Synaesthesia in Arabic poetry in the pre-Islamic and Umayyad periods

Abstract EN

This study treats synaesthesia as a figurative device in old Arabic poetry.

Synaesthesia takes the liberty of using words in new areas rather than familiar ones ,such as using something basically meant for all that is heard , touched , and smelt for what can be seen , depending on how senses intersect , harmonize, and combine to express a human psyche.

It is a Good example of innovation in old Arabic poetry and that it is limited exclusively to the tangible in forming the poetic image.

This presence of synaesthesia, whose use was spontaneous, is a marker of the poets’ talents and creative imagination.

Although this device was presented in the Umayyad and Pre-Islamic eras , it was disregarded by modern critics of whom some held it to be an offshoot of symbolism, which deprives Arab poets of creativity, reducing them to being just imitators of others ,an act that annuls the truth we propose to reveal in this study which is meant to refute the claims of modern scholars and underline not only the originality of this device but also its being a mark of beauty and creativity.