The course focuses on the study of some issues concerning adab al-iltizàm (commitment literature). Several literary voices will be studied, some of them emerging, others already well-known, as well as literary currents (prison literature, torture literature, exile literature): all representative of the desire for independence and democracy which, from Maghreb to Mashreq, gave rise to a writing of resistance and rebellion against all oppressive policies, foreign or local. The course includes the historical-political framework of the Arab countries and, in particular, we will cover topics such as the Italian colonization in Libya, the Palestinian question, the Arab springs, the American occupation of Iraq. The course includes reading, analysis and translation of extracts from literary works studied in class.
Texts:
I. Camera d’Afflitto, Cento anni di cultura palestinese, Carocci, Roma 2007
- E. Diana, L’immagine degli italiani nella letteratura libica, IPOCAN, Roma 2011
N. B: Each student is invited to read at least two novels (or collections of stories or poems), translated from Arabic into Italian. For the selection of Arabic works available in Italian, please refer to the website www.arablit.it
For further information on the topics studied during the course and for a wider historical-political framework of the Arab countries dealt with in class, the following texts are recommended:
-M. Ruocco, L’intellettuale arabo tra impegno e dissenso, Jouvence, Roma 1999- E. Said, La questione palestinese, Il Saggiatore, 2011
- a cura di S. Trinchese, La Libia nella storia d’Italia, Mesogea, Messina 2015
- F. Cresti, M. Cricco, Storia della Libia contemporanea, Carocci, Roma 2012
- M. Campanini, Storia dell’Egitto contemporaneo, Ediz. Lavoro, Roma 2005
Texts in Arabic and further bibliographical updates will be provided during the lessons.
