Nothing Pleases Me: Understanding Modern Middle Eastern History Through Literature

This seminar examines the major themes and events in the history of the Middle East in the 20th century through a close reading of literary texts and, in some cases, films. Throughout the course we will try to locate the perspectives of the “ordinary people” of the region, and will pay special attention to the voices of those who are rarely heard from in discourses on the Middle East: religious minorities, sexual minorities, women, children, but also criminals, misfits, misanthropes and others who have been deemed social outcasts.