Comparative Studies in Western and Middle Eastern Literatures

Comparative Studies in Western and Middle Eastern Literatures

 

Voyages through The Thousand and One Nights

Brief Description

 Sindbad, Scheherazade, Ali Baba, and Aladdin—these characters and their stories, originating centuries ago in the Middle East, have been translated and retold so often that they have become part of our global literary imagination. This course will examine how The Thousand and One Nights, also known as The Arabian Nights, took shape in the world of medieval Islam and, like Sindbad, voyaged around the world. We will begin by looking at the origins and structure of the work itself, its use of narrative devices such as the frame story, its typical character types, and the social values and aspirations they embody. We will then map the journey of the Nights around the world by considering the history of its translations into western languages and by following the stories of the Nights into the media of film and visual art. Finally, we will make land at some of the many rewritings of the Nights in Western and modern literature by authors such as William Beckford, Jorge Luis Borges, John Barth, Naguib Mahfuz, and Salman Rushdie. In the course of our studies, we will reflect on issues of narratology, Orientalist and feminist criticism, and translation studies. Grades will be based on class participation, two quizzes, informal response papers, and three formal papers.

Basic Texts

The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights. Translated by Malcolm Lyons. 3 vols. New York: Penguin Group, 2010. All three volumes of this book contain required readings, and students are expected to have access to all three volumes.

William Beckford, Vathek. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. (Vathek)

 

Robert Irwin. The Arabian Nights: a Companion. New York: Penguin Books, 2004. (Reprinted, London: Taurus Parke Paperbacks, 2008). (Irwin)

 

Naguib Mahfouz. Arabian Days and Nights. Translated by Denys Johnson-Davies. Boston: Anchor Books, 1995. (Mahfouz)

Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories. New York: Penguin, 1990. (Haroun)

 

These books are all available at campus bookstores. If you order online, be sure to purchase exactly the same editions as listed above.

 

Recommended Text

 

Hacker, Diana. A Pocket Manual of Style. 7^th edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014.

 

This concise writing manual is strongly recommended for all Intensive Writing students. I will refer to it regularly in grading your papers and expect you to use it to identify and correct errors in grammar and usage in your writing.

 

Additional readings for the class will be found at the Canvas site for this course. These posted readings are an essential part of the course, and you are expected to print them out and bring them to class for discussion. These readings will be found under the Files tab on the Canvas site for this course. I hope to have the two films scheduled for this course available for online screening. I am still working with the library on arranging this and will keep you posted as the semester progresses.

 

Reading and Film Schedule

 

Welcome and Introductions

Borges, “Metaphors of The Thousand and One Nights” and “The Thousand and One Nights” (Canvas); Irwin, 42-62

Nights 1, 3-10 and Nights 3, 733-34; Frame Story, Alternate Ending (Canvas); Sallis, ‘Sheherazade’ (Canvas)

 

Nights 1, 10-19 (“The merchant and the jinni”); Irwin, 63-102

Nights 1, 19-50 (“The fisherman and the ‘ifrit”); Bettelheim, “The Fisherman and the Jinny” (Canvas)

Nights 1: 173-205 (“The hunchback”); Irwin, 103-119

No Class (Labor Day)

Nights 1: 205-219 (“The hunchback”)

Nights 1: 219-243 (“The hunchback”)

Nights 3: 737-787 (“Aladdin, or the magic lamp”)

Nights 3: 787-831 (“Aladdin, or the magic lamp”)

Nights 2: 127-148 (“The ebony horse”)

 

Film: The Thief of Baghdad (tentative)

Cooperson, “The Monstrous Births of ‘Aladdin’” (Canvas)

Nights 1: 931-960 (“Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”)

 

9/26:       Nights 2: 610-648 (“Judar and his brothers”)

9/28:       Nights 3: 690-733 (“Ma’ruf the cobbler”)

9/30:       Nights 2: 824-855 (“The adventures of ‘Ali al-Zaibaq”); Irwin, 140-158

 

10/3:       Nights 2: 801-824 (“Dalilah the wily”)

10/5:       Nights 1: 888-889 (“The city of Labtit”); Nights 1: 899-903 (“Iram, the city columns”); Nights 2: 518-546 (“The City of Brass”)

10/7:       No Class (Fall Break)

 

10/10:     No Class (Is one day really a break?)

10/12:     Nights 1: 122-172 (“Harun al-Rashid and the fisherman’s chest”)

10/14:     Nights 3: 261-293 (“Khalifa the Fisherman”)

10/17:     Nights 2: 453-479 (“Sindbad the sailor”); Irwin, 178-213; Molan, “Ethics of Violence” (Canvas)

10/19:     Nights 2: 479-518 (“Sindbad the Sailor”)

10/21:     Nights 1: 50-72 (“The porter and the three ladies”); Irwin, 159-177

10/24:     Nights 1: 72-105 (“The porter and the three ladies”)

10/26:     Nights 1: 105-122 (“The porter and the three ladies”); Naddaff, ‘Once More’ (Canvas)

10/28:     Irwin, 237-292; Vathek, 1-37

10/31:     No Class (Happy Halloween)

11/2:       Vathek, 38-86

11/4:       Vathek, 86-120

11/7:        Film: The Arabian Nights (dir. Pier Paolo Pasolini): Adult-content warning! Some story synopses (Canvas) (tentative)

11/9:       Barth, “Dunyazadiad,” 3-38 (Canvas)

11/11:     No Class

11/14:     Barth, “Dunyazadiad,” 38-56 (Canvas)

11/16:     Mahfouz, Arabian Days and Nights: 1-50

11/18:     Mahfouz, Arabian Days and Nights: 51-105

 

Thanksgiving Break

11/28:     Mahfouz, Arabian Days and Nights: 106-171

11/30:     Mahfouz, Arabian Days and Nights: 172-206

12/2:       Mahfouz, Arabian Days and Nights: 207-228

12/5:       Rushie, Haroun, 15-75

12/7:       Rushie, Haroun, 79-142

12/9:       Rushie, Haroun, 145-211

 

Expectations and Evaluation

 

The requirements and criteria of evaluation fall into four categories. The first does not carry a percentage value in the computation of your grade, but it is absolutely essential for success in the other three.

 

1. Fundamentals: This course requires that you have a native or near-native command of English. You must be able to read sophisticated literary texts, to discuss them orally, and to write about them intelligibly. The goal of this course is to refine and develop these language skills, and without a solid fundamental command of English, you will not succeed in the course. Everything in the course depends on reading the assigned texts and background material with care and in their entirety. The Thousand and One Nights is renowned for its engaging stories filled with humor and flights of fancy, and I have tried to divide the reading schedule into manageable assignments. Nevertheless, the Nights is a massive work, and you will encounter many unfamiliar names and cultural practices. Thoughtful, analytical reading takes time and attention to detail, and this is especially true for literary texts from other cultures. Pause to take notes, to look up unknown words, to reflect, and to reread important or difficult passages. Let me be blunt: if you do not think you can do the reading or have trouble with speaking, writing, or reading basic English, do not take this course.

 

2. Attendance and Class Participation: You are expected to attend every class meeting prepared and alert. I make a record of attendance and participation for every class. Please show respect for your classmates and me by arriving promptly. If you must be absent owing to serious illness, family emergency, or religious observance, please notify me by e-mail. Prolonged absences for whatever reason will seriously impair your ability to succeed in the class. I do not overlook unexcused absences for even the best students. Any unexcused absence will affect your grade, and more than two unexcused absences for the semester will lower your final grade by a third of a letter grade. Each additional absence will lower the final grade by another third. Attendance alone is not enough. I will occasionally give short lectures, but we will spend most of our time analyzing the readings together and discussing the issues they raise. You must be ready to participate in these discussions and other class activities. Although I prefer volunteers, I feel free to call on anyone anytime. Regular participation will help you develop the analytic style of thinking that you will employ in your writing assignments. Class participation accounts for 15% of your final grade.

 

Note on use of electronic devices: Use of cell phones of any kind is not allowed in this class. You may use laptops for legitimate educational purposes, such as taking notes or reading e-texts, but if you abuse this privilege by surfing the web or catching up on Facebook, I can and will bar you from bringing your laptop to class for any purpose. If you want an exception to this policy, please talk with me directly.

 

3. Writing: This is an intensive writing class, and among our goals this semester will be to develop the ability to write clearly and analytically, to get in the habit of writing regularly, and to use writing as a way of developing, organizing, and presenting ideas. There will be two kinds of writing assignment.

 

Over the course of the semester, I will assign several short, informal discussion papers. From a paragraph to two pages in length, these papers will give you the opportunity to reflect on the texts and to work out interpretations and analyses without worrying too much about niceties of organization or grammar. Although I will correct glaring grammatical and stylistic errors, I will assess these papers primarily on the basis of your good faith effort to grapple with the issues raised by the reading. Because I grade them liberally, I do not allow rewrites on these assignments and do not accept late submissions. These informal papers will account for 10% of your grade.

 

You will also be asked to write three formal essays. For intensive writing credit, the College of Arts and Sciences requires writing assignments totaling a minimum of 5,000 words (or roughly 20 pages), excluding revisions and informal writing. We will apportion these words as follows: two five-to-six-page essays and one final eight-to-ten-page essay. The papers will be due on the following dates:

 

Paper 1: Sept. 14, first draft (3 copies); Sept. 28, final version

Paper 2: Oct. 21 (optional rewrite, due one week after paper is returned)

Paper 3: Nov. 28, final paper proposal; Dec. 14, final paper.

 

The grade of any paper will be lowered by one third of a letter grade for each day that it is overdue. The three papers are weighted progressively: the first paper counts for 15% of your final grade; the second, for 20%; and the third, for 25%.

 

I will provide detailed assignment guidelines at least one week before the due date, but let me briefly outline the profile of these assignments now. The first paper will ask you to analyze an example of the device of the “frame story” and to consider how an enframed story answers a problem posed by its framing narrative. In the second paper, you will be asked to compare and contrast two stories of the same text type. For the final paper, you will develop your own topic based on one of the films or modern literary works that draw on the Nights for its inspiration and exploring how the later work utilizes and revises the themes, characters, and values of the Nights. You should keep your eyes open throughout the semester for texts and topics that particularly interest you and that you would like to explore further.

 

Writing is rewriting: This is one of my two basic mantras of clear and effective writing, and the first and last papers require the submission of more than one version. You will submit three copies of a finished draft of your first paper. Two classmates and I will read and comment on this paper before you write your final draft. For the final paper, you will be required to submit a proposal of two to three pages. I will then meet with each of you individually to help you develop this proposal into your final ten-page paper. I will also allow a rewrite of the second paper for a higher grade, if the original grade is B or below.

 

My criteria for grading your writing will be 1) the strength and logic of your ideas, 2) the organization of your presentation, 3) your use of supporting evidence from the text, and 4) the clarity of expression, including spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

 

I will be happy to meet with you to discuss your work and will often be available immediately after class, as well as during my office hours. I would also like to make you aware of Writing Tutorial Services in the Learning Commons of the Wells Library (812-855-6738; website: www.indiana.edu/~wts/). You can arrange a tutorial appointment with them to discuss your paper ideas and help you improve your writing style.

 

4 Quizzes: There will be two short, in-class quizzes over the course of the semester, which together make up 15% of your grade. These quizzes, about 20 minutes in length, will ask you to identify major characters and characteristics of a text, to answer brief questions about the content of a text, and to identify quotations. The first quiz will be given the week of October 3, and the second, the week of November 28.

 

Finally, I strongly discourage any student from taking the grade of incomplete. I will only grant an incomplete if you are passing the course at the time and are prevented from completing the final paper by some genuine hardship. I do not give an incomplete as a “default” grade. If you fail to hand in your final paper on time and do not contact me about an incomplete, I will base your final grade on the work that I have in hand.

 

Try as I might, I cannot predict every contingency. All elements of this syllabus are subject to change during the course of the semester, depending on the needs and aptitudes of the class.

Learning Outcomes

By completing this course in fulfillment of the CASE Global Civilizations and Cultures requirement, you learn to:

1. understand the distinctive world view of a culture from outside the United States, in this case medieval Islamic civilization;
2. recognize and analyze typical patterns of literary expression in this culture in narrative and poetry;
3. understand how these literary patterns embody the organization of emotional life and emerge from particular political, social, and economic situations ;
4. describe the links between the world of The Thousand and One Nights and earlier cultures in the Middle East and India;
5. recognize and analyze the continuing relevance of The Thousand and One Nights and how it has been interpreted and rewritten in the modern Middle East and the West.

 

By completing this course as a component of the requirements of the Department of Comparative Literature, you should learn how to:

1. recognize the literary and rhetorical features that structure texts;
2. explain key characteristics of historical period in chosen literary tradition;
3. conduct a strong and revealing close analysis of a text;
4. recognize and explain transnational and trans-historical literary features;
5. develop a line of questioning that produces a logical, well-supported argument;
6. evaluate arguments for logical coherence, good use of evidence and comprehensiveness;
7. revise arguments in response to new evidence or perspectives;
8. write clear, concise, and effective formal expository prose, and improve through revision.

 

By completing this course in fulfillment of the College of Arts and Sciences Intensive Writing requirement, you should learn how to:

1. accurately employ basic terms and concepts of the discipline of literary analysis;
2. develop interpretative arguments based on evidence and clear reasoning;
3. distinguish between and employ different forms of textual evidence;
4. frame, develop, and organize a comparative project of literary interpretation;
5. recognize common errors in grammar and usage and correct them;
6. understand the principles for constructing clear and expressive sentences and paragraphs;
7. recognize and employ the appropriate level of discourse for different writing tasks.

Please read the following policy carefully. Plagiarism and other forms of cheating will be penalized severely in this course and may very well result in a failing grade for an assignment or the course. If you make use of someone else’s ideas or words in your essays, please give a full and complete reference. Be especially careful to cite electronic sources and remember that I can track down on-line sources with very little effort.

 

 

IU Policy on Academic Dishonesty

 

Because academic integrity is fundamental to the intellectual life of the university and to the self-esteem and education of the individual student, the Bloomington Faculty Council adopts the following provisions to promote academic integrity.

 

Academic integrity is a basic principle which requires that students take credit only for ideas and efforts that are their own.  The following acts of academic dishonesty violate that principle. They undermine the bonds of trust and cooperation among members of this community and between us and those who may depend upon our knowledge and integrity. Therefore they are prohibited.

 

1. Cheating: A student must not intentionally use or attempt to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise.

 

1. A student must not use external assistance on any “in class” or “take home” examination, unless the instructor specifically has authorized such assistance. This prohibition includes (but is not limited to) the use of tutors, books, notes, and calculators.
2. A student must not submit substantial portions of the same academic work for credit or honors more than once without the permission of the present instructor.
3. A student must not allow others to conduct research or to prepare any work for him or her without advance authorization from the instructor. This prohibition includes (but is not limited to) commercial term-paper companies and files of past papers maintained in a residence unit.
4. Several people must not collaborate on a single project and turn in multiple copies, all represented implicitly or explicitly as individual work.

 

2. Fabrication: A student must not intentionally falsify or invent any information or citation in an academic exercise.

 

3. Plagiarism: A student must not intentionally adopt or reproduce ideas, words, or statements of another person without acknowledgment. A student must give due credit to the originality of others and honestly pay his literary debt. He should acknowledge indebtedness 1) whenever he quotes another person’s actual words, 2) whenever he uses another person’s idea, opinion, or theory, and 3) whenever he borrows facts, statistics, or other illustrative material—unless the information is common knowledge.

 

4. Facilitating Academic Dishonesty: A student must not intentionally or knowingly help or attempt to help another to commit an act of academic dishonesty.