Taifa: A Journey of Integration beyond the Subaltern Narrative

Abstract: This article explores a unique type of songs performed by a Black minority musical group in southeastern Tunisia. Taifa, a group of Black singers, mainly from the rural working class appeared as a response to the economic marginalization of Blacks after the abolition of slavery in Tunisia in 1846. It explores the way this musical group developed and how it came to be associated with the norms of respectability among the local society. It also delves into the themes of Taifa songs that, I contend, show an incremental journey of integration into the predominant Arab/Berber majority and an adjustment to Tunisia’s social and political changes, which were reflected in the changes in the themes of Taifa songs after the Tunisian Revolution.