Muslim Literature, Film, and Art

In current global circumstances, Islam is all too frequently represented solely in terms of political and militant ideologies. For those who wish to dig deeper, there are the rich and varied traditions of classical religious scholarship and jurisprudence. But to look at Islam through these lenses alone is to miss alternate sensibilities that are just as important in providing the material from which many Muslims construct their identities. In this course, we will be studying some of the distinctive themes and aesthetic traditions associated with Muslim cultures. When the contemporary Syrian poet Adonis speaks of a “Sufi aesthetic,” what does he mean? What is the dynamic underlying the text/image art movement named hurufiyya, after the medieval Islamic study of the occult properties of letters? In what ways do the religious elements of controversial novels such as Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses and Naguib Mafouz’s Children of the Alley—engage with long-standing traditions of story-telling? How is a theme such as the veil addressed in works that take into account Western responses as much as other symbolic histories? How is a medium such as film used to portray the role of religion in motivating or responding to acts of violence? Although most of the material that we will be studying will be from the contemporary period, premodern works will be used to illustrate the ways in which Muslim artistic and literary works have historically adapted themes, genre, and media from pre-Islamic and other cultures.