Module ARAB3021: 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY ARABIC LITERATURE

Department: Modern Language and Cultures (Arabic)

ARAB3021: 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY ARABIC LITERATURE

Prerequisites

• Arabic Language 2B (ARAB2002) or Arabic Language 2B [for those taking a year abroad] ARAB2032 ) or an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Corequisites

• Arabic Language 4B (ARAB3012)

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• The module aims to introduce students to the study of modern Arabic literature through readings and discussion of key texts of narrative prose and poetry from the 19th and 20th centuries.
• It aims to introduce students to the different types of literary techniques, languages and themes employed by the various writers and poets studied.
• It aims to provide a survey of the interaction between the various genres in modern Arabic literature, and an introduction to the relationship between modern Western and Arabic literatures.

Content

• The following main areas will be discussed in the course of the module:
• The origins and development of the 19th-century Arabic literary revival (nahda).
• European literary influences and their impact on Arab writers and poets.
• Poetry in 20th Century Arabic literature: the main schools, including the Neoclassical, the Romantics, and the Modernists
• Prose fiction, with particular reference to the short story in different parts of the Arab world.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will be familiar in general terms with some of the modern literary genres of Arabic literature, with particular emphasis on poetry and short stories.
• By the end of the course, students will have acquired a detailed knowledge of a selected number of representative texts covering the main themes and techniques of the poets and writers studied, and will be able to discuss the development of modern Arabic literature and its major writers and trends.

• Students will acquire the ability:
• to read and analyse 19th and 20th-century Arabic literary texts.
• to attempt critical evaluations of Arabic poetry and prose fiction texts.
• to discuss some of the main themes and genres of 19th and 20th -century Arabic literature.

• The effective use of primary and secondary resources relevant to literary study.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module is taught in the form of weekly lectures and fortnightly seminars.
• The module is assessed by means of two summative essays, and end-of-year written exam.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

None

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University