Toward a hybrid poetics: the integration of western/Christian narratives in modern Arabic poetry

Abstract

The paper explores the attempt of Muslim Arab poets to integrate symbols, myths and narratives, appropriated from western/Christian traditions to create a hybrid poetics able to confront the challenges of the post WWII era. The paper argues that in spite of the great history of Arabic poetry, deeply rooted in Islamic heritage, Muslim Arab poets have been engaged in an inter-civilizational dialogue with western masters and texts incorporating motifs and discourses derived from traditions different from the Arab cultural context. Adapting western forms and strategies to fit local political purposes, Arab poets developed a poetics of opposition to undermine the foundations of a stagnant world and a backward culture. Combining western and eastern traditions, Arab poets in the post WWII era, developed an indigenous poetic dynamics to confront political hegemony and challenge local tyrannical regimes, the heirs of the colonial legacy