The Poet and Identity: A Critical Reading of Identity and Belonging in Mahmud Darwish's Poetry

Abstract

A new literary and critical phenomenon emerged lately after theappearance of globalization and it attracted the attention of Arabcritics and scholars because it raises a question about the position ofArabic literature and thought in the contemporary intellectual milieu.It also indicated that an intellectual crisis is at hand which may drivethe Arab intellectual to the verge on the unknown creating disorderand confusion in his thinking by trying to thrust him into the turmoilof the information technological revolution, driving him to forget hispast under the pretext of the demise of ideology, self-denial, freedomand awareness. In the field of literature and literary criticism, thesenomenclatures produced new literary and critical movements whichdid not belong to a particular identity; on the contrary, they wereclose to unconsciousness and absorbed in unawareness andirresponsibility which contributed to man's loss of identity. Thesethoughts caused the vanishing of many principles and values of theArabs. However, literature as an enormous organism of valuesretained some of them that upkept the spirit of belonging and showedthe importance of identity as thought and practice which are able tobring originality back to maintain the Arabian poet's attitude to