Linguistic Topics in Arabic: Representing Arabic

This course will examine the way that Arabic has been represented in the various traditions in which it has played a role: as a cultural icon in the Arab and Islamic tradition, to its role as a linguistic “other” in European linguistic traditions. Through a careful reading of a wide variety of texts from both traditions, students in this course will develop an understanding and appreciation of how linguistic representations are contingent, and may reflect non-linguistic cultural expectations as much as objective linguistic reality.