Topics in Arabic Literature and Culture

MES

76900

Topics in Arabic Literature and Culture

This topics course may examine the literary culture of a particular period and region such as the literature of medieval Iberian Peninsula and North Africa or contemporary Arab novels in translation or Arab cinema. For a course on Al-Andalus, for example, students read and discuss important examples of Arabic, Hebrew, and Latinate literary culture and examine their interactions. They examine how these cultures intersected and affected one another, and how Muslim Spain has come to occupy an important place in the imaginations of contemporary Muslims, Jews, and Christians. Students also consider the drawing of the contemporary divide/border between Europe and North Africa, the historical reasons for it, and its consequences. For Arab Cinema, for example, students examine the relationship between the development of cinema in Egypt and elsewhere and the region's colonial and post-colonial struggles. Additionally, students focus on the role of melodrama, the importance of music and dance, the phenomenon of co-production, and the treatment of gender and sexuality. These courses are taught entirely in English. No knowledge of Arabic is necessary.

All Terms

Graduate School Graduate

Yes

030893