"The Heirs of Silence": Abdelhamid Larguèche's new work on Tunisia's history of slavery

Historian Abdelhamid Larguèche has unveiled his latest work, "Les héritiers du silence. Esclavage, race et post-abolition en Tunisie" (The Heirs of Silence: Slavery, Race, and Post-Abolition in Tunisia). Published in August 2026 by Santillana, the 250-page book delves into the historical mechanisms of the slave trade, racial dynamics, and the consequences of slavery's abolition in Tunisia.

Larguèche, a professor emeritus at the University of La Manouba and former Director General of Heritage at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, collaborated with philosopher Fathi Triki, who penned the preface. The book's cover features an illustration of a figure breaking free from chains, symbolizing its themes of liberation and the enduring legacy of slavery.

Notably, the book includes a call to inscribe the Stambali, a Tunisian musical and therapeutic practice, onto UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Larguèche describes Stambali as a vital vector of memory stemming from the history of the slave trade and exile, currently at risk of disappearing due to a lack of transmission.

This publication also marks the launch of the "Patrimoines de Tunisie et d’ailleurs" (Heritages of Tunisia and Elsewhere) collection, curated by Larguèche himself. The collection aims to document Tunisia's tangible and intangible heritage, with a particular focus on historically under-documented or marginalized memories. The series adopts a multidisciplinary approach, combining history, anthropology, and archaeology, and extends its comparative scope to the wider Maghreb, Mediterranean, and African regions.