10647 Hebrew Secular Poetry in Muslim Spain

Credits: 6 intermediate credits in Hebrew Literature

Prerequisites: none

Author: Shulamit Elizur

The course acquaints students with a comprehensive selection of secular Hebrew poetry in Spain, mainly from the 10th to the 12th centuries. It aims to help students gain a basic understanding of Hebrew poetry in Spain, develop the ability to identify genres, recognize accepted motifs, discern unique motifs or events and analyze poetry in-depth.

Topics: Literary, historical and social background of Hebrew poetry in Spain; Methodological introduction; Hebrew poetry in Spain – entertainment poems, philosophical and moral poems, praise and friendship poems; Personal poems; Prose elements; The rhetoric of poetry – tone, syntax and lexicon, figurative language; Biblical allusion; Composition.