Narrative as a Horizon for Escape and Liberation from the Torment of Captivity in the Poetry Collection "Yawmiyyat Al-Nar wa Al-Safar' by Mohamed Al-Ashari"

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the elements and mechanisms of narration in the poetry collection “A Daily Chronicle of Fire and Travel” by the poet Mohammed Al-Ash‘ari, and to highlight how narrative discourse within the confines of prisons and detention centers was transformed into a shield against despair and silence. The study adopted the narrative approach as a tool for examining the impact of the interplay between narrative and poetic discourse in shaping the contemporary poetic experience. The study concluded that the narrative structure in “A Daily Chronicle of Fire and Travel” constituted one of the fundamental structures shaping Mohammed Al-Ash‘ari’s poetic experience. He drew upon essential narrative elements, such as events, characters, settings, and dialogue, and employed them to express the struggle of the resistant individual against the physical and psychological constraints imposed by repressive authority. Thus, creativity became a means of transcending the burden of pain, while narrative emerged as a horizon of liberation and freedom that could not be restrained, even in the darkest moments. The study recommended conducting further comprehensive studies on the mechanisms of intergenre interaction in contemporary Arabic poetry and exploring the artistic and semantic dimensions enabled by such interaction in constructing the poetic experience.