Essay on "Arabic Poetry"

Essay 2 pages (689 words) Sources: 2

[EXCERPT] . . . .

In general, Arabic poetry is shorter than its European counterparts; and emphasis is more on the sound and patterns of sound than on actual semantics, theme, or content. This is not true of all Arabic language poetry, of course. Arabic poems with strong thematic elements such love abound, especially during the modern era. There is in fact a word for the independent love poem, ghazal, which has its roots in pre-Islamic odes (Farrin, 2011).

Jamil was one of the first Islamic Arabic poets, kick starting centuries of poetry that testified to themes of religious devotion and submission to God (Farrin, 2011). Just as the religion of Islam spread throughout the region, permeating into Persia and areas beyond the Arabic world, so too did Arabic language begin to flourish as a means to disseminate culture and cultural values. Arabic language poetry carried with it the signs, symbols, and motifs of Islam. This helped to bring the emotion and sentiment of everyday religious devotion and Muslim mysticism to the reader, regardless of geography. Sufism is replete with examples of devotional poetry; although Sufism's most famous poet wrote not in Arabic but in Persian.

Jayyusi notes that modern Arabic poetry represents a forced re-entry into the world, after centuries of insularity within the literary tradition. Whereas Islam was a world unto itself and did not absorb much from European literary traditions until the late Ottoman stage, the past several hundred years have been fruitful for cross-germination of poetic forms. Imagery and metaphors embedded in modern Arabic poetry share more in common with European poems than they would have in classical Arabic poetry.

References

"Arabic Literature," (n.d.). Retrieved online: http://www.al-bab.com/arab/literature/lit.htm#Pre

Badawi, M.M. (1975). A Critical Introduction to Modern Arabic Poetry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

DeYoung, Terri. (1999). Arabic language and Middle East/North African cultural studies. Retrieved online: http://www.indiana.edu/~arabic/arabic_history.htm

Farrin, Raymond. (2011). Abundance from the Desert. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.

Jayyusi, Salma Khadra (1987). Modern Arabic Poetry. New York: Columbia University Press. READ MORE

How to Reference "Arabic Poetry" Essay in a Bibliography

Related Essays:

Relationship Between Translation and Linguistics Seminar Paper

Translation Linguistic

The Challenges of Arabic to English Translation

The need for effective Arabic-to-English translation has never been greater. With the barriers to international business being reduced all the time,… read more

Seminar Paper 4 pages (1211 words) Sources: 4 Topic: Language / Linguistics

---

History of Rosicrucian Order Thesis

History Of the Rosicrucian Order

Despite being one of the oldest esoteric societies, the Rosicrucian Order remains one of the most mysterious and least well-known of the various groups that… read more

Thesis 21 pages (5816 words) Sources: 21 Topic: Literature / Poetry

---

Hip Hop Culture in Saudi Arabia Research Paper

Hip Hop Culture in Saudi Arabia

Culture and globalization

Culture which refers to the symbolic systems Williams 91()

through which human beings exist and coexist has been globalized by taking… read more

Research Paper 15 pages (4627 words) Sources: 10 Style: MLA Topic: Music / Musicians / Instruments

---

Jewish Culture of Medieval Europe Term Paper

Jewish Culture of Medieval Europe

What were the characteristic modes of Judaism and Jewish life in Sepharad and Ashkenaz? How were the Sepharadic and Ashkenazic culture indicative of the Muslim… read more

Term Paper 6 pages (1893 words) Sources: 4 Style: MLA Topic: Religion / God / Theology

---

Cultural and Construction History of the Romanesque Period Essay

Cultural and Construction History Of Romanesque Period

Cultural Environment

The term Romanesque is an architectural category that refers to the art and architecture of the Mid -- Late Medieval Period… read more

Essay 17 pages (8066 words) Sources: 17 Style: MLA Topic: World History

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>