RHETORIC OF OBSCENITY IN IBN ‘ONAIN’S POETRY:
A STUDY OF CONTENT AND FORM Cover Image

بلاغة القُ بح في شعر ابن عُنَ ين: دراسة في الرؤية والتشكيل
RHETORIC OF OBSCENITY IN IBN ‘ONAIN’S POETRY: A STUDY OF CONTENT AND FORM

Author(s): Mufleh Hweitat
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti
Keywords: Rhetoric; obscenity; Ibn ‘Onain; Arabic poetry; content; form; Crusades;

Summary/Abstract: This study aims to shed light on obscenity in the poetry of Ibn ‘Onain Al-Ansari (d. 630 Hijri/1232 A.D). Ibn ‘Onain was a Damascene poet who lived during the Crusades wars which the Levant and the Arab Mashriq witnessed in the sixth and seventh Hijri/ twelfth and thirteenth centuries AD. The study tackles the issue of obscenity in Ibn ‘Onain’s poetry, the reasons for studying it and the moral considerations of discussing such a topic. The study has been divided into two sections that tackle two main issues. The first section deals with the thematic issues such as criticizing individual and communal behavior, lampooning statesmen, religious figures and eminent jurists, and challenging some common societal beliefs and assumptions. The second section discusses the formal and aesthetic features characterizing Ibn ‘Onain’s poetry such as argumentation, paradox, dialogue, storytelling, intertextuality and the depiction of popular culture. Finally, the study concludes with a summary of its main findings and conclusions. It has been shown that Ibn ‘Onain’s poeticism was unique among his contemporaries. His poetry is carnivalesque in nature since it calls for rejecting many of the societal practices the poet suffered from during his lifetime.

  • Issue Year: XIX/2019
  • Issue No: 19
  • Page Range: 115-127
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: English, Arabic