THEMATIC SEMINAR (NEAR AND MIDDLE EAST)

The Thematic Seminar, for the master's degree in which it is offered, aims to develop a specific theme by analyzing it from the different linguistic and cultural angles present in the Near and Middle Eastern context.
For the academic year 2022-23 the theme will be: Migrant cultures and literatures in the modern Mediterranean.

1. Knowledge and understanding: ● An intermediate knowledge of literature and cultural productions related to contemporary migrations in the Mediterranean area.
2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: ● To be able to correctly use the tools of interpretative analysis concerning contemporary migrations from a cultural and literary point of view; ● To be able to carry out a critical analysis of different aspects of the cultures of the Mediterranean and the Near and Middle East; ● Knowing how to apply one's own linguistic competence for analyzing different textual and metatextual typologies.
3. Judgment skills: ● Knowing how to formulate and argue hypotheses, also developing a critical approach to the evaluation of alternative hypotheses.
4. Communication skills: ● Knowing how to communicate in a critical way the acquired knowledge; ● Knowing how to interact with the teacher and peers in a critical and respectful way.
5. Learning skills: ● Knowing how to take notes and share them collaboratively; ● Knowing how to critically consult the reference texts and the bibliography contained therein.

More specifically, the student at the end of the course will be able to critically analyze the cultures and literatures of migration in the contemporary Mediterranean in its various forms and in relation with the language in which the student is specializing.

General knowledge of the history and culture of North Africa and the Middle East.
Adequate language skills in English and in the Middle Eastern language in which the student is specializing.

MIGRANT CULTURES AND LITERATURES IN THE MODERN MEDITERRANEAN
The course is dedicated to the analysis of migration literatures and cultures in the contemporary Mediterranean (20th-21st centuries), based on a cultural-historical approach and on Memory Studies studies. In particular, we will focus on how the cultures of the southern shore of the Mediterranean - and more generally of the area of ​​the Near and Middle East - have lived and are still living forms of migration, displacement, diaspora and exile and how these experiences are elaborated and remembered through literature, cinema, the arts and different forms of heritagisation of the past.

Given the structure of the Thematic Seminar and the variety of backgrounds and interests of the students, the course will see the participation of guest speakers specialized in the various languages ​​and cultures of the Near and Middle East area (e.g. French-speaking Maghreb; Arab countries; Israel and Jewish diaspora; Iran; Turkey etc.) and in general in the studies on migration in the Mediterranean.

ARTICLES AND BOOKS
- William Boelhower e Claus Zittel, "Introduction: Literature and Migration", Annali di Ca' Foscari: serie occidentale, 54 (2020): 9-21.
- Nicola Labanca,"La decolonizzazione del Mediterraneo: una chiave per capire il presente", Novecento, 4 (2015), accessibile all'indirizzo: http://www.novecento.org/dossier/mediterraneo-contemporaneo/la-decolonizzazione-del-mediterraneo-una-chiave-per-capire-il-presente/ .
- Olivia Harrison, "Maghreb as Method", b2o, dicembre 2018, accessibile all'indirizzo: https://www.boundary2.org/2018/12/olivia-c-harrison-thinking-the-maghreb-with-said-and-khatibi/ .
- Maria Chiara Rioli, L'archivio Mediterraneo (Roma: Carocci, 2021), passim.
- Predrag Matvejevic, Breviario mediterraneo (Milano: Garzanti, 2004), passim.
- William Safran, "Diasporas in Modern Societies: Myths of Homeland and Return", Diaspora, 1/1 (1991): 83-99.

LITERATURE
- Murid al-Barghuti, Ho visto Ramallah (Nuoro: Ilisso, 2005).
- Eli Amir, E' questa la terra promessa? (Firenze: Giuntina, 2015).
- Mostafa Ensafi, Ritornerai a Isfahan (Firenze: Ponte33, 2019).
- Hisham Matar, Il ritorno (Torino: Einaudi, 2018).
- Amara Lakhous, Scontro di civiltà per un ascensore a piazza Vittorio (Roma: e/o, 2006).
- Alice Zeniter, L'arte di perdere (Torino: Einaudi, 2018).
- Hakan Günday, Ancora (Roma: Marcos y Marcos, 2016).

MOVIES
- Alexandre Arcady, Le coup de sirocco (1979).
- Andrea Segre, L'ordine delle cose (2017).

It is advisable to read (in the parts relating to the course) a general text on the history of the Mediterranean, for example:
- David Abulafia, Il grande mare: storia del Mediterraneo (Milano: Mondadori, 2017).

Further references will be provided in class.

All students are required to read all the reference texts, including novels (see reference texts - LITERATURE).

The final exam will consist of an essay (2500 words) to be delivered via email on the date of the exam, on a topic previously agreed with the lecturer.

Lectures, participation in seminars and conferences, discussion groups.

Italian

Non-attending students are asked to contact the teacher at the beginning of the semester.

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "International cooperation" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development