimed the ughniyya, a once-dominant popular song form of the protectorate era, as part of their shared cultural heritage. Originally performed primarily by Tunisian Jews until World War II, these songs were denigrated during the nationalist movement but survived in diasporic communities and on Djerba through musicians like Yacoub Bsiri. Since the late 1980s, Tunisian Muslims have worked to rediscover and rehabilitate these songs, though some efforts have erased their Jewish associations, presenting them as timeless rural folklore. The ughniyya continues to be performed in both Arabic and Hebrew at the annual pilgrimage to the Ghriba synagogue on Djerba, symbolizing a nostalgic celebration of Tunisia's Jewish-Arab past.

Davis, R. F. (2017). Remembering the Jewish Past through Song in Contemporary Tunisia. Jewish-Muslim Relations in Past and Present, 242–265. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004345737_013