Bashir Khrayyef (; April 10, 1917 â December 17, 1983) was a Tunisian writer, considered "the father of the realist novel in Tunisia." He is known for his harshly realistic descriptions of Tunisian society as well as for his use of Tunisian Arabic in the dialogues of his novels.
Khrayyef was born on April 10, 1917, in Nefta, government of Tozeur in southwest Tunisia. He came from a literary family; his brother was the poet Mustafa Khrayyef.
Khrayyef's most famous historical novel, ("Night Lightning," 1961) is set in Tunis during 16th-century Hafsid rule. The novel treats the topics of slavery and racism through the love story of the protagonist, a black slave.
Arguably his most influential novel, ("Dates in their Branches," 1969), is set in an oasis community in the southwest desert of Tunisia in the 1910sâÂÂ1930s. The remoteness of the community is emphasized through the use of a local dialect of Tunisian Arabic. The book also articulates the relationship between the Tunisian labor movement and the later independence movement.
His final novel, ("Your Love is Maddening," 1980) recounts an impossible love between a man and a prostitute.