Universtiy of Toronto - NMC473/2173H - Intellectuals of the Arab World

In 2001, one of the leading Arabic novelists and political commentators, Elias Khoury published an article in the influential Arab Marxist journal al-Tariq. In it he argued for a “Third Nahda”. Using this text as a starting point, this course introduces key political events, intellectual trends and leading thinkers of the Arab and Muslim revivals and awakenings from the 19th to 20st centuries. It is designed to critically re-examine the role of intellectuals in the modern Arab world as well as their ideological and geographical locations deploying methods such as Critical Theory (W. Benjamin), New Historicism (Q. Skinner), Feminism, Travelling Theory (E. Said), Islamic Hermeneutics (N. Abu Zeid, M. ‘Abd al-Jabri) and Postcolonialism (D. Chakrabarty, D. Scott). In light of the recent revolutions and counter-revolutions in the Arab world, we will examine the legacies of past periods: Ottomanism, colonialism, liberation struggles and authoritarianism. Topics will include modernity, minority, authenticity, secularism, Islamic revival, liberalism, nationalism, gender, and cosmopolitanism.