The Modern Arabic Short Story

This course is aiming at developing the student’s knowledge about the modern Arabic short story in the 20^th and 21^st centuries.

On completion of the course the student should be able to, in Swedish or English,

• account for some of the most important Arab writers from the 20^th and 21st centuries
• account briefly for the most important genres, movements and trends during the 20^th and 21ts centuries in translation
• compare the different styles and movements studied during the course and discuss reasons for their influence on the literature
• show basic knowledge about the problem of translation, for example cultural codes and traditions, in the Swedish/ English versions of the short stories
• account for the different theories around the birth of the Arabic short story

In this course you will read short stories, in translation, by different Arabic writers from all over the Arab world, among others Muhammed al Murr, Zakaria Tamer, Hanan al-Sheihk, Yousef Idris and Emily Nasrallah. Through their short stories different ideas and happenings which have influenced the Arabic literary scene the last 100 years will be discussed, from the fall of the Ottoman rule via the six-day-war to feminism. The different ideas that exist around the birth of the Arabic short story and the role of the translator in the presentation of literature from a culture so different from the Swedish culture will also be discussed.

The course will be continuously assessed throughout the course and by a take home exam at the end of the course.

The course will be taught trough lectures and seminars. The language of instruction is Swedish, English or Arabic, depending on group constellation.

The Swedish grades U–VG.

Revised
16-12-21 (Forms of Study revised)
17-10-03 (main field added)
19-12-20 (removed literature list)