Journal of Arabic Language & Literature

Abstract Literary art, one of the seven fine arts, has long been isolated from artistic criticism. While literary aesthetics traditionally focused on identifying rhetoric, this approach alone falls short in analyzing literary aesthetics comprehensively. The Gestalt theory, effective in critiquing various art forms, faces challenges when applied to literature despite its success in visual arts. To address this gap, we developed a method based on the Gestalt Audio-Visual theory, marking a pioneering step in literary aesthetics. This innovative approach draws from foundational fine arts principles to partially overcome rhetorical limitations and enhance understanding of textual context. Applicable across languages and literary genres, this method was tested through 30 prayer examples. We detailed the theory's inception, application process, and benefits in rectifying rhetorical flaws within text aesthetics. Fine arts concepts like Contrast, Perspective, and Optical Illusion were integrated into literary analysis to enrich interpretation alongside rhetoric. This groundbreaking theory has the potential to revolutionize literary artistry significantly.

Abstract Since cognitive learning approaches—including Vygotsky’s social learning theory—support the development of critical thinking skills, applying the methodological foundations of these approaches can help institutionalize such skills in contemporary human life. This research examines the children's stories of Taghreed Al-Najjar, a contemporary Jordanian writer, analyzing the actions, performances, and dialogues of the characters through a descriptive method based on Facione’s six critical thinking skills models. Additionally, it explores how these skills can be taught using the principle of scaffolding, emphasizing the facilitating role of adults and more skilled peers within the child’s zone of proximal development (ZPD). The findings reveal that Taghreed Al-Najjar simplifies the cognitive complexities of critical thinking by applying social learning theory in her children's stories. Depending on the audience’s age group, self-regulation and interpretation skills rank first and second in priority, serving to enhance cognition, identity formation, character development, awareness, and knowledge generation in children. Furthermore, the skills of inference, analysis, evaluation, and explanation—supported by both emotional and cognitive educational strategies—have been central to the author’s objectives, ultimately contributing to a new perspective on the pedagogical potential of fictional texts. The study also highlights that, from Taghreed Al-Najjar’s perspective, language and culture serve as vital tools for advancing children’s cognitive development and mental structuring. 

Abstract Many scholars have explored the concept of love throughout history, but one of its earliest and most profound analysts was Ibn Hazm, the Andalusian writer, jurist, and philosopher. A polymath well-versed in all the sciences of his time, Ibn Hazm addressed the subject of love in his book Tawq al-Hamama (The Ring of the Dove) with unprecedented psychological insight. He structured his work into thirty chapters, each meticulously titled and analyzed, offering a comprehensive examination of love’s various dimensions.  Centuries later, psychologist Robert Sternberg, former president of the American Psychological Association, proposed his Triangular Theory of Love, defining love as an interplay of three core components: intimacy, passion, and commitment. The dynamic relationship between these elements gives rise to different forms of love.  Despite the richness of Arabic literary discourse on the psychology of love, this subject has not yet been sufficiently explored through modern theoretical frameworks. To bridge this gap, the present study applies Sternberg’s theory—which notably aligns with many of Ibn Hazm’s observations—to Tawq al-Hamama in an analytical-descriptive manner.  This article seeks to answer two key questions:  1. Which of Sternberg’s three components (intimacy, passion, commitment) are present in Tawq al-Hamama?  2. Which of these elements appears most frequently?  Through textual analysis, the study examines Ibn Hazm’s typology of love, its causes, and its challenges, drawing on his personal experiences and anecdotes. The findings reveal that all three components of Sternberg’s triangle—intimacy, desire (passion), and commitment—are prominently featured in Tawq al-Hamama, expressed through poetic narratives, prose, and introspective reflections. Additionally, the research highlights the adaptability of Sternberg’s theory to Ibn Hazm’s work, while also identifying mania obsessive love) and ideal love as the most recurrent themes in the text.
 

Abstract This article examines the views of two poets, Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī and Khāqāni Shervani, towards women. Abū al-ʿAlā was a blind poet known for his pessimism, which led to his anger towards material life and its people, particularly women. In contrast, Khāqāni, a Persian poet recognized for the complexity of his lyrics and hidden meanings, is also noted for his pessimism; some researchers consider him one of the most pessimistic Persian poets regarding women. The issue of women occupies a central place in the poetry of both poets. Despite their negative views, they attribute significant positive roles to women, especially as mothers, elevating them from a state of inferiority to one filled with passion, love, and sublime spiritual feelings. This article aims to reveal the portrayal of women in the poetry of Al-Maʿarrī and Khaqani. This distinctive topic is central to their work and has been explored through a descriptive-analytical approach. The article follows the American School of Comparative Literature, seeking to identify similarities and differences in how both poets view women as mothers, daughters, wives, and lovers. It highlights the private and public motivations that have shaped their often hostile perspectives towards women. The conclusion suggests that both poets do not harbor hostility towards mothers; rather, they see them as sanctuaries providing comfort. However, regarding daughters, both express relief at their burial or death, albeit for different reasons. Overall, the lyrical themes in both poets' works are somewhat limited by their reliance on traditional meanings. The poetic landscape during their time did not allow for new interpretations; however, Khāqāni appears to have drawn more from lyrical meanings compared to Al-Maʿarrī.

Abstract Women are the foundation of every nation and civilization, holding a status and image that is as sacred as that of men. They are the birthplace of humanity and the originators of its generations, especially when their cause is linked to literature. Women serve as indispensable icons, particularly in Arabic literature. In the Arabic novel, women have a prominent presence and are central to how writers portray their ideas and perceptions. They represent an intellectual starting point for exploring various concerns, social and economic realities, and humanitarian issues. Consequently, women's issues have been a significant focus for Tunisian novelist Khawla Hamdy. This research aims to illuminate different aspects of working women's lives and their living conditions in Hamdy’s novels. It seeks to clarify Hamdy’s vision regarding working women in various contexts while showcasing her skill through character descriptions and analyses of imagined events. The study also aims to present the situation faced by Arab working women in society using a descriptive-analytical approach. Our findings indicate that women have successfully asserted their creative influence in Tunisian thought and literature. In her novels, Hamdy portrays working women as self-confident individuals who understand their rights. Their struggles to balance family responsibilities with professional tasks are evident, along with their dedication to their work.
 

Abstract The Quranic text represents one of the means through which the Creator expresses His creativity and shapes His messages, reflecting visions and patterns in accordance with the context of the Holy Quran. Given the significant and sacred role of the Holy Quran in human life, particularly for Muslims, many creators, especially poets, are drawn to narrate from this sacred text to enhance their works with realism and aesthetic depth. This topic highlights the profound interaction between the Quran and poetic expression. This research aims to illuminate the aesthetic and artistic value of Quranic references in contemporary Iraqi poetic discourse through the poetry of Mahdi Al-Nurairi. It seeks to reveal Al-Nurairi's use of Quranic techniques while pursuing valuable insights. The researcher employed a descriptive analytical approach to analyze and compare phenomena in detail, examining texts that exhibit either explicit or subtle manifestations of Quranic influence or its connotations. The analysis explains how these elements enhance the poetic text. The research yielded several key findings, notably that Al-Nurairi's poetry employs Quranic texts as a means of aesthetic depiction. He skillfully integrates these sacred texts into his work, utilizing his talent and poetic abilities to realize his artistic vision. As a result, his poetry is rich with various forms of Quranic influence that significantly contribute to its aesthetic appeal—an endeavor that Mahdi Al-Nurairi has successfully pursued throughout his poetic expression.

Abstract s.
Edmund Husserl founded descriptive phenomenology with the aim of combating skepticism and relativism, advocating a return to "the things themselves" and seeking to establish philosophy as a valid science. The core of this method was to focus on phenomena and describe them without preconceived notions. However, this approach faced criticism, prompting Husserl to develop transcendental phenomenology as a response to the question of the existence and reality of the world. Transcendental phenomenology introduced complex concepts such as intentionality, epoche, noema and noesis, pure ego, lifeworld, and various levels of time, including time-consciousness. These concepts are highly abstract and often require interpretation and explanation.Despite the apparent complexity of phenomenology, applying its principles to literary works, such as poetry, can offer valuable insights. This practice can not only clarify the difficult teachings of phenomenology for a broader audience but also provide a foundation for revealing the aesthetic aspects of poetry. Therefore, this research examines the characteristics of the boy's character in Nazik al-Mala'ika's ode "Shajarat al-Qamar" (The Tree of the Moon), focusing on the abstract concept of the moon tree and tracing the semantic evolution of the moon within the poem, aligning it with the stages of change in Husserl's theory. The results show that the semantic spectrum of the moon for the boy encompasses concepts such as bird, child, and ultimately, seed. Through these stages, the pure ego (the boy) gradually reduces and internalizes the noema of the moon, culminating in the image of a seed with the potential for growth and development. This culminates in the creation of the "tree of the moon," which reflects the third level of time consciousness as described in Husserl's theory. Furthermore, this philosophical reading of the ode provides an explanation for Husserl's transcendental phenomenological turn in his later works.

Abstract The prominent Arabic literature critic of the 4th century AH, Ibn Tabataba al-Alawi, had a distinctive way of critiquing Arabic literature in his work "Ayar Ol-She’r." Unlike his contemporaries and predecessors, he focused on poetry as an artistic industry, emphasizing the structure and order of poetry. Through his statements, he highlighted the subtle distinctions between various literary forms such as verse, prose, and poetry. Some scholars view old Arabic criticism as form-oriented. This analysis aims to explore Ibn Tabataba's critical views within the framework of Russian formalism to determine if he can be considered a formalist critic. The research examines how Ibn Tabataba's opinions align with formalist principles and whether they support the idea that ancient Arabic literary criticism is formalistic. The study concludes that Ibn Tabataba's critical approach aligns with formalism, reinforcing the notion that old Arabic criticism is form-oriented.

Abstract In contemporary literature, poets, writers, and artists have shown a special focus on symbols in their literary works, such as poems, stories, and plays. One form of symbolism is the incorporation of various historical, religious, and mythological figures in contemporary Arabic poetry. A modern poet, akin to a historian, does not solely view history through historical data but imbues historical characters with personal experiences and societal context to convey spiritual concepts and dynamic implications to readers. Meysam Tammar, a companion of the Prophet and loyal friend of Imam Ali (AS), holds significant presence in the poetry of some contemporary poets. This article examines the symbolic significance of this character in the works of two Arab poets: "Jasim al-Sahayyeh" from Saudi Arabia and "Hasan AleHatit al-Amili" from Lebanon. Given the lack of prior research on Maysham Temar's portrayal in contemporary Arabic poetry, investigating this theme is crucial. The analysis reveals that Maisham's virtues like righteousness, truthfulness, outspokenness, resilience against oppressors, and martyrdom have led modern poets to center their poems around his character. These two poets have associated themselves with Maitham in their poetry to elucidate societal issues and express their experiences, concerns, and reformist ideas beyond Maitham's persona

Abstract Written by Sahar Khalifa, a Palestinian novelist, "Al-Sabbar" (wild thorns) reflects the mindset of the colonized Palestinians in the last decades of the twentieth century. The novel features many characters, each symbolizing a different aspect of the Palestinian mentality. Through a psychoanalytic reading, one can better understand the hidden worldview of the novel and gain insight into the mentality of Palestinian society in the second half of the twentieth century.Based on Freud’s model, human beings’ psyche (conscious and unconscious) has three components. The first one is ‘Id’ which encompasses their primitive drives, pleasure instincts, and life drives. The child’s encounter with the realities of life results in the formation of its ‘Ego’ which is logical and realistic. Later, when its psyche develops, ‘Superego’ emerges out of ‘Ego’ which is the moralistic and idealistic dimension of the mind. It suppresses ‘Id’ due to its instinctive desires and censures ‘Ego’ for its occasional cooperation with ‘Id’.The current study assumes that three kinds of characters in the novel embody these three parts of the psyche. The masses and those who work in Israeli manufactures represent ‘Id’, as they have abandoned their ideals and solely think about their basic needs and survival. In this novel, Adel is a rationalist and realist responsible for organizing workers and their transfer to factories; thus he is presumed as a symbol of ‘Ego’. The character who embodies ‘Superego’ in this novel is Osama, constantly inviting Adel to idealism.Due to Adel’s influence over the masses, he requests Adel to encourage them to resist their Israeli factory owners. As a voice of rationalism and realism, Adel invites Osama to pragmatism. Throughout the novel, Adel dismisses Osama’s views; however, at the end of it all, Adel changes his standpoint transforming from ‘Ego’ to ‘Ideal ego’, resulting in his realistic viewpoint becoming an idealistic one.The evolved mentality at the end of novel is rational, idealistic and pragmatic - this is what Khalife wants for Palestinian people unconsciously.

Abstract "The Anxiety of Influence" is a theory proposed by Harold Bloom that discusses the effectiveness of poets. It is based on intertextuality and focuses on the relationship between contemporary poets and the past, as well as their fear of their own effectiveness. The theory suggests that poets modify their speech in order to conceal their effectiveness and present themselves as creative individuals. This concern or fear of effectiveness is evident in many poems and reports from the third and fourth centuries of Arabic literature. This essay takes a comparative-analytical approach to examine the mindset of these composers by analyzing their poetic compositions, historical-literary reports, and the opinions of orators from that time period. It aims to explore their worries and concerns regarding topics such as innovation and imitation. Additionally, using Bloom's theory as a guide, it examines the strategies employed by Abou Al-Tayeb Motanabbi to present his historical statements in a new light. The research demonstrates that these composers' confrontations with the limited opinions of their predecessors and contemporaries are rooted in psychological impulses and mental worries, rather than personal competition or militancy. Furthermore, the rhetorical approaches used during that time period added to the psychological pressure they experienced. Therefore, further research is necessary. The composers mock others while boasting about their artistic talent, which reveals their anxiety and worry about efficacy. They employ techniques such as brevity, exaggerated imagery, reversing repetitive concepts, using distant metaphors, and implicit or explicit analogies instead of weak examples to make repetitive forms and objects feel fresh and establish themselves as innovative poets.

Abstract The time of narrative discourse is multidimensional and abnormal, creating scattered images to highlight the fictional concept. An idea refers to a dominant belief that results from repeating an image. The novel "Sleeping in the Cherry Field" by Iraqi writer Azhar Jerjis, nominated for the Arabic Booker Prize in 2020, is an example of exile literary works. Its motif is the concept of the lack of individual identity in the shadow of homeland security, rooted in the idea of "desire for immortality". This current research is a qualitative and descriptive-analytical study based on library sources. It aims to discover the basis of the formation of the idea in "Sleeping in the Cherry Field", explain the relationship between time and personality traits, and determine the emotions emanating from the idea of immortality based on Gerard Genette's theory of narrative discourse in three themes: order, duration, and frequency. The application of this theory is necessary to prove the idea of narration as it highlights characteristics of the hero's character and emotions. The findings reveal that narrative structure as a labyrinth and fluid flow of mind create anachronisms in narrative discourse order. Its duration is based on dialogue, summarization, omission, and descriptive pause, while types of frequency including single, repeated, and repeating stories are used to highlight "desire for immortality". One result is a contrast between present and past as a basis for immortality. The protagonist's isolation in time creates emotions such as fear, hope, confusion, and disappointment.

Abstract Employing myth is one of the aesthetic expressive tools used by modern poets in their poetry. Its use in modern poetry is so prevalent that it has become one of the most important phenomena in modern and contemporary literature, distinguishing it as a feature of modern literature. Almost every poetic work contains symbolic and mythological references. In an attempt to find a style that harmonizes with nature, female poets often incorporate myth, creating metaphorical or miraculous images. Myths are present in the poems of women poets, and many of them utilize these myths to convey messages about their poetic conditions, as well as their philosophical and intellectual existence in life.This study adopts a comparative analytical approach to reveal the manifestations of myth in feminist poetry. The researcher sheds light on feminist literature and the influence of Western literature on Arab culture through a comparison between two examples of female poets from modern literature: Edith Sitwell (1887-1964) and Nazik Al-Malaika (1923-2007). The aim of this study is to explore the mythological content in the poems of contemporary female poets, specifically focusing on how myth is employed in modern feminist poetry and its intensive invocation between these two poets.The results indicate that there is an influence of Western literature on the poetic development of Nazik Al-Malaika, with evidence showing that Greek symbols dominate her poetic texts. Additionally, she incorporates some religious myths based on Christian narratives into her discourse. On the other hand, Edith Sitwell creates unfamiliar symbols and images from her own imaginative world.Through this study of the employment of myth in Arab and Western literature, the mythic image is manifested in the imaginative features of the two poets. This expression of artistic linguistic text is blended with elements that are relevant to reality. The present study represents the first attempt to explore this concept by examining both cultures. It becomes evident that the use of myth serves as a means to revisit the primal origins of life.

Abstract Nowadays, despite the advancement of vehicles and communication methods such as the telephone and virtual space, modern human experiences loneliness more than ever. Psychology has emerged as one of the necessary fields related to human beings and their mental problems to explain and treat this feeling of loneliness and has presented several treatment methods. Some psychologists, including Irvin D. Yalom, suggest existential therapy. Existential therapy is not a treatment method but a philosophical approach that affects counselors' and psychotherapists' work styles and performance.As a modern and possibly postmodern poet, Adnan Al-Saegh has expressed the state of human life in the contemporary period in some of his poems; Sadness, displacement, war, distance from the homeland, and loneliness are the most frequent in his poems, especially since the poet himself has experienced the taste of exile.In this essay, the authors have analyzed some of Adnan Al-Saegh's poems in the field of types of loneliness and ways to treat it with Ervin Yalom's existential approach; First, the poems are described with a descriptive and analytical method, and then they have expressed the similarities between the treatment methods of Ervin Yalom and Adnan Al-Saegh. The theme of loneliness in most of Adnan's poems is related to existential loneliness, which is more frequent than inner and interpersonal loneliness. In the same way, the methods of treating existential loneliness in his poems, such as taking refuge in fantasy and dreams, and turning to love and seclusion, have been manifested more in Adnan's poetry. These kinds of poems have helped the poet overcome this inevitable loneliness and provided his audience with clues and signs to curb this loneliness. In this sense, the current research can confirm the role of art in the field of therapy and help researchers in the field of art therapy.