Course teached as: B007857 - LETTERATURA ARABA 1 (12 CFU) 3-years First Cycle Degree (DM 270/04) in LANGUAGES, LITERATURES AND INTERCULTURAL STUDIES Curriculum STUDI LINGUISTICI, LETTERARI E INTERCULTURALI
Teaching Language
Italian
Course Content
The course will focus on the history, manuscript tradition and fruition of the so called Arabian Nights or Thousand and One Nights. In addition to the history of the Arabic texts and the historical context in which they were translated in Arabic from Persian, the main issues related to the early Arabic editions and translations into European languages will be presented. The story of “Umar al-Nu'man and his son Sharkan” will be analyzed as case study.
1) R. Irving, La favolosa storia delle Mille e una Notte, Donzelli, Roma, 2009.
2) M. Cassarino (a cura di), Le Mille e Una Notte, le storie più belle, Trad. a cura di F. Gabrieli, Einaudi, Torino, 2006.
3) D. Amaldi, Storia della Letteratura araba classica, Zanichelli, Bologna, 2004.
4) Other teaching material will be indicated during the course.
Learning Objectives
The aim of the course is to introduce the student to the main issues related to the formation of the cycle of texts that nowadays belong to the Thousand and One Nights. An other goal is to show the main textual parallelisms with other literary traditions, as well as to lead students to the interpretative methodology of literary text. At the end of the course, students will be able to read the text in its original language and to translate it into Italian.
Prerequisites
To have an A2 level of Arabic language.
Teaching Methods
taught class and seminar class with working teams presentations.
Type of Assessment
Students who intend to take part to the exam, must present themselves with the teaching material, namely the employed books and the texts of Arabic Literature which have been translated and commented during the course. Those who present themselves without material will not be able to take part to the exam.
The exam will take place in oral form in three ways:
1) Working groups, for each member of the group account will be taken of: teamwork skills, ability to organize a research, presentation skills in the classroom.
2) verification of the theoretical contents; the following skills will be taken into account: oral presentation, synthesis, knowledge of specific terminology.
3) Reading, translation and linguistic commentary of the litterary texts analyzed during the course. Particular importance will be given to the following skills: pronunciation, knowledge of verbal and nominal morphology.
Course program
The course will be organized in three modules: an introductory theoretical module on the history of the text of the Thousand and One Nights, their origins and circulation in the medieval Arabic world, the history of the manuscript tradition, the first print editions and the history of the first and most important Translations in European languages with references to the influences of the Nights to the European literatures. Finally, the question of the language of Thousand and One Nights will be mentioned. The second module will focus on reading, translating and commenting on the story of King Umar al-Nu'man and his sons Sharkan and Dau al-Makan, proposing textual parallels with other texts of the erotic Arabic literature as "the Splendorous Flowers." The Third Module is dedicated to working groups: each group will present a research made on a story of the Thousand and One Nights among those proposed by the teacher.