Journalist by Vocation and Poet by Avocation, Dorra Chammam Reflects a Society in Transition

By Delinda C. Hanley

Chammam compares herself to American writer Toni Morrison who, Chamman says, also has to write about women. “I am almost ashamed to reveal my sensitivity. I reveal too much feminism,” she says.

The Divan, Chammam’s first book, was published in 1989. In 1997 she wrote The Mirror, which sold out in two months and is about a land where mirrors are forbidden and adults have gone crazy. Two children embark on a quest to bring back the mirror and sanity.

One of Chammam’s themes is that people no longer make the time to look at each other. Chammam says, “We just hurry. We need to switch off the world and forget the craziness. I like telling stories to children.”

In 1998 she wrote La Profanation. Both the title and its subject triggered some controversy, for it examined the condition of women. “Women do not have an easy task in life and intelligent women have an even harder job,” Chammam says. “Regardless of the eras or country in which we live, society doesn’t develop with us. Throughout the world, poor women have an endless daily fight.”

Chammam is a good example of this daily battle. She comes home exhausted from her journalistic responsibilities at Renouveau, a Tunisian daily. “When men go back home they read the paper and watch TV. When I go home, I rush to cook, do the dishes, and take care of my children. I’m happy to do it but I never get a day off or have a fixed schedule. There is never enough time. We all want to do things perfectly because we want to be seen as capable workers out on the street. We have to work ten times harder to pass the test.

“The government decrees that women are equal to men, but in real life, the social aspects always don’t follow the rules. All the laws in the world don’t require an individual man to give a woman respect. My husband is kind and patient and he ‘lets’ me travel and ‘gives’ me independence. It’s up to us to change the mentality of men, and we can start with our children.

Chammam’s poetry also draws upon her unique psychological observations of the tombs of revered Islamic religious figures. Many Tunisian villages have such patron saints who founded the village or were blessed with the grace of god or baraka. Each saint was said to be able to help people during his lifetime, and even in death is believed able to help those who visit the sanctuary or shrine in which he is buried.

“I worked for four years in a shrine as a fortuneteller and used my psychological training in my counseling work,” Chammam said. “I was always fascinated by women’s desire to visit the shrine. They say what they really think and they feel understood there. Women of every social status reveal their truths in the shrines.”

Many people don’t like to hear that, Chammam says, but they can’t change the reality of underlying beliefs. “My hero in my book returns from visiting the saint feeling purified.”

Returning to her favorite subject, poetry, Chammam continues: “If I were in paradise I would ask for a table and chair to write my poetry. I wouldn’t even ask for a computer. Poetry is a gift from God, but this love can become a handicap.”

Chammam admits also that she makes some readers angry. “My writing is hard. It scratches the ears of women. I’m trying to change people’s mentality.

“Tunisia has a vital artistic life with men and women able to express themselves and write and paint in total liberty without censorship,” Chammam continues. “It is not dangerous to be a poet in Tunisia. My book Profanation would have sent me to prison in Algeria. It’s very daring and erotic and could be seen as disturbing in Puritanical countries. Men like Profanation more than women do. Women may feel it reveals too much about them and gives away our small secrets. I exposed them, but I didn’t betray them.”

Chammam derives much satisfaction from her frequent discussions of her books on television, radio and in her newspaper articles. “Now young people see me on the road and thank me for existing and for capturing their feelings in my poetry,” Chammam explains. “The artist gives happiness to citizens. It’s a big responsibility.” In 1992 President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali gave her the Medal of Honor in recognition of her poetry. She is now working on Les anges ne répondent plus, or The Angels No Longer Answer Back. She also hopes to translate her work into English soon.

“My aim is to leave something after me. Arabs think living today is important. The future will bring an uncertain tomorrow. Tunisians are not like that. We feel immortal. We do enjoy the present but feel the future will be better. I try to convey that when you enjoy the present with clear-sightedness, it can only make the future better. The younger generation understands what I mean.”