NES 1996

FWS: Early Islamic History in Modern Fiction

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2014-2015.

This first-year seminar will explore stories of the first century of the history of Islam – beginning with the life of the prophet Muhammad (circa 570 to 632 of the Common Era) and extending through the expansion of the early Islamic state throughout the eastern Mediterra-nean world in the later seventh century C.E. – as told through modern historical fiction. Reading novels by authors such as Salman Rush-die and Driss Chraibi alongside selections from ancient primary sources such as the Qur'an and the sira ("biography") of the Prophet Mu-hammad, we will see how these twentieth-century novelists have used ancient stories from the early Islamic period to tell stories that are remarkably modern.

When Offered Spring.

Satisfies Requirement First-Year Writing Seminar.

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