87362 - Contemporary Arabic Literary Civilisation (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will have acquired an advanced level of knowledge of modern and contemporary Arab culture and literature with reference to the original sources. They will be able independently to conduct documentary and bibliographic research, so as to apply their skills in the editorial and publishing field and in the promotion of the cultural heritage.

Course contents

This course consists of two main sections:

1) General Section

A general outline of the history of Arabic Literature from 1798 until contemporary times. 

2) Monographic Section:

Egyptian Views of the French Occupation (1798-1801).

According to a widespread interpretation, Egypt is thought of as being indebted to Napoleon Bonaparte and his 1798 "expedition" for starting the first representative institutions in the country and for first translating the 1789 Revolution principles into an Arabic and Muslim context.

Those principles would have eventually "flourished" in the process of construction of the modern Egyptian state, which started with Muhammad Ali (1805-1848) and culminated in the experience of the 1923-1952 constitutional monarchy.

Such an interpretation is, however, undergoing a thorough review in recent decades: an increasing number of researches in social, poltical, religious and intellectual history have called for reconsidering both the actual motivations behind the French intervention in Egypt and the reactions of Egyptian intellectuals and leaders (religious, civilian and military elites) to the French occupation and to the ideas of the Enlightenment.

This course is meant precisely to provide direct access to the texts of Egyptian authors related to the French occupation, as well as an overview of the main issues debated by contemporary historiography on the period.


Through the General Section and the Monographic Section, the course will pursue the following key objectives:

1) outlining the main trends in the historical development of Arabic literature and culture in Modern and Contemporary times;

2) analyzing the main historical-linguistic and epistemological issues concerning the notion of "Modernity" with reference to the Arab culture; 

3) illustrating the main historiographical issues related to the representations of relationships between "Islam" and "other" cultures in pre-modern Arabic literature, especially in the light of the theoretical acquisitions of post-colonial studies and criticism of Orientalism and "Occidentalism" as well. 

Readings/Bibliography

1. SHARED COMPULSORY REFERENCES FOR BOTH ATTENDING AND NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS. 

a) General Section

Isabella CAMERA D'AFFLITTO, Letteratura Araba Contemporanea. Dalla Nahda ad oggi, Carocci, Roma, 1998 e successive edizioni - limitatamente a: pp. 1-51, pp. 155-195.

Adam SILVERSTEIN, Breve storia dell'Islam, tr. it., Carocci, Roma, 2013, limitatamente alle pp. 91-124.

Edward SAID, Orientalismo, tr. it. Stefano Galli, Bollati Boringhieri, 1991. Brani scelti.

Ian BURUMA e Avishai MARGALIT, Occidentalismo. L'Occidente agli occhi dei suoi nemici. tr. it. A. Nadotti. Torino: Einaudi, 2004

b) Monographic Section: 

Sources:

ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Jabarti, 2005. Napoleon in Egypt: Al-Jabarti's Chronicle of the French Occupation 1798 Expanded Edition for the 250th Anniversary of Al-Jabarti's Birth (Edited and Translated by Robert L. Tignor, Shmuel Moreh). Princeton (NJ): Markus Wiener, 2006. (Selected excerpts previously agreed upon with the Teacher).

As an alternative, the French translation:

Cuoq, Joseph (ed.) : A.R. Al-Jabarti, Journal d’un notable du Caire durant l’expédition française 1798-1801, Paris, Albin Michel, 1979

(Selected excerpts previously agreed upon with the Teacher).).

Studies

CECERE, G. "Miscredenti sul Nilo?" (Teacher's handout).

CECERE, G. – D’ONOFRIO, M.L., “Tolleranza o cittadinanza? La situazione dei Copti ed il ruolo della sharia nell’evoluzione del sistema dei diritti in Egitto”, in Annuario DiReCom, Istituto di Studi Comparativi sui Diritti e le Religioni, Facoltà di Teologia di Lugano, 2009, p. 117-158.

DELANOUE, G., Moralistes et politiques musulmans en Egypte au XIXe siècle, Le Caire , IFAO (Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale), 1980. - (Selected excerpts previously agreed upon with the Teacher).

MOREH, Shmuel, The Egyptian historian ʻAbd al-Raḥmān al-Jabartī : his life, works, autographs, manuscripts and the historical sources of ʻAjāʼib al-āthār. Oxford: Oxford University Press., 2014 - (Selected excerpts previously agreed upon with the Teacher).

2. COMPULSORY ADDITIONAL REFERENCES FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS: 

 

ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Jabarti, 2005. Napoleon in Egypt: Al-Jabarti's Chronicle of the French Occupation 1798 Expanded Edition for the 250th Anniversary of Al-Jabarti's Birth (Edited and Translated by Robert L. Tignor, Shmuel Moreh). Princeton (NJ): Markus Wiener, 2006. (the whole book)

Or

Cuoq, Joseph (ed.) : A.R. Al-Jabarti, Journal d’un notable du Caire durant l’expédition française 1798-1801, Paris, Albin Michel, 1979 (the whole book)

3. OPTIONAL SUGGESTED READINGS FOR ATTENDING AMD NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS ALIKE

ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Jabarti. ʿAjaib fī l-athar fī t-tarajim wa-l-akhbar. Ed. by Ḥasan Muḥammad Juhār et al. Cairo : 1958-1967. ((Selected excerpts previously agreed upon with the Teacher).

DELANOUE, G., "L'Epitre des huit mots du cheikh Husayn al-Marsafi", Annales Islamologiques 5 (1963), p. 1-29.

LOUCA, A., L’autre Egypte. De Bonaparte à Taha Huseyn, Le Caire, IFAO (Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale), 1998. - Brani scelti dallo studente in accordo con ll docente.

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  the second part of the Integrated Course "Arabic Literary Civilization" (12 CFU). The final mark of the Intregrated 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 (Modern and Contemporary 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