Bashir Khrayyef ( ar, البشير خريٌف, translit=al-Bashīr Khurayyif; April 10, 1917 – December 17, 1983) was a Tunisian writer, considered "the father of the realist novel in Tunisia." He is known for his harshly realistic descriptions of Tunisian society as well as for his use of

Tunisian Arabic Tunisian Arabic, or simply Tunisian, is a set of dialects of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Tunisia. It is known among its over 11 million speakers aeb, translit=Tounsi/Tounsiy, label=as, تونسي , "Tunisian" or "Everyday Language" to distingu ...

in the dialogues of his novels.

Early life and education

Khrayyef was born on April 10, 1917, in

Nefta Nefta (or Nafta; ) is a Tunisian municipality and an oasis in Tozeur Governorate north of the Chott el Djerid. Religious significance Nefta is considered by most Sufis to be the spiritual home of Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam; many re ...

, government of

Tozeur Tozeur ( ar, توزر, ; ber, ⵜⵓⵣⴻⵔ, Tuzər) is a city in southwest Tunisia. The city is located northwest of Chott el Djerid, in between this Chott and the smaller Chott el Gharsa. It is the capital of Tozeur Governorate. It was the ...

in southwest Tunisia. He came from a literary family; his brother was the poet Mustafa Khrayyef.

Writing career

Khrayyef's most famous historical novel, ("Night Lightning," 1961) is set in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

during 16th-century

Hafsid The Hafsids ( ar, الحفصيون ) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. who ruled Ifriqiya (western ...

rule. The novel treats the topics of slavery and racism through the love story of the protagonist, a black slave. Arguably his most influential novel, ("Dates in their Branches," 1969), is set in an oasis community in the southwest desert of Tunisia in the 1910s–1930s.Masri, Safwan. ''Tunisia: An Arab Anomaly''. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017, 212. The remoteness of the community is emphasized through the use of a local dialect of Tunisian Arabic. The book also articulates the relationship between the Tunisian labor movement and the later

independence movement Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

. His final novel, ("Your Love is Maddening," 1980) recounts an impossible love between a man and a prostitute.

Bibliography

Novels

*(1961) ''Barq al-layl'' ( (Night lightning)) *(1969) ''al-Digla fī ‘arājīnihā'' ( (A date in its cluster)) *(1980) ( (Your love is maddening)), written in 1958

Short story collections

* (1975) ''Mashmūm al-Full ('' (Jasmine bouquet)), included the stories "Khalīfat al-ʼaqraʻ" and "Maḥfaẓa al-samār" ( (The woven wallet)), previously published in the magazine ''al-Fikr'' in 1965 and 1970

Awards

* Ali Belhouane Municipal Prize, 1960 * Grand Prize for Literature and Thought, 1981 * Great Mantle of Culture, 1990

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khrayyef, Bashir 20th-century Tunisian writers Tunisian writers in Tunisian Arabic Tunisian novelists 1917 births 1983 deaths