Politics and Erotics in Nizar Kabbani's Poetry: From the Sultan's Wife to the Lady Friend

Abstract

work of Nizar Kabbani (1923-98), arguably the most widely read contemporary poet in the Arab world, is usually treated as if he wrote in two categories: erotic poetry and political poetry. In fact, politics generally provides the context for love in his erotic poetry, and his erotic sensibility infuses the scene of his political poetry. The sensual and the political facets of reality are fused in much of his work, particularly in the recurring characters who people his poems, figures which illustrate how unnatural it is to separate Kabbani's politics and erotics, and how much more is opened by understanding their tight embrace. That love cannot thrive in an environment of coercion