Contemporary Middle East Fiction: Race, Gender and Resistance

This module intrroduces students to the major aspects of contemporary Middle Eastern fiction from the 20th and 21st century through the theme of race, gender and resistence. It will look at how resistence is expressed in relation to violence, freedom and humour in the fictional world and expressions of where resistance has failed. It will introduce students to postcolonial studies to anchor contemporary critical race and gender critique within literary studes. It will also engage with freedom-fighting narratives as well as intersectional identites of resistance where race, class and gender (among others) come together.

Prerequisites

There are no pre-requisites for this module.

Objectives and learning outcomes of the module

1. improve the skills of sustained close reading of literary texts;
2. analyse relevant historical, political and sociel events affecting contemporary Middle East in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries;
3. recognise major discussions in the field of postcolonial and literary studies, critical race theory and gender studies.

Workload

This module is taught over ten weeks with two hours of classroom contact per week.

Scope and syllabus

1. The colonial and postcolonial Context of the development of modern Middle Eastern fiction
2. Freedom narratives
3. Identity politics and resistence
4. Questioning political authority
5. Resisting the state/failure to resist
6. Inner and outer exile
7. Literary Genres: memoir, short story and the novel
8. Literary Modes: parody, satire, irony and allegory

Method of assessment

• 30% annotated bibliography (1,000 words)
• 70% essay (1,500 words) or virtual presentation/podcast (8 minutes)
• Exact assessment deadline dates are published on the relevant module Moodle/BLE page.

Suggested reading

• Abdul R. JanMohamed and David Lloyd, ed., The Nature and Context of Minority Discourse . Oxford, 1990.
• Afkhami, Mahnaz, In the Eye of the Storm: Women in Post-Revolutionary Iran .  London, 1994.
• Allen, Roger, The Arabic Novel: an Historical and Critical Introduction . Syracuse, 1995.
• Anderson, Benedict, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism .  London, 1991.
• Badran, Margot, Feminists, Islam and Nation: Gender and the Making of Modern Egypt . Princeton, 1995.
• Bardakjian, Kevork B., A Reference Guide to Modern Armenian Literature, 1500-1920 . Detorit, 2000.
• Beard, Michael, Hedayat’s Blind Owl as a Western Novel . Princeton, 1990.
• Dawisha, Adeed Isam, Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century: from Triumph to Despair . Princeton, 2003.
• Finn, Robert, The Early Turkish Novel: 1872-1900 . Istanbul, 1984.
• Forsas-Scott, Helena, ed., Textual Liberation: European Feminist Writing in the Twentieth Century . London, 1991.
• Ghazoul, Ferila J. and Barbara Harlow, The View From Within: Writers and Critics on Contemporary Arabic Literature . Cairo, 1994.
• Hillmann, M. C., Hedayat’s ‘The Blind Owl’ Forty Years After . Austin, 1978.
• Holbrook, Victoria, The Unreadable Shores of Love: Turkish Modernity and Mystic Romance . Austin, 1994.
• Jankowski, James and Israeli Gershowni, ed., Rethinking Nationalism in the Arab Middle East .  New York, 1997.
• Kamshad, Hassan, Modern Persian Literature . Cambridge, 1996.
• Khorrami, Mohammad Mehdi and M. R. Ghanoonparvar, eds., Critical Encounters: Essays on Persian Literature and Culture . Costa Mesa, 2007.
• Mehrez, Samia, Egyptian Writers between History and Fiction . Cairo, 1994.
• Milani, Farzaneh, Veils and Words: the Emerging Voices of Iranian Women . Syracuse, 1992.
• Al-Musawi, Muhsin, The Postcolonial Arabic Novel: Debating Ambivalence . Leiden, 2003.
• Paloucgim A and V. Oshagan, Review of National Literature: Armenia . New York, 1884.
• Panoosian, Razmig, The Armenians: from Kings and Priests to Merchants and Commissars .  London, 2006.
• Ostle, Robin, ed., Modern Literatures of the Near and Middle East, 1850-1970 . London, 1991.
• Ramras-Rauch, Gila, The Arab in Israeli Literature . London, 1989.
• Shaked, Gershon, Modern Hebrew Fiction , tr. Yael Lotan. Bloomington, 2000.

Disclaimer

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