Decolonizing Modernism in Poetry: A Comparative Study of Abū Nuwās (756 - 814) and T.E Hulme (1883 - 1917)

Sallam, Ahmed; Farouk, Jehan; Omran, Doaa

doi:10.21608/buhuth.2023.209775.1612

Decolonizing Modernism in Poetry: A Comparative Study of Abū Nuwās (756 - 814) and T.E Hulme (1883 - 1917)

Document Type : Academic research papers

Authors

¹ English Department, Faculty of Education, Damanhour University, Egypt

² Department of English- Faculty of Women for Arts, Science & Education- Ain Shams University – Egypt

³ English Department, University of New Mexico, USA

10.21608/buhuth.2023.209775.1612

Abstract

Through analyzing the works of T.E. Hulme and Abū Nawās, two poets from different cultural and historical backgrounds, this paper challenges the Eurocentric perspective that confines modernism to a literary movement exclusive to twentieth-century Europe. Abū Nuwās was a renowned Arab poet who lived during the Abbasid era in the eighth century, while Hulme is considered one of the founders of modern English poetry. The paper bases its argument on two primary scaffolds: the contemporary and recurrent scholarly call for a decolonization of the concept of Modernism like; El Messeri, Adonis, Feroza Jussawalla, Jean-Michel Rabaté, Aditya Nigam, and others, and the definitions of modernism as a universal phenomenon that include non-Western voices into the discussion of modern literature. The paper then analyzes the modern aspects in the poetry of Abū Nawās from the Dīwan Abī Nuwās: redacted by Aḥmd ʿAbd Almǧyd Alġzāly ديوان أبي نواس: تحقيق أحمد عبد المجيد الغزالي, compared to the aspects of modern poetry expressed by T.E. Hulme in his critical essay like “A Lecture on Modern Poetry” and “Romanticism and Classicism.” The paper focuses on three significant aspects of modernism: manifestation of modern thought through Metapoetry, linguistic awareness, and imagism.

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