Introductory Topics in Middle East and North African Studies (290-4-1)
Topic
Indo-Persian Lit as Global Lit: Love, Longing, & D
Instructors
Rajeev Kumar Kinra
847/467-1241
Harris Hall - Room 307
Meeting Info
Harris Hall L28: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM
Overview of class
Course title: Indo-Persian Lit as Global Lit: Love, Longing, & Dissent
Indo-Persian poetry was present at the very birth of the concept of "world literature": indeed, the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (d. 1832) coined the term Weltliteratur in part thanks to his admiration for the Persian poet Hafez Shirazi (d. 1390). Of course today the Persian language — or "Farsi," as it is also known — is most commonly associated with the nation-state of Iran. But the historical association with world literature reveals a forgotten cosmopolitanism. Before the nineteenth century, Persian served for nearly a millennium as the literary and political lingua franca across virtually the entire eastern Islamic world, including vast stretches of South, Central, and West Asia. This course will introduce students to some of the most common genres of Indo-Persian literature, such as the romantic epic (masnavi), the courtly panegyric (qasida), the quatrain (ruba‘i) and especially the lyric (ghazal), as well as to some of the canonical poets of the era and the historical context in which they lived and wrote. Expressions of love, longing, mysticism, and dissent against religious orthodoxy were among the most common themes of this literature, giving rise to its many modern afterlives — for example, in Urdu and Turkish literature, but also in European Romantic poetry, American Transcendentalist philosophy, and the music of Bollywood cinema, to name just a few. All readings will be in English or in English translation, so no prior knowledge of Persian is required for this course; but students who do have some familiarity with Persian, or with related languages like Urdu, Turkish, or Arabic, are of course most welcome to read texts in the original languages if they so desire. Class time will be a mix of lectures that situate our literary readings in their global historical context, with time also set aside for discussing the literature itself, issues of translation, and scholarly debates about "world literature" itself as an analytical category.
Learning Objectives
FD-LA: 1) Foster skills of advanced expression through daily discussion of literature, and the concept of "world literature," for practical use in the analysis of texts; 2) respond to critiques of the concept of world literature, and address the power structures inherent in cross-cultural analysis; 3) compare genre and form in literary texts from different parts of the world, with attention to difference, inequality, and problems of translation; 4) compose culturally sensitive and intellectually sophisticated essays on world literature, building skills of written expression.
FD-HS: 1) To understand the larger cultural, religious, and historical context of the emergence of "New Persian" in the 9th-10th centuries CE, and to learn about the various social and historical developments that fostered the development of Indo-Persian literary and courtly political culture over the ensuing centuries; 2) To consider the global historical patterns that allowed for the wider circulation of Indo-Persian literary content and ideas beyond the Indo-Persian world, especially in early modern Europe; 3) To think about literature not merely as formal expression, but rather as a reflection of wider historical undercurrents (why did this particular poet write in this particular way, at this particular historical moment?); 4. As with #4 above, to improve students' ability to communicate their literary historical questions, observations, and analyses effectively, particularly in writing.
Evaluation Method
Short papers and other miscellaneous (hopefully amusing) assignments
Class Attributes
Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area