Thanks, Josh. I'll look into it. 'Sorry to find out the Stavans wasn't good--I saw him recently discussing Jews (and anti-Semitism) in Latin America. He was good there, but I'll be sure to steer clear of the graphic novel. :)

This is WONDERFUL, Sahar! Thank you!

Hi, Josh, I really enjoyed reading your comments on Conversos—it’s a fascinating. In that same Jewish museum in Cordoba I saw a list of people scholars believe to be Jews—it’s basically something like Spain’s Best and Brightest, and includes Cervantes—and recently saw a film on the reestablishment of the Oporto synagogue in which the leader of this massive project went in search of Jews (and found some basically living in caves). (The film is Sefarad.) By the way, you’d said something about expelled Jews going somewhere in the US—was it the mid-West? I think you may have said it in the chat but I lost it (and the chat disappears). I’d love to investigate that. (I only a few years back found out that there were Jews in the South....)

What a wonderful experience, Mina! Thank you for sharing.

Thank you--lovely pictures!

I too have a huge interest in literary (especially theatre) translation --it’s interesting that its “mate” is/has been Comparative Literature—and bring it up in my classes, where the politics of translation does come up, Sahar. I love your approach, Josh (Rabassa is my hero, by the way). I consider some translations with my students—a sort of close reading of texts, including even cartoon strips—and find it hugely effective for both their literary as well as their language skills. Lots of heated debates over nuance...which I love. I’ve attended some sessions of the ALTA conferences (American Literary Translators Association) and have noticed how the awareness of the audience also plays into the translator’s choices—well, obviously, but it seems to come up especially perhaps when translating “across race and gender”—and how we can see the previous translations’ cultural biases (e.g., translating as “white” some particularly manly Greek warriors where the original suggest something closer to “shiny” (a suggestion of divinity). I was fascinated following the story of The Rubaiyat. I’ve always loved in and was happy to find it in our readings because I had feared it would be too different to have been “accepted.” Thank you, Joey and Josh, for the recommendations. (Joey, I was at UNIS a million years ago doing an IB thing—it must be a lovely place to work.) And Michael, I was wondering if you’d seen or read A Doll’s House, Part 2? I’d love your take on it if you have.

Thank you, Mina!

Lexi, that was a good catch---I hadn’t even thought of looking at the publication dates of those two texts. (I bet your students would have checked.) I am very interested in hearing what will be said about it. ‘”See” you in a bit.

I too am looking forward to the opening lecture (and to undoing misconceptions). I am thoroughly enjoying the readings: I soooo recognize (in my own culture) that gentleman (in the vignettes) who prays just enough “to keep his wife happy.” I loved the point (in Chapter One, Islam: A Short Guide to Faith) against using the phrase “Muslim world,” as if Europe and the Americas could be called “the Christian world,” as well as the response to the journalist (in the interview) asking if they’d contacted the English department (at Duke) for “expert” opinion during the Falklands war. I also found it very interesting to compare the approaches of the two introductions to Islam, “What is Islam?” and “Understanding Islam,” that are written for children/adolescents and for adults, respectively, and hope it comes up for discussion at some point.