Jawdat Haydar and the modern spirit of the Mahjar poets

Abstract EN

In the twentieth century, Lebanon offered its most prestigious writers to the world.

The Lebanese poet Jawdat Haydar gained recognition as a poet after publishing his first collection of poems entitled Voices in 1980 in New York.

He was instantly associated with the Mahjar poets due to similar personal experiences and his use of the English language as a medium for expression.

However, Haydar’s association with the Mahjar poets goes beyond similar experiences or the choice of language.

In fact, Haydar’s poetry exemplifies the Mahjar poets’ influence on the poet from a thematic point of view.

Haydar discussed his longing for his Lebanese homeland, his deep love for its nature, his nostalgia for the past, his alienation and the universal characteristic of his poetic messages.

The adoption of the above-mentioned themes leads to the conclusion that Haydar wrote in the Mahjar tradition.

In fact, his poetry reveals that he was different from the Emigrant poets.

He was a modern Arab poet who used the concept of “Iltizam” in his poetic compositions and who decided to commit his poetry to the political, social and environmental causes of his country and the world.

Thus, it was necessary that the themes Hadyar discussed in his poetry acquire a modern dimension.

From this perspective, Haydar’s poetry embodies the modern spirit of the Mahjar poets.