Modern Arabic Literature iin Translation

A study of Arabic novels and short stories to see how modern prose developed to express, confront, and challenge social, political, religious, and aesthetic issues in contemporary Arab society. We will examine themes such as gender, colonialism and post-colonialism, religion, "modernity,' Israel/Palestine, language, and resistance. The course will also deal with issues of genre itself, examining Arabic fiction's classcial roots and modern innovations; we will consider readings of these works on multiple levels, and by avoiding strict genre categorization, students will learn to better understand and appreciate the rich complexity of literary texts.

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