Embodiments of the Poetic Image

Catalog description

The relationship between Arabic poetry and visual mediums of representation sets up grounds for comparison between the word and the image. This course examines their intersection as a space that generates productive tensions and challenges conventional practices of reading and viewing. We will read a selection of Arabic poems from various historical moments whose images have gained material afterlives in forms ranging from line drawings on paper to build monuments. By situating them in their historical and political contexts, we also raise comparative questions about the migration of form, materiality, circulation, inter-artistic collaboration, and activism. Primary readings for this course are in Arabic with secondary readings in English. At least three years of Arabic (or equivalent) are required for enrollment.