ARAB 216(S) Protest Literature: Arab Writing Across Three Continents (Same as Comparative Literature 216)
This course will begin with an analysis of the idea of protest literature as it emerged in an American cultural context in the early twentieth century through the civil rights movement of the 1960s.We will then seek to revisit the meaning of this term today, particularly as it resonates in the cultural production of Arabs and Arab youth across three very different locations: the Middle East (specifically Egypt and Palestine), France, and the United States. How are these Arab youth subcultures constituted? In what ways has the globalization of hip-hop influenced the literary, musical, and cinematic production of Arab artists? In what way do rap and the spoken word in these specific social contexts provide a vocabulary for expressing the violence, lack, and frustration pervasive in these 4th World locations? In short, how has the contemporary American construction of "blackness" been exported and appropriated by young Arabs today? From Paris to Cairo, from the West Bank to Detroit, we will examine the varied strands of this new movement for social justice, observing how different forms of literature and music have been used as a vehicle for resisting war-torn circumstances, poverty, racism and social disenfranchisement across diverse national spaces. Texts for this course will include novels and poems, as well as a number of films and selections of music. All of these works will be available in translation, although advanced students may read the originals in French and/or Arabic. Possible novels include those of Charef, Sebbar, Smail, Begag, Chraibi, Ayaidi, Golayyel, Latif, Kanafani, Darwish, Youssef, Hammad, and Kahf.
Format: discussion/seminar. Requirements: active participation, two shorter papers, a presentation, and final paper or project.
No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 25 (expected: 15-20). Preference given to Comparative Literature and Literary Studies majors.
Hour: NAAMAN