Deleuzian discursive reterritorialization in the poetry of Samih el Qassem and Tawfik Zayyad

Abstract EN

This paper reads selected poetry of two prominent, albeit understudied, Palestinian poets, Samih Al Qassim and Tawfiq Zayyad, in light of Gilles Deleuze's theory of terriotorialization.

Starting with an overview of the pertinent theoretical concepts including deterritorialization, re-territorialization, striated space, smooth space, the sedentary and nomads, the study is then to situate the theoretical concepts in the political and poetic discourse of the two poets selected.

The analysis shows how the poems perform a cartographic function remapping the defaced land and eternalizing in ink what is lost in reality.

In addition to the steady emphasis on the image of Palestine as a nurturing “homeland”, the two poets are bent on re-territorializing aspects of Palestinian space including cities, villages, landmarks and even normal buildings physically defaced by the Israeli colonizer.

By wedding theory to practice, the paper foregrounds the fruits of using Deleuze' s theory in cultural and literary analysis on the one hand, and underlines the virtuosic poeticity of two established Arab poets to non-Arab readership, on the other