Not offered 2007-2008
RLFR 226 Contemporary Short Stories from North Africa: Fast Cars, Movies, Money, Love and War *
Today the countries of North Africa are experiencing rapid social change. Rap music and Britney Spears can be heard spilling out of windows while television sets broadcast a call to prayer. In the market place, those selling their goods compete to be heard over the ringing of cell-phones. Old and new exist side by side, albeit sometimes very uncomfortably. During the past decade, literature has emerged in both French and Arabic examining the effects of globalization: unequal modernization, unemployment, cultural change and cultural resistance. In this course, we will read short stories that address these issues alongside Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian newspapers on the web in order to explore contemporary transformations of life in North Africa. Readings by Maissa Bey, Abdelfattah Kilito, Zeina Tabi, Mohamed Zafzaf, Ahmed Bouzfour, Soumaya Zahy and Abdelhak Serhane among others. Conducted in French.
Requirements: active class participation, Blackboard postings, two short papers, an oral presentation and a final paper.
Prerequisites: French 109 or above or results of the College Placement Examination, or permission of instructor. Enrollment limit: 20 (expected: 20). Preference given to French majors and those with compelling justification for admission.

PIEPRZAK