The course aims to introduce the student to Arabic literary production from pre-Islamic times to the Nahḍa. Upon completion of the course, the student will:
1. acquire a thorough knowledge of a selection of literary texts in Arabic particularly representative of the literary genres and currents addressed;
2. strengthen language skills through the reading, interpretation and analysis of literary and critical texts in Arabic;
3. develop critical and methodological tools for literary text analysis;
4. master the historical and social context of literary production with reference to pre-Islamic, pre-modern and modern eras.
2nd-year students: having passed the Arabic Language I examination.
3rd-year students: having passed the Arabic Language II examination.
Weekly lectures, reading and analysis of literary texts in Arabic, presentation of lectures by students, participation in seminars.
The exam consists of an oral test divided into two parts: the first part is devoted to testing student’s knowledge related to the historical and cultural context, literary genres and authors addressed during lectures; the second part consists of reading, translating and analyzing one or more literary excerpts in Arabic previously discussed in class. The two parts of the oral test have equal weight in the final assessment. The assessment considers the preparation of the bibliography assigned in the Reading List, the materials provided through the Moodle platform for e-learning, and the presentation of a student group lecture. Registration on the Moodle page is mandatory to take the exam.
The main themes that will be addressed are as follows:
- The pre-Islamic era and the qasida.
- The advent of Islam: historical context; the Quran as a literary prose text.
- The Umayyad era: two conceptions of love at the antipodes in poetic expression.
- The Abbasid era and the changes in the socio-political context: developments in the genres of prose and poetry in the Abbasid era.
- Definition of the concept of adab.
- Travel literature and its main exponents.
- The genre of the maqāmāt.
- The era of the Inhitāt and The Thousand and One Nights.
- The Nahḍa and the progressive redefinition of the notion of adab.
- The modern Arabic literary field beyond the concepts of iqtibās and iḥyā’.
- Interactions and exchanges with Europe.
- The pioneers/pioneers of Nahḍa and their most important works.
- Translations, journals, literary salons.
- The new actors of the literary field: the role of women, the Mahğar intellectuals.
- The literary genres of modernity: novel, short story and drama.
- The formation of the modern Arab literary canon and the emergence of the nationalist discourse.
The program is the same for attending and nonattending students.
For 3rd-Year Students, a 20-hour Arabic Literature Seminar is planned, during which the analysis of literary texts in Arabic covered in the official course will be explored in depth.
Attendance at the official course is strongly recommended. For Year III students, it includes the 20 hours of the Arabic Literature Seminar.
The syllabus is the same for attending and non-attending students, but the latter are required to contact the lecturer at the beginning of class and, in any case, at least two months before the exam.
Out-of-class students are required to contact the lecturer before appearing for the exam in order to verify the syllabus to be prepared.
Registration on the Moodle platform is mandatory to take the exam.
Please refer to the Leganto platform for the course bibliography.
