Creativity in the modernist poetry of Muhammad Afifi Matar based on the theory of aesthetic reception

Abstract

Poetic modernity is considered one of the forms of literary text writing, and it penetrated the Arab World during the mid of the twentieth century and spread among enthusiasts of literary criticism specifically and Arabic literature generally. This study addresses ambivalence aspects of the modern poetry of the poet Muhammad `Afifi Matar by using German aesthetic reception theory that is concerned with the textual reading, recording, strategies and gap, besides reviewing the literary history, horizon of expectation and aesthetic extent. This study is aimed at identifying Muhammad Afifi Matar and most important influences in his literary career. This study also aims to identify the esthetic reception theory and keeping up with most important philosophical and thought attachments of the theory in the Western criticism. Likewise, it also intends to identify modernity and its causes of birth in the Western criticism, explain its roots in classical Arabic criticism, and analyze instruments of the esthetic reception theory in the poetry of Muhammad Afifi Matar. This study relies on five methods to achieve the target outlined, namely historical method in studying the life of the poet and most important political, social, intellectual and cultural incidents contemporary to the poet; deductive method in interpreting the concept of Arabic and Western criticisms, the roots of modernity in classical Arabic criticism studies, and the causes leading to the birth of modernity in the Western World. As well as for the descriptive and deductive methods in studying the esthetic reception theory and explaining its attachments in the Western criticism; and analytical and statistic descriptive methods in applying instruments of the esthetic reception theory on the poetry of Muhammad `Afifi Matar. It is found that poetic modernity is a terminology defying boundary as it is related to various intellectual molds. The poet turns to modernity to communicate his thoughts and views without restriction, and the poet’s life and surroundings played an important role in his poetic career and literary orientation. The esthetic reception theory is the product of methodological orientation of the Western criticism further rejuvenated for the reconsideration of a receiver in interpreting literary texts, exploring new perspectives of literary texts based on textual and receiver mutuality. Likewise, the analysis of the poetry Muhammad `Afifi Matar exposes his deep thought and stance of the reality, and that this study characterizes a new shape in the successive reading of the poet’s poetry. The analysis of the record and layout of the text points to the superb philological comprehension of the poet and his ability in outlining incidents based on the comprehension, thus elucidating a new perspective of the experience of Muhammad Afifi Matar. All of this contributes to expanding modern criticism study, showing the way to enthusiasts in similar studies according to this context.