MIDDLE EASTERN DRAMA
TA 410 Summer, 2007
Monday through Thursday 12:00 – 1:50
Instructor: Kathy Thomas
110 Villard, 896-0408
kthomas@uoregon.edu
Office Hours: Monday 11- 12
Or by appointment
Thursday: 12 - 1
COURSE STRUCTURE
Lecture will use a variety of academic writings: anthropological, historical,
sociological, and literary. Each of our readings is intended to “fill in the pieces” that must
be examined if we are to take a sophisticated look at Middle Eastern Drama. Class topics
will cover Middle Eastern Drama from the Middle Ages to present. Discussion will ask
you to analyze the plays using historical and theoretical writings. Individual projects will
allow you to apply and expand this analysis. All course materials are on-line. The
syllabus located on Blackboard contains links to all required readings, as well as
supplementary resources.
MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS:
Response Papers: Students are required to write three 3 to 4 page typed
responses to class materials from the prior week. Response papers are accepted on the
dates assigned. The response papers must relate to the prior week’s reading. See
Blackboard for tips on writing a response paper.
Individual Projects: Each student will choose one of the course topics (see daily
headers) and present historical research materials (audio/visual material) and a three-page
analysis of how the research relates to the day’s discussion. Signup for this project will
occur on the first day of class. Research could include information on art and
architecture of the time, historical timelines, information on related drama or literature, or
theatrical space. Presentations will be approximately 20 minutes in length.
Final Examination: A combination of objective and essay questions testing the
student’s understanding of the course materials, contrasts and similarities between
regions, knowledge of the readings, and the plays.
GRADING
Attendance and Participation
Response Papers
Individual Projects
Final Exam
20%
30%
20%
30%
Page 1 of 3
WEEK ONE:
July 23
Introduction to the Course
Scope of the class
Course Materials
Accessing Course Materials
Supplementary Materials
July 24
Introduction to Arabic drama
Badawi, “Introduction,” Cambridge History of Arabic Literature, 1-23
Cachia, Pierre, An Overview of Modern Arabic Literature, Chapter 10,
“Unwritten Arabic Fiction and Drama”
Borges, “Averroes’ Search” in Labyrinths
July 25
Medieval Arabic drama
Moreh, Schmuel, Live Theatre and Dramatic Literature in the Medieval
Arab World, chapter 5
----------. Live Theatre and Dramatic Literature in the Medieval Arab
World, chapter 7
July 26
The Ta’ziyeh
Chelkowski, Peter, Ta’ziyeh, pp. 1-23, 64-74, 154-66
Polly, Lewis, The Miracle Play of Hasan and Husain, Preface, Scenes
XVIII, XXXV
WEEK TWO:
July 30
First Response Paper Due
19th century drama in Syria and Egypt
Badawi, Cambridge History of Arabic Literature, pp. 329-43
---------, “The Father of the Modern Egyptian Theatre: Ya’qub Sannu,”
JAL, XVI
Moosa, Matti, “Naqqash and the Rise of the Native Arab Theatre in
Syria,” JAL 3: 106-17
July 31
Early twentieth century drama in Egypt and Israel
Rokem, Freddie, “Hebrew Theatre from 1889 to 1948,” in Linda Ben-Zvi,
Theater in Israel, pp. 51-84.
Al-Hakim, Tawfiq, The Cave Dwellers (1933)
Aug 1
Tawfiq Al-Hakim 1947-1970
Al-Hakim, King Oedipus, 1947 (plus preface)
------------, Fate of a Cockroach, 1966
Aug 2
Egyptian drama 1948-1965
Nu’man Ashur, Give Us Our Money Back, 1963
Farag, Alfred, The Caravan, 1968
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WEEK THREE:
Aug 6
SECOND RESPONSE PAPER DUE
Israeli drama 1948-1970
Ben-Zvi, 119-50 Pages 133-149 Only
Abramson, Drama and Ideology in Modern Israel Chapter 9, Metaphor
and Mythology
Meged, Aharon, Hannah Senesh, 1958
Aloni, Nissim, The American Princess, 1963
Aug 7
Syrian and Lebanese dramas thru the 1960s
Ikhlasi, Walid, Pleasure 21, 1965
Maghoud, Hunchback Sparrow, 1967
Badawi, “Arabic Drama and Politics,” in Gesellschaftlicher Umbruch und
Historie im Zeitgenönnischen Drama der Islamischen Welt, 9-18
Aug 8
Israeli drama of the 1970s Bar Josef Sobel, Horowitz,
Yehoshua Sobol, Night of the Twentieth, 1976
Dan Horowitz, Cherli Ka Cherli, 1978
Aug 9
Self-Study
WEEK FOUR:
Aug 13
THIRD RESPONSE PAPER DUE
Recent Syrian and Palestinian drama
Sadallah Wannous, The King is the King, 1977
Samia Bakri, The Alley, 1992
Azzam, Fateh Samih, Baggage
Aug 14
Recent Israeli drama
Review for Final
Motti Lerner, Kastner, 1985
Levin, Hanoch, Murder, 1998
Aug 15
Recent Egyptian drama
El Saadawi, Twelve Women in a Cell, 1994
Diyab, Mahmud, Strangers Don’t Drink Coffee 1970
Aug 16
Final or Term Paper Due
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