Written Homework Assignment #2: Jurji Zaidan and the Nahda
- As you read the materials assigned to you for Monday’s class, please consider the questions below and write a short response (~300 words) to the question assigned to you. Be prepared to share your response in class and to discuss the questions not assigned to you as well.
- Before writing your response, please review the “sterling prose” and “perfect words” documents on the course website (Syllabus -> Week 2, Monday). Consider incorporating some of the vocabulary into your responses. Similarly, at the end of your written responses to the two questions, please include one word from the Di-Capua article that you’d like to use in future writing, plus the sentence you found it in. Remember, the word doesn’t need to be difficult, exotic, or previously unknown to you – it just has to be one that captures a meaning beautifully and communicates a scholarly and informed tone.
- Questions:
- Based on your reading of Di-Capua’s “Nahda: the Arab project of enlightenment”, how might the social, political, and religious causes and consequences of the nahda have left their mark on the development of modern Arabic literature, and more specifically, on the novel itself? What socio-economic factors implicated in the emergence of the western novel were replicated in the Middle East from the late 18th century onwards? (Jordan, Rubi, Oakley)
- In your opinion, how did the Arab nahda – its facets, actors, and aspirations – differ from the European enlightenment and subsequent emergence of social, political, and economic modernity in Europe? In other words, what aspects of the Arab nahda do you believe are unique to it, or at the very least, address concerns that are specific to the contexts of the Middle East and the Arab world? (Lorenzo, Nataliah)
- How does Jurji Zaidan’s essay, “Reality and Illusions”, fit within the general outlines of the nahda project as described by Di-Capua? Based on this essay, how would Jurji Zaidan be described as a theorist of the nahda? Are there any aspects of Zaidan’s distinction between “reality” and “illusion” – indeed this essay in general – that you find problematic? (Kathleen, Mayed)
- How should the essay “Social Sense” be read as a manifesto for a new style of writing? How would this new style of writing mesh with the literary characteristics of the novel we’ve previously encountered? How might we find fault with a novel produced under a strict regime of “social sense” as described by Zaidan? (Becca, Clair)
- Do you read “Admitting Error is Right” as a justification of the nahda or as a critique of it? Or is there a middle ground that Zaidan has staked out? What does the essay communicate about the literary environment that Zaidan was a part of? (Toni, Alex)
**Due 9/28 by 12:00pm, sent to slieb@middlebury.edu as a pdf file**