The History and Memory of the Sea in Modern Tunisia: Between the Oral and the Written

​​AS-SAGHIRA BEN HAMIDA, Tārīkh al-Baḥr fī Tūnis wa-Dhākiratuh fī al-Fatra al-Ḥadītha: Bayn al-Manṭūq wa-l-Maktūb [The History and Memory of the Sea in Modern Tunisia: Between the Oral and the Written] (Doha/Beirut: ACRPS, 2024), pp. 271.

​​The history of the sea has long captivated researchers, from Carthaginian experts to scholars of the colonial period and beyond. Research on the early modern period explored piracy, prisoners, and maritime spoils. Over time, however, research expanded to maritime trade, smuggling, maritime navigation, local fishing, the role of the sea in Tunisians’ daily lives, and the official naval fleet of the Regency of Tunis.

The modern era in Tunisia is defined by two significant developments. The first was the rivalry between two major Mediterranean powers, the Ottomans and the Spanish who sought to expand their territories and assert dominance over the region, thus fuelling piracy during the latter half of the 16th century, with the Tunisian coast serving as a crucial launchpad. The second began with the 1881 French occupation of Tunisia in 1881, exposing the disparities in terrestrial and maritime military technologies in favour of the European colonial powers.

As-Saghira Ben Hamida’s work e​xplores the relations​hips between Tunisia’s coastal communities and their surroundings, and their contribution in developing or importing local maritime technologies. 

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AlMuntaqa

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