141002 SE Cultural and Scientific History of the Arab World (2023S)

This course introduces students to a selection of advanced texts to enhance their understanding of textual analysis and linguistic expression and to develop their knowledge of literary historical and critical approache combines classical and modern genres of Arabic literature, introducing students to intersections in theme and aesthetics, and the central place of pre-modern literary heritage in the emergence of modern literature. Students will be introduced to a wide range of poetry and prose, studying their contexts and how they might be read comparatively. In this respect, they will be expected to engage with a variety of historical and theoretical and critical readings in addition to their reading of the primary material. We will also read pre-modern texts, from poetry to animal fables to philosophical fantasies, in which animals convey moral messages, reflect attitudes to nature and culture, and embody broader Islamic views on cosmology and the place of humans within the world. More broadly, the course aims to expand students’ knowledge of the different registers of literary Arabic, improve their ability to understand complex grammatical constructions, and develop their understanding of interpretive techniques. Set texts, excerpted from longer works and covered in each participatory seminar-style lecture, form the basis of the course content, and will be provided on Moodle. For pre-modern and contemporary works, students are expected to read the texts in full in translation, whenever possible