Poetry Places: Spaces of Intimacy and Loneliness in Examples of the Minor Poetry

• Published in: Journal of Umm Al-Qura University for Language Sciences and Literature no. Special Issue: Arabic Poetry; pp. 126 - 146
• Main Authors: Boujdidi, Ali, Khalfaoui, Nouzha
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 26.09.2024
• DOI: 10.54940/ll45597942
• ISSN: 1658-8126

Reflecting on the books of poetry collections and modern anthologies of ancient Arabs' poetry, one can notice a striking presence of marginalized texts that have become nowadays valuable texts. These texts are buzzing with poetry haunted by place and space, expressing love, sadness, and rebellion at the same time. This research project, hence, comes as an attempt to explore the spaces and origins of poetry in the Arabian peninsula, and shed light on those marginalized texts which had not undergone literary analysis, nor had they been quoted from before. The issue of space has not only been the concern of poetry, but it has also infiltrated the real life of humankind who see in space their roots, identity and future. Arabic poetry has, thus, become deeper and more specific than the formal poetic taste, and from the rigorous collective memory which is characterized by standardized rigid aesthetics. Scrutinizing and contemplating the places of familiarity and the places of hybridization, we realized that these places were oppressive, violent, hampering and nightmare-like, obstructing the poet’s journey into the space and making him helplessly lost. We learned that the place played a crucial role in the life of the ancient Arab poet and was an essential factor in the consolidation of his human existence. Place has become a hot issue pervading the life of Arabs at both the geographical and cultural levels. Place is the generator of Arabic poetry, its metaphor creator, its structure builder and the womb of its meaning as long as poetry reflects the Arabs’ condition over time and bears their values and glories.