Indo-Islamic Culture in Literature · Middle Eastern, South Asian, And African Studies
I learnt about new genres of Urdu literature.
I learned a lot about Urdu literature and its correlation to Arabic poetry. It was also awesome to learn more about the history of South Asia—Pakistan and India.
Deep appreciation for Urdu poetry and south-asian voices. Professor Masud did a great job in highlighting some of the most impactful poets and writers who contributed to the Urdu canon - shared across Pakistan and India.
Urdu poetry, indian subcontinent's history
I learned a lot about Urdu literature and how it's developed over time as well as the different perspectives, techniques and purposes behind the different genres within it.
I learned so much about the history of Hindi-Urdu literature and about story-telling in India in general. We also discussed themes such as the Partition and religious tensions between Hindu/Muslim populations.
- More regional variation, to focus on Islamic communities living in different parts of India, and to understand the impact of Islam on literature in those areas. The course, for understandable reasons, is centred around Awadh/Lucknow.
More analytical readings could be assigned; that situates Urdu writing within specific historical and political contexts, etc. To understand the contribution of Urdu to the 'Hindi' film industry for instance- to analyze Urdu lyrics, etc.
This is the class you need for a fun learning experience.
I highly recommend this course to all students, especially students who have not taken a south asian class yet! 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Fall 2024 Course: MDESGU4825_001_2024_3-Indo-IslamicCultureinLiterature : MDESGU4825_001_2024_3 - Indo-Islamic Culture in Literature Instructor: Timsal Masud