AFRS 109 - The Self and the Western Other in Modern Arabic Literature

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

Drawing on multidisciplinary social science scholarship, literary works of fiction, poetry, and autobiography, this course explores Middle Eastern and North African articulations of personal, national and cultural identity, from the late nineteenth century until the present. We examine the logic, method, and enduring legacy of imperialism and orientalism in the region through critical discourses about colonial hybridity, border crossing, and the post-colony as a “contact zone” (Pratt). Texts cover different countries, periods, class, gender, intellectual and political positionalities, from across the Arabic-speaking regions in Africa and Asia. Readings are in English translation and may include works by Fatima Mernissi (Morocco); Mouloud Feraoun and Assia Djebar (Algeria); Albert Memmi (Tunisia-France); Ibrahim al-Koni (Lybia); Yahia Haqqi, Tawfik al Hakim, and Leila Ahmed (Egypt); Tayeb Salih and Leila Aboulela (Sudan); Abdul Rahman Munif (Jordan-Saudi Arabia); Khalil Hawi and Hanan Al-Shaykh (Lebanon); and many more! Mootacem Mhiri.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS