INTRODUCTION TO ARABIC LITERARY CULTURE

AFRICAN/INTLST 302

An introduction to the most significant topics of contemporary Arabic literature and cinema. Discuss the legacy of colonialism, repressive nature of post-independence regimes, discourses on nationalism, religion vs. secularization, gender relations, representation of cultural otherness, and the Arab Springs. Materials will be drawn from a variety of cultural forms including literature, film, music, and performance; and scholarship, exploring the social, cultural, political, and economic contexts in which texts and films are written and exhibited.

AFRICAN 341

Emphasis on proficiency through speaking, listening, reading, and writing, and on communication in cultural context.

AFRICAN 303

An introduction to literature and visual culture of Africa in various periods and places; specific topics will vary.

AFRICAN 342

Emphasis on proficiency through speaking, listening, reading, and writing, and on communication in cultural context.

AFRICAN 605

Introduces foundational texts in the study of modern Africa and the social, political, and economic contexts of the continent's cultural production and productivity. Conceptual explorations of interesting issues such as the African encounter with Europe, anticolonialism, race, racialism, and subjectivity, African and European languages and epistemology, transformations in gendered structures, and the environment, and the circulation and consumption of cultural forms and practices. Examines the long histories and theories of cultural production and practices in Africa, the local/global provenance of forms and styles, and the contexts of their local, national, and global circulation and consumption. Promotes critical thinking by putting like and unlike texts together and considering rhetoric and implied meanings, all in the context of Africa's interactive history with the world in the modern era.