Re-imagining Northern Africa: From Unveiled Women to Veiled Men

3 units

This course offers a survey of North African literature in its various genres and aesthetics, from its colonial past to its post-colonial present. Readings include works of Algerian, Moroccan, Libyan, Tunisian, and Egyptian authors—writing within their countries and in the diaspora. We will engage with feminist Fatema Mernissi and her landmark book, Beyond the Veil; explore the desert through the eyes of Veiled Men with the Tuareg writer Ibrahim al-Koni; delve into the heart of racism in hospitals with Frantz Fanon; take a journey through 1970s Algiers with The Black Panthers and their carefree life in Africa and laugh at a dictator with Albert Cossery. By Re-imagining Africa, this course will focus on themes like multilingualism, gender, resistance, landscape and laughter. This hybrid seminar blends literary-theoretical texts and creative assignments. This dual focus is designed to foster both critical thinking and writing skills. In a world challenged by AI, we will experience writing as an embodied practice—the body remains the center, the lens through which we feel, perceive, and position ourselves. To enable a dynamic exploration of Africa's literatures and cultures, a multimedia approach is adopted by analyzing documentaries, feature films, songs and online content.