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The Tunisian #MeToo Movement: Les Siestes du grand-père: récit d’inceste by Monia Ben Jémia as a Case Study
Abstract
The Tunisian #EnaZeda (#MeToo) movement gained momentum when a high schooler accused a newly elected member of parliament of sexually harassing her outside her school. After sharing her story on Facebook, a number of feminist collectives and organizations created Facebook groups for victims and survivors to talk about their experiences. The movement led to a public debate that reached college campuses, the mainstream media, and even literature. Monia Ben Jémia’s book Les Siestes du grand-père: récit d’inceste can be read as a product of this movement. Nédra, the main character of the book references #EnaZeda at the end of her narrative. This paper will focus on the tension between silence and survivor speech in and around the narrative. While the book cover shows a picture of the author as a young child, most of the narrative is written in the voice of a character called Nédra, and while the author’s interview with Le Monde describes the text as autobiographical, the author often downplays the importance of the genre in favor of the story line. This tension reveals the continued risks of representing vulnerability even in the wake of the #EnaZeda movement, but it also paves the way for recentering the voice of the child both in literature and public discourse.
Discipline
Literature
Geographic Area
Maghreb
Sub Area
Gender/Women's Studies