THE USE OF ARABIC VARIETIES IN A TUNISIAN NOVEL: THE CASE OF TAOUFIK BEN BRIK’S KAWASAKI

A number of scholars have pointed out how, in contemporary Arabic literature, authors use mixed styles and varieties, intentionally and overtly or in a disguised manner, for stylistic or expressive purposes. The use of standard and vernacular varieties of Arabic in literary prose is deeply linked to the author’s aim; for instance, it is well known that the dialect can be used in dialogues, or in indirect discourse to change the point of view offered, to express a certain function, etc. Kawasaki is a novel published in 2014 by the Tunisian writer Taoufik Ben Brik and defined as a marwiyya by the author himself. It is set in a dystopic reality: a dry barren Tunisia whose society is corrupt and traps human beings in it. Kawasaki is the name of the protagonist’s motorbike, which leads him on a complex physical/literal and metaphorical journey across Tunisia, during which nonsensical thoughts assail him. All these elements are reflected in the illogical language used by Ben Brik who combines and alternates Tunisian and Standard Arabic as well as mixed elements in his writing and does not disdain to insert of some regional dialectal features. In this paper, I will analyse some examples of language variation in the novel with a focus on the functions of fuṣḥā, dāriǧa and mixed elements in narration.