The Arabic Literature program (برنامج الأدب العربي) is dedicated to teaching literature related to the theoretical and applied topics of Arabic literature and it’s various aesthetic and linguistic components. Its purpose is to introduce literature, as well as to dissect and analyze the literary genres to which it belongs. For this reason, the course includes both theoretical and practical materials from a variety of different topics.
Arabic literature courses also seek to introduce new vocabulary and literary styles that students can use in daily communication, giving them access to the enormous depth of the Arabic language – from the roots of Classical Arabic all the way to the Modern Standard Arabic used across the world today.
Introduction to Arabic Literature
Language programs that teach Arabic to non-native speakers include literary texts in multiple contexts. Courses specifically dedicated to Arabic Literature are often created with the idea that Arabic learners cannot truly reach an advanced level of proficiency without some exposure to literary texts and the ability to recognize and distinguish these texts from one another.
Through these courses, Qalam wa Lawh targets students who begin with some level of linguistic communication competence and provides them with a taste for the beauty of Arabic writing, enabling the student to understand not only the language but also the culture of the language.
Arabic Literature courses
Arabic Literature program includes six courses, divided into three, two-semester sessions. The first year introduces students to the world of Arabic literature through a broader understanding of theoretical concepts. The second-year examines differences and similarities between older texts and modern writing, and the third year consists of a more in-depth analysis of themes, issues, and methodologies.
Students should begin the Arabic Literature program with an intermediate level of Modern Standard Arabic. Students will take a placement test before the program begins. The program is divided into the following stages of study:
FIRST YEAR- Arabic Literature: Theoretical Approaches and Concepts
LIT201: Chronology of literature and literary genres
This course focuses on the history of Arabic literature through its major stations and the transformations of literary forms – poetry and prose. Additionally, the course covers the artistic and creative differences between poetry and prose in a more general sense. The course uses a variety of texts and theoretical materials to assist the students as they explore the wonder of Arabic literature.
LIT202: Mechanisms of literary criticism
In this course, students will examine formal and thematic differences and changes depending on the period of the text, as well as changes within the same prose forms, by identifying various technical elements in the text and noting thematic developments of the art over time. The materials used in this course prepare students to continue the study of these literary eras and their focal points, as well as major entries of literary criticism.
SECOND YEAR- Arab Literature and Criticism: Comparing the Old, the Modern, and the Contemporary
LIT301: Aesthetic characteristics and artistic characteristics of the literary era
As students study the depth of the literature in both poetry and prose through this course, they begin identifying distinctive characteristics from the pre-Islamic period, through the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, up to the Renaissance and the modern era.
LIT302: Poetry and prose: technical and structural characteristics
Through this course, students examine the literature in terms of technical construction and formative molds, social and cultural changes of the Arab environment at the time of its production, and the details of its presentation (i.e, rhyme and eloquence). Abandoned schools of literature are also studied, along with their cornerstones and creative and critical visions, with an intensive look at Andalusian literature as a guide to a range of creative issues, modern arts, and their response to the cultural environment of the time.
THIRD YEAR- Critical Issues and Methodologies of Arabic Literature: From Ancient to Postmodern
LIT401: Monetary issues in Arabic literature: between the Ancients and Modernists
This course begins the analysis of the ways in which the Arabic literary arts have been influenced over time. Students re-examine the literary periods before Islam through the Abbasid Era and into the modern day with a specific eye for the historical processes of the foundations throughout the literary ages and literary criticism.
LIT402: Critical approaches between classical and modern monetary schools
Using the techniques and knowledge gained in the previous level, students continue their critical study of monetary themes in Arabic literature through this course. Perhaps the most exciting portion of this class is during the study of the Renaissance period, with its openness to the Western traditions and different schools of thought. Students will take part in the analysis of creative texts, poetry, and prose at this time and compare them to contemporary and modern criticism