"دخلة" سيدي بوعلي في نفطة: مقاربة أنثروبولوجية لتراث صوفي في تونس

Abstract EN

This paper aims at studying the Sufism patrimony and the related practices, which is crucial to understanding the social system as a whole, especially amid the accelerating changes undergone by many Arab and Islamic countries.

The paper does not address the Sufi thought and beliefs of holy man “Sidi Bu Ali", nor the way he affected Sufism.

It mainly focuses on studying the Sufi patri- mony through the collective reproduction of “Alwalaya" (whose reference could at times be the first basic models of Islamic Sufism; at other times, just social fantasy), by shedding light on some representations and practices of “Sidi Bu Ali Zawiya".

We consider that an anthropological approach is so important as we attempt to peruse what has surrounded the emergence of what we now call “patrimony" especially in relation to Sufism, on the one hand, and the question of collective memory and the relation with the Other, on the other hand.

The paper is based mainly on ethnographic data, with theoretical dimensions being addressed whenever necessary.

It addresses the Sufi patrimony by focusing on the “Dakhlet Sidi Bu Ali" model as a kind of “narration" or “speech", a means of “communication" and “knowledge".

In this regard, we suggest that Sufi heritage be approached as a variety of oral, written and visual narration through the “social body" as a whole.

We can also say that foreseeing the probable impact of a certain “patrimony" could help to determine its form and content.

It therefore seems useful to picture the different types of patrimony as possible sequences of narration, as the represen- tations, conceptions and practices can be approached as utterances or expressions that can be used by all those interested in this field