MES 81.02 The New Arabic Novel

In this seminar, we will read Arabic novels in translation published across the Middle East during the past decade. How have the authors of these texts grappled with recent transformations in post-9/11 Arab society, such as globalization, terrorism, gender relations, and war? How have old themes--including the clash between tradition and modernity, East-West relations, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--become renewed for the contemporary era? We will examine exciting recent novels from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, and Palestine to answer these questions. This course has no prerequisites but familiarity with the history of the Middle East in the twentieth century and trends in contemporary Arabic prose during this period would be helpful.

Instructor

Smolin

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:LIT; WCult:NW

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