Sex & Love Through Arab Eyes

Catalog description

Has it ever crossed your mind that there is a medieval Arabic text that is the equivalent of the Indian Kama Sutra? A manual on sexuality as early as the 15th century? Al-Nefzawi wrote The Perfumed Garden of Sensual Delight in what we know today as being modern Tunisia. This course aims at untangling notions of love, seduction, desire, sex, the formation and negotiation of gender roles and identities from the 15th century Arab world until present times through literary works and films. In addition to the common reading, we will study chapters from The Perfumed Garden by Al-Nefzawi along with short stories and novels that will take you on a journey of discovery of notions of love and desire as formed and seen in the Arab world from the past and the present.