Document Type : research article
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Abstract
Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
Mustafa Wahbi al-Tal known as Arar was a Jordanian poet and intellectual whose works consist of themes such as love, wine and drunkenness, being and nothingness, life and death, debauchery and pleasures. Defamiliarization, a significant feature of his poetry, has been done in a variety of ways, including the addition of rules, transgressions in rhymes, elegant imagery and new combinations, cohesion and harmony. Considering the theories of formalists and presenting a brief introduction on criticism of formalism and its principles, the present study attempts to explore the defamiliarization approaches applied to five selected odes of Arar in an analytical-descriptive manner. Furthermore, the study aims to answer the following question: Which type of defamiliarization approach is common in these odes and what purpose the poet have considered in choosing such literary style? And as a result of such inquiry, defamiliarization consisting of the addition of rules, phonetic harmony, transgressions in rhyme, innovation and revival in a number of Khalili rhythms of prosody can be observed.
2.Theoretical framework
Formalist criticism maintains a structural perspective towards literary works and attempts to analyze, interpret and assess their internal features. These features are not exclusively related to grammar, yet they involve cadence in poetry and its instances as well (Abbaslou, 1987, p. 95).
Formalists often regard literary works as merely a type of form. They believe that investigation of such works must be based upon form, not the content. Defamiliarization is a vast, extensive category which entails both spiritual and verbal aspects, yet it majorly deals with linguistic issues (Shamisa, 2010 ). Russian formalists consider “linguistic peculiarities” and unconventional methods of expression in a work as one of the important levels of defamiliarization. In poetry, one may notice such argument in a variety of aspects, one of which is the application of “unconventional” expressions, vocabulary and language. This sort of “breaking the habit” and opposition towards artistic rules is regarded as the main sustainable essence of poetry (Ahmadi, 2011, p. 49). Indeed, Nazik Al-Malaikia, the female contemporary Arab poet and critic, believes that “irregularities in poetry is the golden rule” (Al-Malaikia, 1997, p. 72), which can be clearly interpreted clearly at this point.
3. Review of Literature
Upon exploring the history of the study, no essays regarding the criticism of Arar’s poetry were discovered; however, a number of essays about the poet himself have been found including:
1. “عَرار:شِعریَّةَ التَجرِبَة لا شِعریَّةَ الذاکِرَة” by Ibrahim Khalil,
2. “Epistemological origins of Arar” by Ziyad al-Zaabi,
3. “The efforts of Arar, the great Jordanian poet, within the realm of Persian literature” by Bassam Ali Rababe’e,
4. “The influences of the Sage of Neyshabur upon Arar, the great poet of Jordan” by Bassam Ali Rababe’e,
5. “الُّلغَة وَ الأُسلُوب فی شِعرِ عَرار” published by Mahmoud al-Sammarah
The focus of these studies is different from the aim of this research. As a result, the present study is the first literary research on formalist criticism and defamiliarization with regard to the aforementioned poet.
4. Methodology
This study explores a number of approaches regarding defamiliarization based on the theories of formalism in an analytical-descriptive manner.
5. Discussion & Conclusion
Phonetic-lexical harmony, one of the most essential aspects of the addition of rules, is among the most influential factors resulting in increasing the musicality of Wahbi al-Tel’s poetry. Repetition of phonemes, words and especially sentences can be seen frequently in his works. Considering the concordance between “meter and content” and “meter and terms” in his poetry, one could observe that the poet has been clearly interested in modernism in meter and format. In his transgressions in rhymes, one may notice the application of quintets in his poetry which similarly is filled with cohesion and unity in subjects and odes. The introduction of quintets in his poetry, in fact, may be regarded as a type of transgression in rhymes. Given that defamiliarization is one of the partial approaches of distinguishing creating works of art, and the application of such an artistic technique is the reason why Arar’s poetry is so distinguished, it can be suggested that linguistic peculiarities and distinct modes of expression in his poetry, defamiliarization of grammar, sentence structure, and meaning can be investigated by focusing on his use of imagery, especially paradox and parody, simile, metaphor, signs, symbolism, and archaism in his poetry.
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