The issue of poetic taste in ancient Arabic criticism

Abstract

The current research addressed the issue of poetic taste in ancient Arabic criticism. The concept of taste, reception, and poetics was addressed in the context of ancient Arabic criticism. The research also concluded that the literary councils and Arab markets in pre-Islamic times were among the most prominent factors that contributed effectively to the emergence and development of criticism in the pre-Islamic era. One of the most famous of these markets is Souq Okaz, where poets from different regions gather and publish their poetry collections, which listeners receive with commentary and criticism. Their criterion for this is poetic taste. As for the Islamic era, Islam had a profound impact on criticism, especially since the Arab society at that stage moved from nomadism to civilization, as well as its transition from simplicity to complexity and from pursuing taste to following reason. Criticism flourished in the Umayyad era in the Hijaz, Iraq, and the Levant.