In a country that is starting anew
In a country that is starting over: a journey through Tunisia after the revolution
- october 2015
- Dumont-Reiseverlag
- 330 pages
- Language: German
- Price: € 14.99 * € 12.99 (e-book)
- ISBN-13: 978-3770182725
- The book is available at amazon
From his small rented apartment in Tunis, where he lives among car mechanics, carpenters and kiosk owners, Gerald Drißner sets off by shared cab, rental car or on foot to explore the country where the Arab Spring began in December 2010. A revolution named after the fragrant national flower that can be bought on every street corner: Jasmine.
Together with the people, the author experiences the waiting everywhere in Tunisia; the waiting for the breakthrough, for the departure from the standstill and the beginning of the future, he learns of the longing for happiness and money and of occasional doubts as to whether it was right to have overthrown a dictator.
On his way between the Mediterranean and the desert, he even ventures into the mountainous regions of the Algerian border area that are threatened by terrorists, visits remote villages where the last Berber families live and historical sites that are gathering dust almost undiscovered in the landscape, or the village from which African refugees cross over to Lampedusa in overcrowded boats.
Drißner’s strengths are his precise powers of observation, his unbiased and open-minded approach to all life situations, his dense portraits of the most diverse people he meets – his trip to Tunisia is both a sensitive and penetrating documentation of the times.
A clever look at Tunisia (...) Living in Tunisia or traveling to the country is not easy at the moment, as this well-researched book makes clear. However, it offers special experiences, precisely because many things are in a state of upheaval and some things are on the move. However, Drißner is immune to developing an overly romanticized attitude of authenticity.
Drißner takes a look at the inner regions of Tunisia. A journey into reality.
A book that was written entirely in the aftermath of the Arab Spring.
Tunisia, from his small rented apartment in Tunis to the furthest corners of the country. The encounters with smugglers, farmers and revolutionaries and the conversations in the coffee houses allow the reader to experience everyday life in Tunisia after the revolution.
Listen now: Radio interview with Gerald Drißner
