LEARNING OUTCOMES

- It intends to provide an overview of the main narrative trends in the twentieth century in relation to the political and socio-cultural evolution, analyse the most representative and relevant themes, authors and works of that period, as well as identify their specificity in the modern and contemporary Arabic literary context.

The course offers students methodological knowledge and develops critical thinking that enable the understanding of other phenomena, authors and works from the same period.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

- Provide students with an in-depth knowledge of modern Arabic literature in general, the main trends, the literary currents and texts of modern and contemporary Egyptian literature;
- Provide analytical and interpretation skills;
- Stimulate students to reflect on some socio-literary, political and linguistic issues;
- Broaden the knowledge of lexis, phraseology and syntactic structures of Standard Arabic through the reading and the analysis of some passages.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures and seminars. Students will be asked to participate in class discussions, to read and comment on several selected passages, both in Italian and in Arabic.

Unless otherwise indicated, the lessons in the second semester will be held in person.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

- It is a 36-hour course (6 credits) and corresponds to the second part of Arabic literature II a.a. 2022/2023. It will be held in the second semester.

- Students who choose Arabic literature III worth 9 CFU will also be required to agree with their professor on a topic, in addition to those listed in the program, and to prepare a presentation of it. Topics can range from modern and contemporary poetry and drama to the fiction of a specific Arab country.

This part deals with the evolution of the novel in Egypt and in other Arab countries in relation to the crucial events that have shaped the contemporary history of the Arab world and in particular the process of decolonisation, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the crisis of the post-colonial regimes and the political and socio-cultural changes in the Arab world in the second half of the 20th century.

- The following works will be covered:

• Bidāya wa-nihāya (The Beginning and the End 1949) by Naǧīb Maḥfūẓ (Egypt);
• Riǧāl fī l-šams (Men in the Sun 1963) by Ġassān Kanafānī (Palestine);
• Mawsim al-hiğrah ilà al-šamāl  (Season of Migration to the North 1967) by al-Ṭayyib Ṣāliḥ (Sudan);
• al-Ḫubz al-ḥāfī (For Bread Alone 1972) by Muḥammad Šukrī (Morocco);
• Bayrūt ’75 (Bayrut 75 - 1975) by Ġāda Sammān (Ghada Samman) (Syria);
• al-Karnak (Karnak Café 1971-74) by Naǧīb Maḥfūẓ (Egypt);
• Sāq al-Bambū (The Bamboo Stalk 2012) by Sa‘ūd al-San‘ūsī (Kuwait).

N.B .: Students must read at least two works of their choice (novels or anthologies of short stories or poems), translated from Arabic into Italian or English, and must be able to expose and analyse them in depth in the exam.

- The syllabus is the same for non-attending students. Bibliographical material and texts covered during the course will be available on Aulaweb.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Isabella Camera d’Afflitto, Letteratura araba contemporanea. Dalla nahdah a oggi, Carocci, Roma, 2007;
• Isabella Camera d’Aflitto, Scrittori arabi del Novecento, Bompiani, Milano, 2002;
• Toelle H., Zakaria K., Alla scoperta della letteratura araba. Dal vi secolo ai nostri giorni. Argo, Lecce, 2010;
• Avino M, Camera d’Afflitto I, Salem A. (ed.), Antologia della letteratura araba contemporanea, Carocci, Roma, 2015;
• Starkey, Paul, Modern Arabic Literature, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2006.

N.B .: Students must read at least two works of their choice (novels or anthologies of short stories or poems), translated from Arabic into Italian or English, and must be able to expose and analyse them in depth in the exam.