INTELLECTUAL HISTORY AND TEXTUAL PRACTICES (ARABIC)

The course aims to stimulate reflection on the dialogic relationship between modernity and tradition with particular attention to the field of literary production, and specifically to the concept of canon and its reinterpretations, through examples of rewriting of works of traditional Arabic literature and the reuse of textual models that are proper to it.

The student will acquire familiarity with the tools of textual analysis, as well as the mastery of a specialized language. It will acquire the ability to contextualize texts historically and generically and to grasp their connections with the broader context of intellectual history, using the tools for bibliographical research and textual analysis techniques; must be able to independently carry out research and in-depth studies and to present the results in a clear and detailed manner.

Knowledge of Standard Arabic; notions of the history of pre-modern and modern Arabic literature.

The course will focus on literary forms and traditional motifs of pre-modern Arabic literature and on their re-use and the attribution of new meanings in modern Arabic literature through the case study of the work of 'Izz al-Din al-Madani (Tunis, 1938-). The analysis of some particularly significant works will allow deepening the dynamics of the activity of intellectual renewal and the tension between tradition and innovation in the literary spaces of modern Tunisia, also in relation to intellectual models linked to colonial history.

Texts in Arabic: selected passages from:
Alf layla wa-layla
al-Madani, Khurafàt, Tunisi, 1986
al-Madani, Min hikayat hadha l-zaman,Tunisi 1990

Secondary literature:
Fontaine, J., Vingt ans de littérature tunisienne 1956-1975, Tunis 1977
Fontaine, J., Aspects de la littérature tunisienne 1976-1983, Tunis, 1985
Hamori, A., On the Art of Medieval Arabic Literature, Princeton, 1974 (selected passages)
Jolles, A. Forme semplici, Mursia 1980 (selected passages)
Ghersetti, A., Letteratura sperimentale e rapporto con la tradizione nei racconti di ʿIzz al-Dīn al-Madanī, in “Oriente Moderno”, 16 (77) n.s., 1997, numero monografico: Le letterature del Maghreb: recupero della tradizione o risposta all'egemonia culturale?, pp. 105-123.
Ghersetti, A., Min ḥikāyāt hāḏā al-zamān di ʿIzz al-Dīn al-Madanī, “Annali di Ca' Foscari” 30 (1991), S.O. 22, pp. 55-72.

Further bibliographical references will be given during the course

Test mode includes the presentation of a paper (Power Point) by the student. The paper will be presented and discussed in the classroom. Moreover, test mode includes a discussion during which the students will demonstrate knowledge of the topics developed during the course and to know how to expose them in a formal way.

Lectures and seminars; Power Point presentations.

Italian

The course includes reading texts in Arabic.

oral