The Dialectic of Pain and Alienation in Contemporary Poetic Experience

Abstract

This research examines the duality of pain and alienation as two fundamental components in the structure of the contemporary poetic experience, through a critical and analytical reading of the poems “The Return of the Stranger” by Nazik Al-Malaika and “The Anthem” by Ali Mahmoud Taha. These two poems were selected to represent two prominent poetic voices that reflect, through their texts, the suffering of the poetic self in confrontation with a troubled reality.