The poetics of confrontation : Fadhel Jaibi and the state in pre-revolutionary Tunisia

Abstract

This paper analyses the poetics of confrontation used by theatre director Fadhel Jaibi, particularly through his performance Yahia-Yaïh-Amnesia. It uses Michel DeCerteau's concept of 'tactic' and 'strategy' from his book, The Practice of Everyday Life, as a framework for analysis in order to show how Jaibi used performance as his tactic to oppose the regime's strategies in pre-revolutionary Tunisia, creating thereby a poetics of confrontation to challenge both the regime and the people who were subjected to it. It shows how Jaibi constructed the elements underpinning his poetic sof performance by fusing the texts produced by Jalila Baccar with the physical work of the actors, playing particularly on rhythms of speech, action and sound. It explains how Jaibi integrated these elements into a politics of confrontation which included the audience. It discusses how, through his artistic work, Jaibi obliged the audience to confront the prevailing repressive reality as well as society's acceptance of the existing political situation and social norms. His poetics of confrontation targeted a change in perception, which rejected the limits imposed by the regime and coercive social forces in favour of democracy, anticipating and accompanying the social upheaval provoked by the Tunisian revolution in 2011.