ARABIC LITERATURE 2

"Arabic Literature 2" is one of the characterising courses of the second year Arab Studies curriculum of the Bachelor's Degree course in Languages, Cultures and Societies of Asia and North Africa.
Its educational goals concern building skills in the analysis of literary texts and, secondly, language proficiency.
The course provides a general introduction to the history of modern and contemporary Arabic literature, covering the period from the beginning of the 19th century to the present.
It will deal with both narrative prose and poetry, explaining the development of genres and subgenres thereof, and presenting the main figures, themes, currents and trends of the Nahdah (Renaissance), of the post-colonial era and of the current phase of globalization up to the aftermath of the "Arab Uprisings" .

Students wil be able to:
- know and understand the tension between tradition and modernity in modern and contemporary Arabic literary production; the role of translations of Western works and the contribution of Mahjar (diaspora) literature; feminist and women's writing; the development of both prose and poetry; the most relevant themes, trends, currents and literary figures of the period under examination; Arabic literary terminology and culturospecific terms referring to particular phenomena;
- explain the literary phenomena dealt with during the course;
- describe each of the most significant works introduced during the course, contextualizing it and indicating its contents and style;
- analyse literary texts;
- read and translate the Arabic texts analysed during the course;
- use Arabic literary terminology.

Knowledge of Arabic morphosyntax and lexicon.

1. The beginning of the modernisation of Arab culture: European colonialism and the Nahda (Renaissance) movement; the press and literary magazines; the revival of the maqāmāt; the importance of translations of Western literature; the controversy between conservatives and innovators; identity and alterity.
2. The intellectual debate in Egypt and in the Syro-Lebanese region. Taha Husayn's oeuvre and thought.
3. The genesis and development of the Arabic novel. The influence of Mahjar (emigration) literature. Feminist and women's writing.
4. The main poetic trends from neo-classicism to the free verse.
5. The Egyptian novel. Naguib Mahfuz and his legacy.
6. The 1948 and 1967 defeats. New lexicon and new aesthetics: Nakba, Ghurba, Manfà, Naksa. Palestinian literature. Syrian Adab al-sujun.
7. Poetic trends of the second half of the Twentieth century.
8. Post-colonial narratives: autobiography, the short story and the novel.
9. The most recent literary production. The Arab poetry in the aftermath of the Arab Uprisings
10. An overwiev of the Gulf Literature between cultural Soft Power and dissent voices.

Short biographies and excerpts of some Arabic texts will be read and analyzed in the original language, whereas others will be proposed in Italian translation.

- Toelle, H., Zakharia, K., Alla scoperta della letteratura araba. Dal VI secolo ai nostri giorni, Lecce, Argo, 2010, pp. 217-435,
or Allen, Roger, An Introduction to Arabic Literature, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2000 (only the chapters/parts related to the planned programme)
- Capezio O., Chiti E., Corrao F. M., Sibilio, In guerra non mi cercate. Poesia araba delle rivoluzioni e oltre, Le Monnier Università, Milano 2018
- Further Texts provided by the teacher.

Recommended further readings:

- AA.VV., Antologia della letteratura araba contemporanea. Dalla nahda a oggi, a cura di Maria Avino, Isabella Camera d'Afflitto e Alma Salem, Roma, Carocci, 2015.
- Allen, Roger, The Arabic Novel: An Historical and Critical Introduction, Syracuse (NY), Syracuse University Press, 1994.
- Camera D'Afflitto, Isabella, Letteratura araba contemporanea. Dalla Nahdah ad oggi, n.e., Roma, Carocci, 2007.
El-Ariss (ed.), The Arab Renaissance. A Bilingual Anthology of the Nahda, New York, Modern Language Association of America, 2018.
- Sibilio, Simone, Nakba. La memoria letteraria della catastrofe palestinese, Roma, Edizioni Q, 2015.

Students will present at the exam one of the literary works mentioned in the Textbook or another work on their own choice.

Suggested readings of Arabic poetry :
AAVV, In un mondo senza cielo. Antologia della poesia palestinese, Giunti, Firenze 2017;
Colombo V (a cura di), Non ho peccato abbastanza. Antologia di poetesse arabe contemporanee, Mondadori, Milano 2007
Adonis, Memoria del Vento, Guanda Editore 1998
Adonis, Ecco il mio nome, Donzelli, Roma, 2009
al-Bayyati, La luna di Shiraz, San Marco dei Giustiniani, Genova 2000
Bayrakdar F., Il luogo stretto, Nottetempo, Roma 2016
Bennis M., Il dono del vuoto, San Marco dei Giustiniani, Genova 2001
Darwish M., Trilogia palestinese, Feltrinelli, Milano, 2014 (prosa e poesia)
Darwish M., Stato d'Assedio, Edizioni Q, Roma, 2014
al-Fayturi M., Canti d'Africa, San Marco dei Giustiniani, Genova 2005
Mikhail D., La guerra lavora duro, San Marco dei Giustiniani, Genova 2011
Moksidi M., Il guardiano del nulla e altre poesie, Cafoscarina, Venezia 2018
Qabbani N., Le mie poesie più belle, Jouvence, Milano 2016
Qabbani N., Il fiammifero è in mano mia e le vostre piccole nazioni sono di carta, San Marco dei Giustiniani, Genova 2001
al-Sayyab, Poesie di Badr Shakir as-Sayyab, Istituto per l'Oriente, Roma, 1968.
Zaqtan Gh., In cammino invocano i fratelli. Versi scelti, Edizioni Q, Roma, 2019.

Theater:
Ruocco M, Storia del teatro arabo: dalla nahḍah a oggi, Carocci, Roma, 2010.

Oral exam: students will be asked to answer to questions about authors, literary works and phenomena dealt with during the course, to read and translate some excerpts of the Arabic texts examined in class; and to offer an analysis of one of the novels or poetry collections on their own choice.

Lectures. PowerPoint presentations. E-Sources. Reading, translation and analysis of the texts provided during class.

Italian

oral