The influence of Arab-Muslim civilization on the languages and cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa 3600-AF-WCAM-OW
The aim of the course is indicate the influence of Arab-Muslim culture on languages and cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa (mainly eastern and western Africa). The most important information about the Arabic language will be presented as well as the linguistic map of Africa with particular emphasis on the languages on which Arabic had the greatest influence and some issues regarding historical Arab-African contacts. Loanwords from Arabic and the influence of the Arabic language on the development of literature in African languages will be illustrated (mainly with examples from Hausa and Swahili) . The issue of using Arabic script for writing in African languages (ajami) will be explored in the context of its civilizational importance. The influence of the Arab-Muslim civilization on art, pop culture and the education system in selected parts of Africa will be demonstrated as well.
Type of course
elective courses
Mode
Classroom
Prerequisites (description)
Learning outcomes
After completing the course student:
- has extended knowledge about the influence of Arab-Muslim civilization on selected African countries (K_W03)
- has knowledge of the cultural life of selected African countries (K_W08)
- is able to search, analyze, evaluate and use information from various sources and formulate critical judgments (K_U01)
- is able to analyze and interpret various cultural products of a selected region of Africa in a way appropriate for selected traditions, theories and research schools in the field of cultural studies (K_U10)
- is able to analyze the most important phenomena in the field of the socio-cultural situation of selected African countries (K_U11)
- can actively cooperate and work in a group, establish contacts and build social relationships (K_K02)
- is open to new ideas, trends and cultural differences (K_K05)
- is aware of the differences resulting from cultural, religious and philosophical diversity and its impact on the formation of attitudes social, political and legal (K_K06)
- understands and appreciates the value of traditions and cultural heritage of one's own and selected African countries (K_K08)
- actively works towards mutual understanding and effective intercultural communication (K_K10)
- actively works to share and promote cultural heritage and the most important products of contemporary culture in a selected region of Africa (K_K11)
- can use cultural competences in professional situations, such as aid programs, government programs, immigration problems, working for the security of the country (K_K12)
Assessment criteria
students' presentation
attendance control
participating in a discussion
oral exam
Bibliography
1. Badi, S. 2006. “Arabic Language Influence in Africa”, Studies of the Department of African Languages and Cultures, 39, s. 91-108.
2. Baldi, S. 1988. A First Ethnolonguistic Comparison of Arabic Loanwords Common to Hausa and Swahili, Supplement n. 57 to Annali, vol. 48/4. Naples.
3. Baldi, S. 2008. Dictionnaire des emprunts arabes dans les langues de l’Afrique de l’Ouest et en suahili. Paris.
4. Baldi, S. 2011. A Semantic Shift of Arabic Loanwords into Hausa, in Sergio Baldi, Hafizu Miko Yakasai (eds.), Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Hausa Studies: African and European Perspectives (Studi Africanistici; Serie Ciado-Sudanese 4), 47-52. Napoli.
5. Baldi, S. 2012. “Arabic Loans in East African Languages through Swahili: a Survey”, Folia Orientalia, 49, s. 37-52.
6. Baldi, S. (1989) On Semantics of Arabic Loan Words in Hausa, in Zygmunt Frajzyngier (ed.), Current Progress in Chadic Linguistics (Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 62), 285-301. Amsterdam–Philadelphia.
7. Goody, J. 1971. “The Impact of Islamic Writing on the Oral Cultures of West Africa”, Cahiers d’Etudes Africaines 11, zeszyt 43, s. 455-466.
8. Hunwick, J. 1996. “Sub-Saharian Africa and the Wider World of Islam: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives”, Journal of Religion in Afria, 26, fasc. 3, s. 230-257.
9. Hunwick, J. 2004. “West Africa and the Arabic Language”, Sudanic Africa, 15, s. 133-144.
10. Jonathan Owens. 2020. Nigerian Arabic. In Christopher Lucas & Stefano Manfredi (eds.), Arabic and contact-induced change, 175–196. Berlin: Language Science Press.
11. Owens, Jonatan. 2020. „Arabic in Africa”. In: Rainer Vossen, Gerrit J. Dimmendaal. African languages, Oxford: University Press, Chapter 69, 905-916.
12. Owens, Jonathan (ed.). 1994. Arabs and Arabic in the Lake Chad region. Special issue of Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika (SUGIA) 14.
13. Pawlak, Nina. 2020. “Allah expressions” as a manifestation of common cultural area in West Africa. [in] Nina Pawlak and Izabela Will (eds.). West African languages. Linguistic theory and communication, Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 288-299.
14. Piłaszewicz, S. 2001. “Historia Sokoto w rękopisie ajami. Przekład filologiczny z języka hausa i komentarz”, Afryka 13, 49-72.
15. Piłaszewicz, Stanisław. 2002. Uroki i meandry prac nad przekładami z języka hausa. In Stanisław Godziński (ed.), O pięknie i niewierności czyli o przekładach z literatur orientalnych. Warszawa: Instytut Orientalistyczny UW.
16. Shu’aibu, Jibril Adamu. 2018. Traces of the Arabic Literary Tradition in Modern Hausa Ajami Poetry. Ph.D. thesis, University of Warsaw.
17. Versteegh, K. 2001. “Linguistic Contacts between Arabic and Other Languages”, Arabica, 48, Fasc. 4, Linguistique Arabe: Sociolinguistique et Histoire de la Langue, s. 470-508.
18. Will, Izabela. 2016. „Obrazy Wschodu we współczesnych powieściach hausańskich”, Afryka 43, 2016, 35-52.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: