MES 16.38 Arabic Prison Writing
This course studies the genealogy of the prison in Arab culture as manifested in memoirs, narratives, and poems. These cut across a vast temporal and spatial swathe, covering selections from the Quran, Sufi narratives from al-Halllaj oeuvre, poetry by prisoners of war: classical, medieval, and modern. It lays emphasis on modern narratives by women prisoners, political prisoners, and narratives that engage with these issues. Prison writing is studied against other genealogies, especially in the West, to map out the birth of prison, its institutionalization, mechanism, and role.
Instructor
Al-Musawi