ARBC 130 CM - Modern Arabic Prose and Poetry

This is an advanced course taught in Arabic, and all discussions, presentations, and written work will be conducted in Arabic. Students will learn vocabulary, idioms, and expressions, and will discuss their artistic meanings. This course will lay the groundwork for the student to do further study on Arab novelists and poets, or other topics of modern Arabic literature and culture. Prose: The student will read excerpts from a selection of novels, short stories, and literary essays that deal with the most important themes in contemporary Arab society. These forms of literature mirror life in the Arab World, and represent the social, political and intellectual developments. The Arabic novel explores issues of modernist, postmodern, and postcolonial themes. This is of literary and intellectual value to the student who will find in the Arabic novel and other forms of Arabic prose a rich field for comparative analyses with Western and other non-Western literature. Poetry: The course will also provide students with a broad theoretical background and representation of the diversity and richness of modern Arabic poetry. This course will explore and analyze the poetic scene of the Arab world by reading the poetry of leading Arab poets. The selected poems will focus on major themes in contemporary Arab life. The course will discuss the trends and movements in modern Arabic poetry and talk about the artistic, political, and cultural dimensions as reflected in the writing of some of the best Arab poets. By the end of the semester, students will be able to place major Arab poets into the correct theoretical and historical context and their place and role in the modern poetic movement.

Prerequisite: ARBC 044 CM.

Offered: Every year

Credit: 1

Course Number: ARBC130 CM