Motif of "AbuzarGhaffari" in Yahyaal-Samawy’s Poetry

Abstract

As one of the important elements in literary critisism and analysis, motif is taken into consideration in European criticism. Originally as a French word, motif means the main thought or the subject or the iterative words and phrases in literature. In poetry, motifs have a close and fundamental relation with the poet's soul, thoughts and emotions. Motifs have appeared in various forms such as themes and symbols in Yahyaal-Samawy's poetry. In his poetry, "AbuzarGhaffari"motif isone themost prominentones in the form of symbol. Being repetitive, this motif has no literal meaning but rather it stands for freedom,devotion, dedication, persistence, justice, and as a saviour to get people rid oftyrannyof the oppressor. Having taken the analytic–descriptive method as its methodology, this paper tries to examine "AbuzarGhaffarimotif" and its signification in Yahyaal-Samawy 's poetry. In doing so, it answers the following questions: What are the important motifs used by the poet in his poetry? Why does the poet insist on using such repetitive motifs? What kinds of effects do these motifs have on the meanings? To what extent has the poet paid attention to"AbuzarGhaffari's character as a motif"? How does this motifaffect the reader? What kinds of symbols and signififation such a motif bring about?

Keywords

• iraqi's contemporary poetry
• motif
• yahya al-samawy
• symbol
• abuzarghaffari