How have Arab writers and artists from the past century to the present narrated a variety of displacements – among them migration, diaspora, exile, imprisonment, banishment, and resettlement? How do such narratives address philosophical questions as well as contemporary challenges facing individuals and collectivities? In what ways have scholars and thinkers reckoned with displacements and literary narratives that stage them? The focus of the seminar is on the poetics of these narratives, with reference to how authors’ own experiences of displacement may structure their writing. We will investigate how these narratives may interrupt hegemonic discourses, claim multiple sites of belonging and depict hybrid subjects.

 

All readings are available in translation; those with sufficient competence in Arabic or other languages are highly encouraged to read the original texts and work comparatively between them and translations.