مفهوم الشعر عند (إلياس أبو شبكة)

Abstract

Poetry is an art whose primary medium is language. The constant transformation in its concept is attributed to its intrinsic connection with the expression of human desires. Elias Abu Shabaka (1903–1947) was a Lebanese writer, poet, editor, translator, and literary critic from the village of Dhour El Choueir in Keserwan, Lebanon. He was a central member of the “League of Ten” and one of its founders, a prominent group in the Arab literary renaissance movement. He developed a distinctive conception of poetry.

In his understanding of poetry, Abu Shabaka was influenced by both Arab culture and French culture, as well as by a body of thought grounded in a Romantic inclination that situates him within the sphere of the human self in its existential suffering. Romantic theory had a profound impact on Abu Shabaka’s conception of poetry. This belief clearly shaped his definition of the nature and function of poetry. At the same time, his theoretical perspective is paradoxically linked to his poetic practice. For him, poetry is an entity that resists definition and cannot be measured by rigid theories. Poetry is an expression of life, and life itself is boundless and without fixed identity. The poet, therefore, is an artist who possesses an inner, intuitive knowledge of external realities. However, in practice, he demonstrated a commitment to the inherited structure of the traditional Arabic poem, adhering to its formal construction while exhibiting a marked distinction in his choice of vocabulary, which endowed his poetic experience with a unique personal character