Argumentation and Poetry: A Pragmatic Literary Study of the Diwan Group’s Poetic Discourse

Abstract

This study seeks to consider argumentative discourse in poetry, and to attempt to detect the arguments in the poetic discourse of the Diwan Group in the light of their principles, trying to present a different insight into the examination of modern Arabic poetry by exploring its ability to persuade and influence. The study applies the argumentation theory to the Diwan Group’s poetic output by attempting to answer the question of how the three members of the Diwan Group imbued their poems through the process of argumentation. The study aims to reveal the effectiveness of argumentation in the structure of the group’s poetic discourse considering the presuppositions. This means that the concept of poetry and critical works of the three members of the Diwan Group could be presupposed to be ‘ideal’ and any poetic analysis is made in the light of this concept. In other words, the study highlights the argumentative process in order to illustrate how the Diwan Group’s trend towards the romantic rebelled against the Classical school. By applying the theory of argumentation to the poetic output, it would essentially mean that the poem seeks to create a special meaning through language in the communicative process between the poet and the reader. This process is the essence of the theory of argumentation: to persuade the reader of the argument and to reach the desired result through justification and evidence. As the meaning of each of the selected poems is significant and considerable, this study relies on the pragmatics method, where argumentation itself is an essential branch of pragmatics. The pragmatic approach examines how the purposes of the writer (or speaker) are detected by the receiver. It considers literary works as essential verbal works that have been expanded to encourage the addressee to full persuasion. It can be seen that pragmatics is based on the study of the meaning that the speaker or writer wants to communicate and the listener or reader explains. It is worth noting that both the pragmatic approach and the theory of argumentation endeavour to throw light on the characteristics and implications of literary discourse in different genres, based on communication between two parties. As the title suggests, this study is designed coherently in three parts: The Foundation, the Structure of Argumentation and the Structure of Poetry respectively. Part I includes two chapters; the introductory chapter and the background of both the Group and Theory which considers the dialectic of Argumentation and Poetry. Chapter Three, the first in part II, discusses the Constituents of Argumentation by studying three aspects; the bonds of convergence between Argumentation and Romanticism, repetition and finally, poetic dialogue. Chapter Four covers the Patterns of Argumentation, which are: Syllogism, Fallacy, and thirdly, Argumentation by Example. Chapter Five, the first in part III, conducts a deeper analysis into the common-places where arguments are found, which are Love, Meditation and Nature. Each poetic theme is divided into related arguments. Chapter Six examines Argumentative Images through a theoretical preface concerning the link between imaginary and argumentation, following by the Sources of Argumentative images through Human being, Nature, Religion and Philosophy. Finally, the Functions of images of Wisdom and comparison are examined. Chapter Seven presents the Conclusion, which summarises the most important points deduced from the study and the recommendations made. Finally, as I have studied the group’s poetic material, I have found that one of them can simultaneously be regarded as a poet, writer and critic; and that argumentation was the ideal way for the poets to disseminate their ideas and principles. Moreover, it can concluded that the poetic discourse of the Diwan Group’s focus concerns two aspects: the critical and the poetic. The critical element relies on the poets’ critique (especially that of the revival poets), that clarifies the nature of poetry, and the impact of emotion on it, as well as portraying both Life and Self in various aspects. The poetic discourse that was formed in the first fruits of the 'new poetry' was an attempt to replace Classical poems with another focus that was related to emotion and Romanticism.