COML 303: The Arabic Novel and Short Story in Translation

Course Description

This course examines the robust tradition of Arabic fiction, offering examples of short stories, novellas, and novels. The course is designed for non-speakers of Arabic as all the texts are translated in English. The survey of narratives relies on three considerations. First, the analysis that the novels lend themselves to, including narrative strategies, feminism, psychoanalysis and postcolonialism. Second, the novels cover some of the recurrent themes of Arabic fiction, such as war, memory, class struggle, migration, and childhood. Third, the novels and short fiction writers represent the national and cultural diversity of the region, ranging from Morocco, to Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, Iraq, and Yemen. Classes are conducted in English. Students who wish for this course to count for language credit can do the required writing in Arabic. This course adopts the project-based learning approach and a relevant final project enables students to practically apply the comparative, analytical, and creative skills they learn in this class. (F, W, S, OC).