Body Language in Ancient Arabic Poetry: A Cognitive Approach

Abstract

In the study of ancient Arabic poetry, it is customary to investigate its verbal structures, rhythmic prosody, and both apparent and hidden meanings related to its content and purposes. However, a rich field for scholarly exploration emerges when one delves into the non-verbal expressions found within this poetry, even though it heavily relies on words. By this, we refer to the body language present in poetic texts, which give rise to symbolic connotations generated by the active interaction between the trinity of body, perception, and the world. In this research endeavor, we employ the theoretical framework of embodied cognition, with a particular focus on the concepts of Conceptual Metaphor and Conceptual Blending. Our aim is to explore the cultural, social, and civilizational nuances inherent in the corporeal expressions depicted within ancient Arabic poetry, spanning themes of admiration, satire, pride, love, and elegy. Furthermore, in addition to what the movements of body parts reveal about the various purposes of poetry, conveying encoded cultural messages carried by the body as a means of expression in different symbolic systems, this research leads to an understanding of the interactive semiotic systems in ancient Arabic poetry. Bodies, whether describing or described, interact in two dimensions: the material and the symbolic, distributed across layers of meaning, ranging from the individual (the poet as a self who uses his body as an intermediary between himself and the world) to the collective (family, tribe, nation, human community, etc.). This approach is hoped to reveal the authentic status of ancient Arabic poetry as a universal literature with cosmic elements, making it a mirror for the entire world, not just its Arab environment.