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Reading pre-modern Arabic Texts

Vak
2024-2025

Admission requirements

This course is only open to students in the Arabic track who – upon written request – were granted access by the Board of Examiners to the Shadow Programme.

All preceding Arabic language acquisition courses from the first semester: Arabic Literature, Research Analysis through Arabic Sources and dialect or equivalent knowledge of MSA.

Description

This course has two goals: (i) to train students to read pre-modern Arabic literature (i.e. texts written before 1800) in their original Arabic; and (ii) to teach students how to use Arabic reference tools: such as pre-modern dictionaries, pre-modern geographical lexicons and biographical dictionaries.

Students will study from an Arabic manuscript, learn techniques of codicology and interpreting manuscript texts. Students will learn how to use Arabic-Arabic dictionaries to explore the meanings of difficult words encountered, geographical dictionaries to look up place names mentioned in the literature, biographical dictionaries to learn about the people mentioned in the texts, and commentaries on poetry.

All the required Arabic texts will be posted on Brightspace.

Course objectives

Students will:
i) learn to read Arabic literary texts in their original language with the aid of a dictionary;
ii) develop their proficiency in Arabic and Arabic grammar;
iii) learn the skills necessary to use the commentary and ancillary literature;
iv) be able to start using pre-modern Arabic sources for research purposes; and
v) learn about the cultural practices and production in the pre-modern Muslim world.

Timetable

The timetables are available through My Timetable.

Mode of instruction

Seminar.

Assessment method

The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average.

Partial Assessment Weighing
Participation 10%
Assignments (x2) 20%
Assessments (x3) 70%

Resit

Students may resit the Assessments, the Instructor will assign new questions.

Exam review

If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will be organized.

Reading list

Students will receive a detailed week-by-week handout of the required readings at the beginning of the course.
The detailed syllabus and readings will also be available on Brightspace.

In preparation for the course, students may wish to consult the following:

  • Allen, Roger, The Arabic Literary Heritage. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2005.

  • Young, Latham and Serjeant (eds), Religion, Learning and Science in the Abbasid Period. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1990.

  • Cachia, Pierre, Arabic Literature: an overview. London: Routledge, 2003.

Registration

Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website

Contact

  • For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the information bar oin the right.

  • For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office Herta Mohr.

Remarks

Please note that the additional course information is an integral part of this course description.