Andalusia in modern Arabic Lit

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Modern Arab writers from all venues became increasingly interested in exploring the unparalleled Arab civilization that lasted eight centuries in Spain and which impacted, to a great extent, the whole of European culture and created an array of exceptional cultural exchanges. However, modern Arab writers chose not to focus on this positive role and shun from glorifying this past, as their predecessors have done. Instead, they chose to highlight in their novels and poems the gradual collapse of Arab kingdoms in Spain and the corruption of the last Arab rulers of Andalusia. In this context, the literature they produced mirrored the slow agony of Arabs there, the last song of the swan.