This project present works of Judeo-Arabic Tunisian literature that have been previously unstudied and unavailable in translation. It’s based on a qualitative study of a number of works divided by genre. It will present translations of  malzumat (satirical ballads), 22 qinot (laments), 39 ghnayat (songs), 10 hikayat and deeds of righteous men (fiction).

We will reveal: How social identity correlates with linguistic identity? How were the Tunisian Jewish authors of these works part of a permanent tension between identity and belief; between mobility and adaptation? What is the double link between their writing and their identity; between identity construction and intercultural and linguistic dialogue?

This Tunisian Judeo-Arab corpus is becoming more and more vulnerable because its elements are more than ever threatened by forgetting, political and social influences, emigration, and deterioration. To what extent are linguistic unification policies in Tunisia a frequent source of incomprehension between the majority group and the linguistic minority? How do they give ethnic minorities the feeling of loss of identity? How to preserve the Judeo-Tunisian cultural and linguistic heritage to contribute to the national cultural wealth?