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Article: 'The Blind River': self and anxiety in Aziz al-Samawi's poetry.(Modern Iraqi Literature in English Translation)
- Article from:
- Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ)
- Article date:
- September 22, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Association of Arab-American University Graduates. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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INTRODUCTION
A well-known and respected poet among the Iraqis, and particularly familiar to those who are, like him, exiled, Aziz al-Samawi is best known for his use of the vernacular and his images of southern Iraq. Those familiar with his work will know the vibrant images between which he flits in his poetry, and will have grown accustomed to the symbols that he uses repeatedly. Al-Samawi himself likens his poetry to fruit growing on trees: he calls it "cluster poetry" ('unqudiyya, literally, a bunch or cluster of grapes and the like).
It is unfortunate that the work of poets such as Aziz al-Samawi are not readily accessible to the English reader. In ...