CULTURAL NARRATIVES AND DYNAMICS (ARABIC)

Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the course aims to develop students' knowledge of narratives produced in the contemporary Arab world across the following fields: literature, art and cinema, history, and journalism. The course is one of the core components of the Master's Degree Programme in Languages and Civilizations of Asia and Mediterranean Africa.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

- understand, analyze, and translate texts from contemporary Arabic history and literature;
- carry out comparative analyses across the different media examined in the course, mainly literature, cinema, history, and journalism;
- comment on and discuss significant historical and cultural issues in Arabic, drawing on the texts and media studied.

Arabic Language proficiency corresponding to B1 level of the CEFR.
Knowledge of the history of Arabic literature. Students who have not attended any course related to this subject may read one of the following books:

Allen, Roger. An Introduction to Arabic Literature. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Toelle, Heidi; Zakharia, Katia. A la découverte de la littérature arabe. Du VIe siècle à nos jours. Paris, Flammarion, 2014.

The course introduces students to the theoretical foundations of intermediality, intertextuality, translation into and from Arabic, narratology, and classical and modern Arabic history and literature.

Students will be required to read and analyze Arabic-language texts covering the following topics:

Al-Andalus (focus: narrative and myth)
Abbasid Culture (focus: modernity and tradition)
The Nahda (focus: developments and terminology on the Arab Renaissance)
The Nakba (focus: 1948 and its repercussions)
Migration and Exile (focus: theoretical distinctions and literary and audiovisual examples)
Modernism (focus: theory and its literary manifestations)
The Novel and the City (focus: Naguib Mahfouz and Cairo)
The Arab Revolutions (focus: literary examples and media representations)
Al Jazeera (focus: Qatar's role in the region)
Gaza (focus: debates on the ongoing genocide)

Course materials:

Arabic-language course pack prepared by the instructor.

Recommended readings:
Tariq Sabry, Cultural Encounters in the Arab World: On Media, the Modern and the Everyday London: Tauris, 2010.
Aldo Nicosia, Il romanzo arabo al cinema. Microcosmi egiziani e palestinesi, Rome: Carocci, 2014.
Roger Allen, La letteratura araba, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2006.

The assessment consists of a written examination and an oral examination.

Written examination:

Translation and critical analysis of one or more passages selected from the texts discussed during the course.

Oral examination:

A conversation in Arabic with the Language Instructor (CEL) based on the texts studied during the course.

written and oral

The instructor is responsible for ensuring the authenticity and originality of all examinations and coursework. In cases of suspected academic misconduct, an additional on-site assessment may be required during the exams, which may differ from the standard format.

The exam consists of a written test and an oral exam: the average of the points obtained in the two tests produces the total grade.

Grading Criteria

Final grades will be awarded according to the following criteria:

18–22: awarded to students who demonstrate a satisfactory level of knowledge and the ability to apply their understanding of the course content.

23–26: awarded to students who demonstrate a good level of knowledge and the ability to apply their understanding of the course content.

27–30: awarded to students who demonstrate a very good to excellent level of knowledge and the ability to apply their understanding of the course content.

30 with honours (30 cum laude): awarded to students who demonstrate an outstanding level of knowledge and an excellent ability to apply their understanding of the course content

Lectures. Interdisciplinary method. PowerPoint presentations. Textual and film analysis.
The course will be held in both Italian and Arabic language