Short Story International: Middle Eastern Perspectives, Part 1

In this course, we explore the short-story traditions of the Middle East, specifically modern Arab, Israeli, Palestinian, Persian, and Turkish authors. Notably among them are three Nobel Prize winners: S.Y. Agnon (1966), Naghib Mahfuz (1988),, and Orhan Pamuk (2006). In addition to the suggested texts, the instructor shares optional-reading articles he has published on a number of these writers, whose works dynamically reflect a cross section of highly diverse Middle Eastern societies, their voices resonating through urban and rural landscapes, private and public passion, and intense, dramatic political events. Themes--sometimes lyrical, often dark, sometimes comic, often heart-breaking, sometimes staid, often iconoclastic—include loss, alienation, feminism, family dysfunction, betrayal, exile, sexual awakening, and others. Suggested books: The Anchor Book of Modern Arabic Fiction, A Land of Stone and Thyme: An Anthology of Palestinian Short Stories, Stories from Iran: An Anthology of Persian Short Fiction from 1921-1991, The Hill of Evil Counsel, Other Colours: Essays and a Story, and The Continuing Silence of a Poet: Collected Short Stories.