AMES3856W: Palestinian Literature and Film

This course examines modern literature and film of the Palestinian people both for artistic significance and interactions with the broader historical and political situations confronted by Palestinians. We will ask how cultural production, namely literature and film, interacts with, responds to, and even anticipates historical and political events. At the same time, we will problematize a strictly historicist and political reading of literary and cinematic texts, which reduces such artistic works to mere sociological documents, overlooking their creative and artistic achievements. Ultimately, this leads us to a number of questions: what is the relationship between history/politics and art? Can artistic texts transcend the historical and political contexts in which they are produced? How has artistic production functioned within the context of Palestinian statelessness, exile, and anti-colonial struggle? All texts covered in the course will be in English translation, however those able to read texts in the original Arabic are encouraged to do so.

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