The course introduces students to modern tradition of Arabic literature in its various forms: poetry, prose, fiction, drama and criticism. Students enrolled in this course will explore the emergence of literary movements, the influence of Western ideas and the dominance of specific literary forms notably the novel, short story and drama. A wide range of Arabic literary works and texts that have been produced in the nineteenth and twenties centuries will be discussed and analyzed. These works will represent and reflect the different pace of literary development in the Arab world, including North Africa.