ABSTRACT

The prediction that the nation of Tunisia would initiate a walk towards democracy was not on anyone’s mind. In the context of two draconian regimes and a colonial past, the 2010 Arab Spring brought significant changes to Tunisia, observable mainly in freedom of expression and association. This helped to create and shape a space wherein Tunisians’ daily lives reflect the cultural juxtaposition of an Islamic heritage with a secular propensity. This paper examines the content of Tunisian cultural memory from youths’ perspectives on the past, cultural icons, and nostalgia. It argues that Tunisian youths’ disenchantment with the socio-political life in Tunisia and its impact on their feeling of belonging hinges on a sense of fracture or discontinuity in the nation’s cultural memory, considered the blueprint of Tunisianité or national identity. The paper demonstrates that despite youths’ hybrid culture, influenced by ‘globalization’ and ‘glocalization,’ the majority of surveyed youth value, inter alia, family life, and identify with the Islamic culture and religion. Tunisia’s youth may know little of their pre-colonial and post-colonial history, but Tunisians should reengage with their young constituency through education and a cultural memory that binds generations. This will ensure that the Tunisian culture does not absorb western values and ideals in the name of progress.

摘要

任何人都没有想到突尼斯将开始走向民主的预测。在两个严厉的政权和殖民历史的背景下，2010 年阿拉伯之春给突尼斯带来了重大变化，主要体现在言论和结社自由方面。这有助于创造和塑造一个空间，突尼斯人的日常生活反映了伊斯兰遗产与世俗倾向的文化并置。本文从年轻人对过去、文化偶像和怀旧的角度审视突尼斯文化记忆的内容。它认为，突尼斯青年对突尼斯社会政治生活的觉醒及其对他们归属感的影响取决于国家文化记忆中的断裂或不连续感，这被认为是突尼斯的蓝图或民族认同。该论文表明，尽管青年是混合文化，受“全球化”和“全球本地化”的影响，但大多数接受调查的青年尤其重视家庭生活，并认同伊斯兰文化和宗教。突尼斯的年轻人可能对他们的前殖民和后殖民历史知之甚少，但突尼斯人应该通过教育和凝聚几代人的文化记忆与他们的年轻选民重新接触。这将确保突尼斯文化不会以进步的名义吸收西方价值观和理想。