Space and Its Significations in Modern Arabic Poetry: The Desert as a Model

Abstract

The desert has constituted a central axis of reflection and creativity for the modern Arab poet. For him, the desert is the space of the absolute and the infinite; it silences the clamor of the world, rendering isolation within it akin to that of a vessel adrift in the open sea. It is also associated with experiences of absence, separation, distance, passage, exile, wandering, loss, and silence. Yet, there is always a longing to return to the desert, for it is a space of freedom, a retreat from the triviality of the everyday, and an embrace of what is grand of luminous intensity, solitude, and openness to the total and the infinite. Thus, the modern Arab poet has embraced the desert, which in turn has embraced his words. In the desert, words are created, tracing invisible labyrinths and cities amid the sand.