Modern Arabic Poetry

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Course Objectives This course has four main objectives. 1. The first objective is to study the influence that Western poetry had and continue to have on modern Arabic poetry since the nineteenth century. Arab poets have been greatly influenced by French and British Romantic poetry, represented by poets such as Woodworth, Coleridge, and by French Symbolist movement represented especially by the poet Baudelaire. Western poetry continued to influence Arab poetical writing in the 20th century, especially the French one (mainly Saint-John Perse and the Surrealist movement represented by Breton, Paul Eluard and Robert Desnos) and by American poets, mainly T.S.Eliot. 2. The second objective of this course is to focus on the decisive role played by literary reviews which offered Arab readers many translations of French, English, and American poets. Among these reviews are: Shi’r, Mawâqif, and Hiwâr. 3. The third objective is to analyze the impact of modern Arab poetry on Arab society. Despite the fact that novels are flourishing in the Arab world at a rapid rate, poetry continues to play a major role. We will delve into the relation of poetry to politics, to revolution, to wars, especially to the Arab Israeli conflict, and to some social issues such as poverty. 4. Our fourth objective will be to try to understand the specificity of the poetical text by contrasting it to the novelistic text. Poetry remains a sophisticated and difficult art. We will try through such a contrast to unravel the mysteries that Arab poets hide in their poems. Course Content: Because there is not a single textbook on modern Arabic poetry, this course will rely on handouts that the teacher will distribute weekly to students. We will analyze pomes form all over the Arab world.