Quartiers et faubourgs de la médina de Kairouan. Des mots aux modes de spatialisation

Abstract

Districts and Suburbs of the Kairouan Medina. From Words to Modes of Spatialisation The divisions of urban space in the Tunisian city of Kairouan are supported by a specific symbolism and history. Whereas the term «district» {houma) is used to designate the intra-muros city and the term «suburb» (rbat) applies only to the extra-muros area where mainly newcomers dwell, the first entity suggests dwelling in the city centre while the second expresses a borderline position. An ethnographic and historical survey shows that a change took place during the 19th and 20th centuries. It consisted of extending the notion of houma to include two major suburbs of Kairouan. namely al-Giuéblia and al- Jéblia. just as it gradually resulted in a proliferation of suburbs of which there are more than twenty today. In Kairouan. the suburb or rbaî is a closed or open alley that is always situated outside the walls. It serves as the dwelling place of one or more family lines, usually of non-Kairouan origin. As early as the 19th century, Western travellers mentioned the existence of a suburb of Zlass which received Bedouins from the surrounding region . who had first come to settle outside the ramparts before moving inside. At the end of the protectorate (1881), the : French administrative authority wished : to clear tribal and marabou territories. , This objective was achieved after independence (1956). in turn producing other divisions and city words that generated, in their wake, particular: modes of spatalisation and urbanity.