Soumaya Abdellatif is an assistant professor of sociology at Ajman University. Graduated from Strasbourg University in France , she is deputy Head of the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Center at Ajman University since November 2021 and member of the Research Council. She is also a member of ISA (International Sociological Association) and member of the Project Redemar (Interdisciplinary Network of studies on Demography of the Arab World) awarded in September 2021 by the ANR (French National Agency for Research). She is a founding member of the Center of Anthropology and African studies in Sousse with Bayrot University (Germany). She participated to many Doctorial Schools and trainings in Switzerland, Canada, France, Tunisia and Jordan. She coordinated regional studies in MENA and She is external Gender expert in CAWTAR, (Center of Arab Women for Training and Research) and UNDP. She is interested in parenthood, gender issues, kinship, citizenship, cultural practices and migratory identities.
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The paper examines the meanings of the new configuration of Sufi music through "Al Ziara" performances and the intense youth interest in this musical genre, through crosscutting with the issue of cultural belonging and shaping the salient features of identity given the intertwining of the Sufi chanting and its related practices with popular culture. Based on a qualitative approach, in which were applied half-directed interviews technique and focus groups with 20 young men and women from different states of the Republic of Tunisia, the study pointed out the role of Sufi music in its results dissolving the dichotomy between tradition and modernity. This tendency is manifested through the restoration of cultural elements inherent in the cultural heritage at the spiritual and social level alike, but through the cultural adaptation and renewal of old forms, as well as through the embrace of the ancient and the modern at the technical level. The study revealed the relationship between the resonance that Sufi music senses when represented in “Al Ziara” performances, and the need and desire to belonging despite the different symbolic value of this musical kind and its purposes in terms of its individual (social escalation) and collective (new social links) functions. Keywords: Sufi music, civilization, visit, identity, popular culture, Tunisian youth, belonging.