87361 - Ancient and Medieval Arabic Literary Civilisation (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will have acquired a thorough knowledge of Arab civilization in its different historical, cultural and literary expressions. They will be able to approach critically the related literature and its problems, to identify and classify literary works and to develop analytical investigations of the written sources.

Course contents

Course contents

Images of the world in Medieval Arabic literature: Ibn Battuta's Rihla as a case study. 


The course pursues the following main objectives


1. Providing students with an improved knowledge of Classical Arabic Literature;

2. Outlining the formation and the main historical development of geography in the medieval Arab world;

3. Introducing students to the main epistemological and historiographic problems connected to the study of travel literature in medieval Arabic literature;

3. Analyzing the ideological background of representations of the world and its inhabitants by Ibn Battuta and in other great authors of "geographical works" and / or travelogues.

5. Introducing students to some key issues in codicology and the critical edition of texts.

6. Providing students with a set of meaningful practical experiences of the main problems connected to translation of Medieval Arabic texts into contemporary European languages

Readings/Bibliography

SHARED COMPULSORY REFERENCES FOR ATTENDING AND NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS ALIKE

The whole text of the Rihla of Ibn Battuta, either in Italian, or in French or in English Translation: 

Italian

Tresso, Claudia Maria, 2008 = Ibn Battuta. I viaggi, Torino: Einaudi, 2008.

French

Defrémery, Charles, and Beniamino Raffaello Sanguinetti, 1853. Voyages d’Ibn Batoutah. Texte arabe, accompagné d’une traduction par C. Defrémery et le Dr. B. R. Sanguinetti, Vol. 1. Paris: Société Asiatique.

English 

Gibb, Hamilton A. R., 1958. The Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa A.D. 1325-1354. Translated with revisions and notes from the Arabic text edited by C. Defrémery and B. R. Sanguinetti by H.A.R. Gibb. Vol. 1. London: Hakluyt Society.

Students are kindly suggested to read the book before starting the course. 

Studies

AA. VV., L'etrange et le merveilleux dans l"Islam medieval : Actes du colloque tenu au College de France a Paris, en mars 1974, Paris, Editions J. A., 1978. (the whole book).

CECERE, Giuseppe. ''Le meraviglie dell'Oceano Indiano. Appunti sui caratteri del meraviglioso nel Kitab Aja'ib al-Hind'', Egitto e Vicino Oriente,XXV (2002), pp. 349-364.

CECERE, Giuseppe, 2015. «Between Trade and Religion : Three Florentine Merchants in Mamluk Cairo», in Georg Christ, Franz-Julius Morche, Roberto Zaugg, Wolfgang Kaiser, Stefan Burkhardt, Alexander D. Beihammer (eds.), Union in Separation. Diasporic Groups and Identities in the Eastern Mediterranean (1100-1800), Viella, Roma, 2015, p. 229-250.

CECERE, Giuseppe, 2016. “Tarfiq versus Tazyiq : On a Rare Sufi Term in Ibn Battuta and Jewish-Muslim Interactions in Medieval Egypt.” QULSO (Quaderni di Linguistica e Studi Orientali).

Jacques LE GOFF, Il meraviglioso e il quotidiano nell'Occidente medievale, tr. it., Laterza, Bari, 2007 (5a ed.). (the whole book).

MIQUEL, André, 1975-1988. La geographie humaine du monde musulman jusqu'au milieu du 11e siecle. Geographie et geographie humaine dans la litterature arabe des origines a 1050, Paris - La Haye, Mouton & Co., 1975 -1988, 4 vol. (Selected excerpts, to be agreed upon with the Teacher). 

COMPULSORY ADDITIONAL REFERENCES FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

CUOQ, Joseph, 1975. Recueil des sources arabes concernant l'Afrique occidentale du VIIe au XVIe siècle (Bilad al-Sudan). Paris: Editions du CNRS, 1975. (Selected excerpts, to be agreed upon with the Teacher).

MIQUEL, André, 2013. “Preface” à Jean-Claude GARCIN, Pour une lecture historique des Mille et Une Nuits : Essai sur l'edition de Bulaq (1835), Arles, Sindbad-Actes Sud, 2013.

TODOROV, Tzvetan, 1984. La conquista dell'America. Il problema dell'altro, tr. it., Einaudi, Torino, 1984 (the whole book).

FURTHER READING SUGGESTIONS FOR ATTENDING AND NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS ALIKE

Main Arabic editions and European translations of Ibn Battuta's Rihla :

IBN BATTUTA, 1987a. Rihlat Ibn Battuta al-musamma Tuhfat al-nuzzar fi gara'ib al-amsar, ed. by Talal Harb. Betrut: Dar al-kutub al-ʿilmiyya, Beirut, s.d. [1987].

Ibn Battuta, 1987b. Rihlat Ibn Battuta : Tuhfat al-nuzzar fi gara'ib al-amsar wa-'aja'ib al-asfar, ed. by Muhammad 'Abd al-Mun'im al-'Aryan & Mustafa al-Qassas. Beirut: Dar Iḥya’ al-'Ulum.

Defrémery, Charles, and Beniamino Raffaello Sanguinetti, 1853. Voyages d’Ibn Batoutah. Texte arabe, accompagné d’une traduction par C. Defrémery et le Dr. B. R. Sanguinetti, Vol. 1. Paris: Société Asiatique.

Gibb, Hamilton A. R., 1958. The Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa A.D. 1325-1354. Translated with revisions and notes from the Arabic text edited by C. Defrémery and B. R. Sanguinetti by H.A.R. Gibb. Vol. 1. London: Hakluyt Society.

Lee, Samuel. 1829. The Travels of Ibn Batūta: Translated from the Abridged Arabic Copies Preserved in the Public Library of Cambridge. With Notes, Illustrative of the History, Geography, Botany, Antiquities & c. Occurring Throughout the Work, by Rev. Samuel Lee, London: Oriental Translation Commitee.

Moura, José de Santo Antonio, 1840. Viagens extensas e dilatadas do celebre Arabe Abu-Abdallah, mais conhecido pelo nome de Ben-Batuta. Traduzidas por José de Santo Antonio Moura. Vol. 1. Lisbon: Typografia da Academia.

Textual criticism:

BEDIER, Joseph, 1970. La tradition manuscrite du Lai de l’ombre. Réflexions sur l’art d’éditer les anciens textes. Paris: Librairie Honoré Champion. (Brani scelti, da concordare preventivamente con il docente).

TIMPANARO, Sebastiano and Glenn W. Most, 2005. The Genesis of Lachmann’s method. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. (Brani scelti, da concordare preventivamente con il docente).

Language issues :

Dozy, Rheinart, 1845. Dictionnaire détaillé des noms des vêtements chez les Arabes. Amsterdam: Jean Müller

Dozy, Rheinart, 1881. Supplément aux dictionnaires arabes. Leiden: Brill.

Teaching methods

The course consists mainly of lectures. However, part of the will be specially devoted to foster the students' direct involvement. In particular, individual or groups of students will be encouraged to organize oral presentations in classroom, concerning specific historical and ideological issues and / or translation of texts previously agreed upon with the teacher

Assessment methods

WARNING

This course is both an independent 6CFU course for students in Anthropology and the first part of the Integrated Course "Arabic Literary Civilization" (12 CFU) in Historical and Oriental Studies.

The final mark of the Integrated Course will result from the arithmetic average of the results of both the exam of the first part (Ancient and Medieval) and the second part (Modern and Contemporary).

The exam of this course (Ancient and Medieval Arabic Literary Civilization).

The exam consists of an oral test.

This exam will assess the student's command of the material studied in the course. The student will be asked to provide a linguistic and historical commentary on selected texts among those analysed by the teacher during the course and will be judged on his/her ability to summarise and critically discuss topics raised in the course, making use of the exam bibliography and the course tools provided.

The assessment will thus consider the student's:
- competence in commenting on the selected texts, i.e. in identifying, translating and contextualizing them;
- knowledge and understanding of the topics covered;
- ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts;
- familiarity with the terminology associated with the subject and his ability to use it effectively.

Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an ability to provide a full-fledged linguistic and historical commentary of the selected texts and an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology

Average marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarise them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology.

A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he/she displays significant errors in his understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

Teaching tools

References provided in the Course Bibliography will be integrated with a wide range of other tools, mostly relying on Arabic sources (audiovisual, press, literary texts, as well as religious, legal, economic and political texts).

Office hours

See the website of Giuseppe Cecere