Magic realism in Arabic poetry: Waddah al-Yaman, Love and Death by Badawi al-Bayyati as an example

Abstract

Considering the poem “About Waddah of Yemen, Love, and Death”, the research attempts an analysis through magical realism. It aims at an exposition of the artistic techniques employed by Al-Bayati in his poetic text that reflects his own experience, including such devices as intertextuality, symbolism, mythology, and character evocation. He narrates events whereby an inevitable intertwining of reality and mirth takes place, mainly for the purpose of analysis of and implicit revolt against the realities of social and political life. The descriptive-analytical method was adopted to recognize the components of magical realism in the poem and to identify the creative techniques by means of which Al-Bayyati achieves a peculiar sought meaning in the poem’s context. Some of the most important findings of the research indicated such things as the rise of intertextuality as a principal device in depicting magical realism inside the poem, as well as the significance of symbolism and ambiguity as essential characteristics throughout its entirety. The poet’s intertextuality with Arabic and Western literature attests to the profundity of his literary erudition and his familiarity with diverse literatures. This artistic style is not confined to prose; it permeates the beauty of poetry, though. Such a poem is a demonstration of magical realism in Arabic poetry.