The Semiotics of the ode Al-samedoun" by Abdul Quddus al-Ameli in the light of Michael Riffaterre’s semiotic approach

Abstract

Poetry of Resistance is considered to be a meaning-based poetry with its referential function being superior to its poetic and literary functions due to its external references. In this type of literature, the challenge between commitment and beauty places the author in an in-between space so as to have varied choices in his or her poetic language. This is a fluctuation between commitment to reality and realism and the desire to write a beautiful poem. Linguistic and semiotic analyses of a literary work and the exploration of its relation to meaning can reveal the fluctuation of the author.. Riffaterre’s semiotic approach, while emphasizing the message and the reader as well as the precise reading which affects the language, is a good way of illustrating this challenge. Through a descriptive-analytical approach, this paper seeks to analyze and criticize the ode Samedon written by the resistance poet Abdul Quddus al-Ameli after the 33-day war in Lebanon. As the findings show, Ameli's poem depicts the paradoxical encounter between openness and ambiguity. Parts of the text mimic the external reality and, therefore, have benefited less from literature. These parts aim to explore the meaning of the parts that have layered structures and hidden implications. The implications are identified only through careful linguistic analysis.

Keywords

• semiotics
• riffaterre
• poetry of resistance
• abdul quddus al-ameli