The Arab World through Travel Literature
(AMELANG 163)
AMELANG 163
“The Arab World through Travel Literature”
Spring 2005 Khalil Barhoum
MW 1:15-3:05 40-42B/723-3637
240-202 khalil@stanford.edu
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WEEK ONE
Monday, April 4: Introduction (The Arab World: people, history, and culture)
Wednesday, April 6: Video & Discussion: The Making of the Arabs (ZVC 1722)
Readings
Edward Said, Orientalism, pp. 1-28 (Reader)
Recommended Video: TheArabs: The Historic Memory; The Bonds of Pride:
ZVC 4164/ Parts 2 &4)
WEEK TWO Lawrence Durrell, Justine
Monday, April 11:
Readings
Lawrence Durrell, Justine
Afaf Lutfi Marsot, A Short History of Modern Egypt, pp. 82-106 (Reserve)
Wednesday, April 13: Naguib Mahfouz, Miramar
Readings
Mahfouz, Naguib, Miramar
Afaf Lutfi Marsot, A Short History of ModerEgypt, pp. 107-132 (Reserve)
WEEK THREE
Monday, April 18: Gustave Flaubert, Flaubert in Egypt
Mary Wortley Montagu, Letters
Readings
Gustave Flaubert, Flaubert in Egypt
Mary Wortley Montagu, Letters, pp. 140-188 (Reader)
Wednesday, April 20: Video on the Arab world
Readings
Elizabeth Fernea, Guests of the Sheik (Parts I, II, III)
WEEK FOUR
Monday, April 25: Elizabeth Fernea, Guests of the Sheik
Readings
Elizabeth Fernea, Guests of the Sheik (Parts VI, V, VI)
Wednesday, April 27: E. & R. Fernea, The Arab World: Forty Years of Change
Readings
Elizabeth & R. Fernea, The Arab World: Forty Years of Change
WEEK FIVE
Monday, May 2: E. & R. Fernea, The Arab World: Forty Years of
Change
Readings
Elizabeth & R. Fernea, The Arab World: Forty Years of Change
Wednesday, May 4: Film: Yemen's Cultural Drug, Qat
ESSAY Outline DUE
Monday, May 9: Eric Hansen, Motoring with Mohammed
Readings:
Eric Hansen, Motoring with Mohammed
WEEK SIX
Wednesday, May 11: Geraldine Brooks, Nine Parts of Desire
Readings:
Geraldine Brooks, Nine Parts of Desire, Excerpts (Skip Ch. 4,5,8).
WEEK SEVEN
Monday, May 16: ESSAY DUE
Wednesday, May 18: Jack Shaheen, Reel Bad Arabs;
Edward Said, Covering Islam (Reader)
Readings:
Jack Shaheen, Reel Bad Arabs(pp. 1 – 37)
Edward Said, Covering Islam , pp. 3-32 (Reader)
WEEK EIGHT
Monday, May 23: Reports on Student Interviews
Wednesday, May 25: Reports on Student Interviews
WEEK NINE
May 27-June 2 (Fri-Th): End-Quarter Period
Monday, May 30: HOLIDAY (Memorial Day)
Wednesday, June 3: Review
WEEK TEN
June 3-8 (Fri-Wed): End-Quarter Exams
Wednesday, June 8: Final Exam (8:30-11:30 a.m.)
Course Requirements
1) One essay, 7-10 pages long, dealing with works discussed in the course.
Essay to focus on:
a) a major theme or issue introduced and emphasized by more than one author in the course.
b) relevance of temporal and spatial relations in works studied in the course.
c) a critical examination of the cultural bias, or lack thereof, in texts discussed in the course. (Due on Monday, May 16, 2005) 30%
2) Interview Project: 10%
3) Oral presentations: 10%
4) Final Exam: 30%
4) Attendance & Participation in Classroom Discussion (20%):
Attendance is not optional in this course. Due to the size and nature of this class, attendance and participation will play an important role in determining the final grade. In the event that you do miss a class for some unforeseen reason, a written assignment must be handed in during the next class period in order to make up for the previous class.
Required Texts
Geraldine Brooks, Nine Parts of Desire
Lawrence Durrell, Justine
Elizabeth Fernea, Guests of the Sheik
Elizabeth & Robert Fernea, The Arab World: Forty Years of Change
Gustave Flaubert, Flaubert in Egypt
Eric Hansen, Motoring with Mohammed
Contents of "Reader"
1. Afaf Lutfi Marsot, A Short History of Modern Egypt (pp. pp. 82 - 106)
2. New York Times article on Lawrence Durrell
3. Edward Said, Orientalism (pp. 1-28)
4. Khalil Barhoum, “Edwad Said, the Man, his Works, and his Cause”
5. Mary Wortley Montagu, Letters (pp. 140-188)
6. New York Times article on Murad Hofmann
7. Edward Said, Covering Islam (pp. 3-32)
8. Jack Shaheen, Reel Bad Arabs (pp. 1 – 37)
9. New York Times article on Qat chewing in Yemen
10. Smithsonian article on Gertrude Bell: "Daughter of the Desert"
Optional (Further) Readings
Halim Barakat, The Arab World: State, Culture, and Society
Catherine Hall, Civilising Subjects: Metropole and Colony in the English Imagination
1830-67
Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples
Albert Hourani, Islam in European Thought
Casey Kasem, "Arab Defamation in the Media: Its Consequences and Solutions"
Amin Maalouf, The Crusades through Arab Eyes
Laurence Michalak, "Cruel and Unusual: Negative Images of Arabs in American Popular Culture"
Rana Kabbani, Europe's Myths of Orient (London, Pandora 1994)
John Rodenbeck (ed.), Reading Egypt: Literature, History, and Culture
Maxime Rodinson, Europe and The Mystique of Islam
Sabbagh, Suha, "Sex, Lies, and Stereotypes: The Image of Arabs in American Popular Fiction"
Arthur Goldschmidt, A Concise History of the Middle East
Nikki Keddie & Beth Baron, Women in Middle Eastern History
John Esposito, The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?
John Obert Voll, Islam: Continuity and Change in the Modern World
M.E. Yapp, The Near East Since the First World War
Videos and Films Available on Reserve at Green Library:
The Making of the Arabs (ZVC 1722)
The Arab World: The Historic Memory; The Bonds of Pride
(ZVC 4164, parts 2 & 4)
Edward Said (ZVC 13127)
Edward Said on Orientalism (ZVC 17165)
The Price of Change (ZVC 531)
Women Under Siege (ZVC 530)
Naguib Mahfouz: the passage of the century ZVC 18026
A Veiled Revolution (ZVC 379)
Lawrence of Arabia (ZVC 292)
The Wind and the Lion (ZVC 7073)
Arabian Sands: Wilfred Thesiger, Desert Adventurer (ZVC 11491)
Yemen's Cultural Drug: Quat (ZVC 11499)
Wild Flowers: Women of South Lebanon (ZVC 1787)
Umm Kulthum, A Voice Like Egypt (ZVC 14132)
Bab El-Oued City (ZVC 11560)
Al Nakba: the Palestinian Catastrophe, 1948 (ZVC 11562)
Nasser 56 (ZVC 11569)
Tales from Arab Detroit (ZVC 8327)
Going Home (ZVC 11595
West Beirut (ZVC 14935)
AME 163
The Arab World through Travel Literature
Spring 2005
Course Objectives
1. To serve as an introduction to the Arab world and culture for students who have little or no background on either.
2. To expound the richness of Arab culture and the diversity of Arab society through a critical examination of literary works, written by non-Arab writers, about the Arab world, its people, and its culture.
3. To examine the influence of historical landmarks (i.e., struggle for independence, internal sociopolitical strife, and significant ongoing challenges) which may have contributed to the evolution of modern Arab society.
4. To analyze literature written about the Arab world and its peoples within a relevant historical and cultural perspective which, among other things, places the literature within the larger context of the Arab societies' colonialist legacy and their post-colonialist struggle for liberation and self-expression.
Important statement regarding students with documented disabilities:
Students who have a disability which may necessitate an academic accommodation or the use of auxiliary aids and services in a class must initiate the request with the Disability Resource Center (DRC). The DRC will evaluate the request with required documentation, recommend appropriate accommodations, and prepare a verification letter dated in the current academic term in which the request is made. Please contact the DRC as soon as possible; timely notice is needed to arrange for appropriate accommodations.
Statement on Academic Integrity and outside Assistance
All students are expected to abide by the http://www.stanford.edu/dept/vpsa/judicialaffairs/guiding/honorcode.htm
Stanford Honor Code with regard to class work, activities, and assignments related to their language classes. Plagiarism refers to the unattributed, direct copying of language and/or ideas from a source other than yourself. This includes translations of source material into the target language. Plagiarism is strictly forbidden as a part of Stanford's Honor Code.
Assistance on take-home written assignments may take various forms. We expect you to use dictionaries and grammar books in the composition process. Under no circumstances is another person to compose an essay for you or contribute to the ideas or substantive expression of individual assignments. For collaborative or group work, your instructor will issue guidelines on what is appropriate. Your instructor may also ask you to declare the amount of assistance you have received on any written or oral assignment.
We do not discourage assistance in the preparation of oral assignments. It is always helpful to have another person listen to you practice your oral presentations and provide helpful feedback on your manner of expression. Of course, under no circumstances is another person to compose or develop your oral presentation for you or contribute to its ideas or substantive expression. In preparing for oral interviews, it is always helpful to practice conversation with native speakers or someone more knowledgeable in the language. Divulging the content of the interview, as with any exam, is not permitted, as this violates Stanford's Honor Code.
