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.
Attendance and active participation are obligatory for seminars. Students are required to prepare for and attend all sessions. The convenors need to be informed without delay of any classes missed for a good reason (i.e. due to unforeseen circumstances such as illness, family issues, problems with residence permits, the Dutch railways in winter, etc.). In these cases it is up to the discretion of the convener(s) of the course whether or not the missed class will have to be made up with an extra assignment. The maximum of such absences during a semester is two. Being absent without notification and/or more than two times can result in exclusion from the term end exams and a failing grade for the course.
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 on the right.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office de Vrieshof