Reading and analysis of representative works of the 19th and 20th centuries by contemporary Arab women authors.

This course explores modern Arabic literature from the 1960s to the present as a space where different understandings of gender and citizenship are analyzed and imagined. Starting with debates about gender and citizenship in the early postcolonial period, we will discuss novels, short stories, and poetry by women writers that speak to different historical and national contexts, such as liberation from colonial powers, the Lebanese Civil War, Palestinian historical memory, and legacies of slavery in the Gulf. We will complement these literary texts with both documentary and narrative film. In each section of the class, we will consider how literary texts intervene in different conceptions of citizenship and social justice. By participating in ongoing scholarly conversations on modern Arabic literature and gender we will also reflect on how our own learning community is generating questions and knowledge.

Prereq: Completion of GE Foundation Writing and Information Literacy course. Not open to students with credit for 2702 (372), 2702H (372H), 372, or WGSSt 2702H (372H). Cross-listed in WGSSt.
GE Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse and Just World.