From politics to poetics : revolution, nostalgia and memory in the exile poems by Wole Soyinka and Mahmoud Sami al Barudi

Abstract EN

The hypothesis of this paper is to examine poetics of exile, nostalgia and memory in the poetry of Wole Soyinka and Mahmoud Sami Al Barudi.

Revolting against western influence, colonialism and economic exploitation are among the issues modern Arab and African poets have dealt with.

The analysis is based on the analytical/ comparative view of the selected poems.

Postcolonial criticism focuses on the literature of cultures and colonized nations that developed in response to colonization.

For Soyinka, post- independence poetry aims at exposing the ugly reality of the ruling regime.

For Al Barudi, Arab nations of Africa fought colonization for hundreds of years and resistance poetry is an integral part of Arabic literature in general.

It affected Egyptians and rebels in particular politically, socially and culturally.

Consequently, hundreds of poets were exiled or imprisoned for resisting colonization.

This paper attempts to address the following questions: 1) How was the symbol of “motherland” employed in a Romantic manner in the poetry of Al Barudi and Soyinka to express their nostalgia and memory? 2) How each one of them was successful in expressing the unique philosophy of “revolting” against governments? 3) How the symbol of exile was different for each one of them yet serves as a motif for beautifying and idealizing “the motherland”? The selected poems are relevant since they elaborate the social mission of poets in expressing reality and exposing ugly regimes.