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The Poetics of Postcolonialism: Two Qaşīdahs By Ahmad Shawqi

The Poetics of Postcolonialism: Two Qaşīdahs By Ahmad Shawqi THE POETICS OF POSTCOLONIALISM: TWO QA �� DAHS BY AHMAD SHAWQI European colonial interest in the Arab lands is generally assumed to have begun with Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Egypt in 1798. Although Bonaparte's expedition proved short-lived, nonetheless it marked the begin- ning of the progressive subjection by the major European colonial powers of much of the Arab lands. With its occupation of Egypt in 1882, colonialist Britain entered into a relationship with its Arab Others which can be charac- terized as a relationship of power and powerlessness.' In this paper I argue that from the onset of colonialism Arab subjects strove to subvert and to de-legitimize this relationship and to effect alter(native) power relationships. Arab poets utilized the traditional Arabic qasidah form to interrogate what critics have called "the textuality of Empire,"2 and to mobilize a collective response to colonialism. This paper will engage two Postcolonial qasidahs3 An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association in Providence, Rhode Island, Nov., 1996. It was read by Professors Jaroslav Stetkevych of the University of Chicago and Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych of Indiana University who contributed many important comments and suggestions. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Arabic Literature Brill

The Poetics of Postcolonialism: Two Qaşīdahs By Ahmad Shawqi

Journal of Arabic Literature , Volume 28 (3): 179 – Jan 1, 1997

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 1997 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0085-2376
eISSN
1570-064X
DOI
10.1163/157006497X00010
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

THE POETICS OF POSTCOLONIALISM: TWO QA �� DAHS BY AHMAD SHAWQI European colonial interest in the Arab lands is generally assumed to have begun with Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Egypt in 1798. Although Bonaparte's expedition proved short-lived, nonetheless it marked the begin- ning of the progressive subjection by the major European colonial powers of much of the Arab lands. With its occupation of Egypt in 1882, colonialist Britain entered into a relationship with its Arab Others which can be charac- terized as a relationship of power and powerlessness.' In this paper I argue that from the onset of colonialism Arab subjects strove to subvert and to de-legitimize this relationship and to effect alter(native) power relationships. Arab poets utilized the traditional Arabic qasidah form to interrogate what critics have called "the textuality of Empire,"2 and to mobilize a collective response to colonialism. This paper will engage two Postcolonial qasidahs3 An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association in Providence, Rhode Island, Nov., 1996. It was read by Professors Jaroslav Stetkevych of the University of Chicago and Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych of Indiana University who contributed many important comments and suggestions.

Journal

Journal of Arabic LiteratureBrill

Published: Jan 1, 1997

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