Political Rebellion in the Poetry of Yahya al-Samawi: A Study in the Light of the Semiotics of Passions

Abstract

This study seeks to identify the passion of rebellion and trace its manifestations in the poetry of Yahya Al-Samawi in light of the Semiotics of Passions. It stems from a scholarly interest in critical studies and a desire to uncover the implicit dimensions of his poetic texts, which distinguish him from others, and to reveal the emotional interrelation between his poetry and the Semiotics of Passions through analyzing and interpreting complex textual structures. The study also acknowledges the richness of his poetic experience and its openness to multiple semiotic readings and interpretations, which motivated the title: The Passion of Rebellion in the Poetry of Yahya Al-Samawi: A Study in the Light of the Semiotics of Passions, with the aim of exploring the memory of the self and its emotional dynamics. The research adopts Greimas’s passional schema as a procedural framework to uncover the trajectory of the passional construction of rebellion. The findings indicate that the passion of rebellion in Al-Samawi’s poetry represents a reaction to the emotional struggles experienced by a troubled self, reflecting tension rooted in existential loss and alienation. This is closely linked to the poet’s lived experiences of displacement, imprisonment, torture, and exile, through which suppressed emotions transformed into an outburst of anger, resistance, and rebellion. The study recommends the necessity of political and social reform to ensure individual stability, as poetry serves as a reflection of society, mirroring its crises and transformations while being deeply influenced by its political and social context.