Module ARAB2011: ARABIC LITERATURE

Department: Modern Languages and Cultures (Arabic)

ARAB2011: ARABIC LITERATURE

Prerequisites

• Arabic Language 1 (ARAB1012) OR an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Corequisites

• Modern Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint and 'with' programmes: Arabic Language 2 (ARAB2002). Other: see Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• Arabic Language 4 (ARAB3012) and Arabic Language 4 following the Year Abroad (ARAB3022), Trends in Modern Arabic Literature 1950-2000 [ARAB3071] and Literature of the 19th Century Arabic Nahda [ARAB3081]

Aims

• The purpose of the module is to introduce students to the reading of modern Arabic literary texts in the original language and to prepare them for more advanced and specialised study of Arabic literature in subsequent years.

Content

• The module begins with a short historical introduction to the development of modern Arabic literature (weeks 1-3), providing a framework for the reading and study of selected texts. These are drawn from two books, supplemented where necessary by additional material:
• A Reader of Modern Arabic Short Stories, ed. by Sabry Hafez and Catherine Cobham (London: Saqi, 1988).
• An Anthology of Modern Arabic Verse, by M. M. Badawi (Oxford: OUP, 1969).
• The majority of the module concentrates on prose narrative (weeks 4-16), but a brief introduction to some selected examples of modern poetry is also provided (weeks 17-22).

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module, students will have acquired a knowledge of some of the main forms of modern Arabic literature, together with a basic understanding of the historical and literary context within which those forms have been developed.

• Students will be able to read and understand extended literary texts such as short stories in reasonably straightforward modern Arabic, and will have begun the study of selected modern Arabic poems.

• Development of analytical abilities in a literary context.
• Acquisition of bibliographical and word-processing skills through presentation of written work.
• Presentational and inter-personal skills through participation in class discussion.

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

• Lectures and classes enable the basic literary structures to be explained and discussed.
• Extended reading (as homework) enables the student to develop fluency and confidence in reading literary texts.
• Seminars provide an opportunity for texts to be clarified and mistakes in students' reading to be corrected.
• Assessed essays provide a means for students' progress to be assessed and their analytical skills further developed.
• End-of-year examinations provide a measure of achievement over the year.

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