Call for Essay Proposals: Teaching Modern Arabic Literature in Translation

I don’t usually post CFPs, but since I know a number of you teach Arabic literature (in translation):

top_mla_logoFrom the call:

Essay proposals are invited for a volume in the MLA’s Options for Teaching series entitledTeaching Modern Arabic Literature in Translation, to be edited by Michelle Hartman. This volume is designed to offer a broad range of ways to think through the teaching of Arabic literature in translation in English. Essays will address the challenges of teaching Arabic literature in translation in a variety of courses and institutions. The volume will provide suggestions for nonspecialists who wish to teach Arabic literature, and it will offer specialists in the field new perspectives on teaching. Essays should focus not just on teaching the texts but on teaching them as translations and should demonstrate some familiarity with the field of translation studies. Essays should also take into account the following: the legacies of orientalism in teaching Arabic literature today; the politics of teaching Arabic literature in particular locations (whether in North America or elsewhere); and the ethical responsibilities of teaching literature translated from Arabic in the classroom. Modern will be used in its broadest possible meaning; essays are welcomed about teaching Arabic literature from any period considered modern, particularly essays on texts from the nineteenth century and/or the nahda. Essays focusing on questions of canonicity and on canonical and noncanonical authors are also welcomed. Possible topics for essays include teaching Arabic literature in different kinds of courses (e.g., postcolonial literature, world literature, gender studies, etc.); teaching Arabic literature if you do not know Arabic; history, current events, and the politics of teaching Arabic literature; working within and beyond the canon of modern Arabic literature. If you are interested in contributing an essay (3,000–3,500 words), please send a summary proposal (500 words) to Michelle Hartman (michelle.hartman[at]mcgill[dot]ca) by 15 November 2013.