MEAS 330 Schedule

Schedule:

Jan 6: Introduction Jan 8: Arab Poetry

Unit one: the discovery of the West and the onset of colonialism

Jan 13: The onset of colonialism. Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti, "Marvelous legacies of biographies and events" in Louis Awad: The Literature of Ideas in Egypt, pp.8-24.

Jan 15: Rifa`a al-Tahtawi, in The Literature of Ideas in Egypt, pp.25-43. Optional reading: Hisham Sharabi, Arab Intellectuals and the West, pp.1-23.

Jan 20: Samah Seleh “The Nahda, Popular Fiction and the Politics of Translation. Optional: Hisham Sharabi, Arab Intellectuals and the West, pp. 1-23. "Taha Husayn" in Louis Awad: The Literature of Ideas in Egypt, p.130 - 142.

Unit Two: Tradition and Modernity

Jan 22: Naguib Mahfuz. Midaq Alley. Jan 27: Naguib Mahfuz. Midaq Alley& Interview with Mahfuz from The Paris Review, Summer 1992. Jan 29: Film: Umm Kulthum, A Voice Like Egypt.

Unit Three: Colonialism, post- colonialism, and the question of Identity.

Feb 3: Tayeb Salih. Season of Migration to the North. Feb 5: Tayeb Salih. Season of Migration to the North. Feb 10: The question of Identity and Arabic Music: Required Reading: TBA Feb 12: Albert Hourani. A History of Arab Peoples, pp. 373-400. Nationalism (MEAS 330)

Feb17& 19 Feb: Reading Week.

Feb 24: Feb Midterm.

Feb 26: Ghassan Kanafani. “Men in the Sun” March 3: Mahmoud Darwish.

Unit Four: Gender and sexuality in Arab society.

March 5: Assia Djebar “The Foreigner, Sister of the Foreigner Woman”, pp. 121- 128. Salwa Bakr. “That Beautiful Undiscovered Voice” pp. 57-70. March 10: Film: West Beirut. March 12: Hanan al-Shaykh. The Story of Zahra. March 17: Hanan al-Shaykh. The Story of Zahra.

Unit Five: Poverty, Ethnicity and Displacement.

March 19: Interview with Mohammed Shukri. Film: Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets. March 24: Samuel Shimon. Iraqi in Paris. March 26: Samuel Shimon. Iraqi in Paris.

March 31: General Discussion. April 2: Oral presentations. April 7: Oral presentations.

Final Paper (April 14)