The poetics of pain in the poetry of Ahmed Matar

Abstract

Creative poetic texts by the poet Ahmed Matar rely on the technique and psychological impact of shock. They manipulate the poetic structure and its symbols to evoke emotions and feelings. This is achieved through a flow of intense emotions and tensions, ranging from anger and fear to pain, despair, and sorrow. Matar draws from everyday social and political scenes, dramatizing them to provoke responses from the reader and elicit empathy for the painful experiences of the self.
 The self, feeling alienated, weak, and absent, becomes the subject of violent interactions with the body and its contours. The body, a poetic stage, bears witness to rituals of suffering and pain—burning, torture, dismemberment, stumbling, mutilation, and humiliation. Matar’s language and movements within the poetic text are commanding, revealing the intensity of his expression.