[4] Béchir Khraief gave new life to the Arabic novel in the 1930s and caused a scandal by including dialog in Tunisian dialect in his first short story.
[4] Other literary figures include Moncef Ghachem, Hassan Ben Othmen, Habib Selmi, Walid Soliman and Mahmoud Messadi.
[5] Tunisian poetry is non-conformist and innovative: the language of Aboul-Qacem Echebbi opposes the lack of imagination in Arabic literature.
Francophone literature has blossomed thanks to French people living in Tunisia who founded a Tunisian literary life modeled on that of Paris.
Contrary to the pessimism of Albert Memmi, who predicted that Tunisian literature was condemned to a young death,[4] Tunisian writers like Abdelwahab Meddeb, Tahar Bekri, Mustapha Tlili, Hélé Béji, Aymen Hacen and Fawzi Mellah have broken through abroad.