Modern Arabic Poetry and Music

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course looks at, and listens to, Arabic music of the twentieth century to explore the relationship between poetic texts, sound recordings, and live performance. How is a song made? What happens to Arabic poems when they are set to music? And how has recording technology affected Arabic song lyrics as both performed and written texts? For each class, select songs from across the Arab world will serve as the primary “readings,” using a range of colloquial and classical Arabic varieties. Secondary readings will be in English and Arabic. We will consider regional “traditions,” such as the nuba in North Africa, the wasla in Egypt and Syria, and the Iraqi maqam, examining both the literary and social meaning of their poetic texts. We will listen to particular artists (Muhammad al-Qubanji, Khumayyis Tarnan, Yusif al-Manyalawi, Umm Kulthum, Sabah Fakhri, Fairuz, among others) while situating them within broader musical themes and trends to examine their influence on the production of song lyrics. Interested students need not have studied music, but advanced Arabic proficiency is recommended.