Arabic Cinema (1)
- Course Code:
- 155901208
- Unit value:
- 0.5 unit
- Year of study:
- Year 2 or Year 3
This course introduces the nature and development of Arabic cinema, both as an apparatus enmeshed in the processes of cultural production and social consumption and as an artistic genre reflecting the major concerns of Arabic culture and society. It offers a structured elaboration of the context in which Arabic cinema emerged and provides students with a critical introduction to the language of film and its structure, and the different areas of academic investigation of the genre. It studies cinema as a major component of Arabic popular culture and its interaction with other cultural and literary forms. It is a course in both appreciation and practical criticism of the genre, with some emphasis on the application of modern critical and cultural theory to film study. Students learn to read and analyse films critically and treat them as cultural icons revealing some of the concerns and inherent attitudes of the culture that produced them.
Objectives and learning outcomes of the course
At the end of the course the student should be able to understand the nature and development of Arabic cinema both as a apparatus enmeshed in the processes of cultural production and social consumption, and as an artistic genre reflecting the major concerns of Arabic culture and society. S/he should be able to analyze films critically and treat them as cultural icons revealing some of the concerns and inherent attitudes of the culture that produce them.Workload
The course is taught by a two-hour lecture in addition to a three-hour film screening.
Scope and syllabus
The following are the major areas of investigation:
- The context of the emergence of Arabic cinema
- Cinema and the quest for national identity
- Cinema and its audience
- Popular/commercial cinema and art cinema
- Language, space and symbolic arrangement
- The cinema industry and independent film-making
- Film language and the art of narration
- Film genres and their cultural significance
Method of assessment
One two-hour written examination in May-June (70% of final marks) and one term essay of 2500-3000 words due in the first week of Term 2 Teaching The course is taught by three hours of lectures weekly, usually in Term 1 only.Suggested reading
- Shafik, Viola: Arab Cinema: History and Cultural Identity. Cairo, 1998
- Leaman, Oliver: Companion Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African Film. London, 2001
- Hafez, Sabry: "Shifting identities in Maghribi cinema", Alif 15 (1995) 39-80.
- Cairo Branigan, Edward: Narrative Comprehension and Film. London, 1992
- Armes, Roy: Third World Film Making and the West. Berkeley, 1987
- Armes, Roy: Dictionary of North African Film Makers. Paris, 1996
- Khan Muhammad: An Introduction to Egyptian Cinema. London, 1969 Lakmus, Lizbeth and Roy Armes: Arab and African Film Making. London, 1991
- Sadoul, Georges (ed.): Cinema in the Arab countries. Beirut, 1966
- Maherzi, Lotfi: Le cinema algerien: Institutions, imaginaire, ideologie. Paris, 1980
