Thesis Abstract and Dissertation Abstracts
The Theme of Unbelonging In the Poetry of Langston Hughes and ‘Antarah Ibn Shaddād.
Abstract Category: Arts
Course / Degree: Masters
Institution / University: Tanta Faculty of Arts, Egypt
Published in: 2010
This thesis deals with the poetry of two great poets, Langston Hughes (1902-67) and ‘Antarah Ibn Shaddād (525-615). Both poets wrote timeless poetry and they were pioneers in the twentieth and the sixth centuries. Their poetry reflected much of their sufferings as both of them were denied in their societies. Although Langston Hughes was born in the United States of America and ‘Antarah Ibn Shaddād was born in the Arabian Peninsula, they concentrated on the theme of unbelonging in their works. ‘Antarah suffered from individual racism and Hughes suffered from institutional racism. Both poets were not accepted in their communities, but they tried to succeed and take their rights as respected men. Racism has existed throughout human history as a socially learned behavior. It can destroy the personality and scar the soul. It also raises the true pains of unbelonging which are felt by those who do not belong where they are. As a matter of fact, the theme of unbelonging is a central theme in the poetry of Langston Hughes and ‘Antarah Ibn Shaddād. Hughes suffered much during his life trying to convince the white people that the black are human beings and should have equal rights. Also, ‘Antarah had a similar situation, as he faced his own problem in an indirect way. Instead of talking about being a slave and his need to be a free man, he talked about his love for ‘Ablah which might be the outlet of his ideas and feelings. Though Hughes and ‘Antarah had written different genres, this thesis concentrates on the theme of unbelonging in their poetry. Hughes devoted his art to black people and called them to unite and build their own nation. Also, ‘Antarah was a brilliant example of Pre-Islamic poetry who devoted his feelings for his poetry. The thesis analyzes the folklore and protest poetry of Langston Hughes, in addition to essays written by him. As for ‘Antarah, the researcher analyzes the Mu’llaqah of ‘Antarah, which was translated by Sir William Jones. The thesis falls into three chapters and a conclusion.
Chapter one, Historical and Social Backgrounds of Hughes and ‘Antarah as Poets aims to reveal the experiences the two poets had during their lives and see how these experiences affected their poetry.
Chapter two, The Main Theme in the Poetry of Langston Hughes and ‘Antarah Ibn Shaddād, focuses on the main theme in the poetry of Hughes and ‘Antarah which is unbelonging. Both of them lived in different environments and they suffered from racism and it took different features for both of them.
Chapter three, The Influence of Racism on the Poetry of ‘Antarah and Hughes, deals with the affect of racism and the feeling of unbelonging in their writings. This suffering urged them to express their feelings in poetry as an expression of revolt against their societies. After many centuries of slavery and racism, people and their opinions had changed. Some of these opinions accepted blacks but others did not accept them. In America, people tried finally to accept black people but in the Arabian society they did not accept them and there are still many comments on them. Racism has prevailed in the Arabian world against the black color; for example, we do not have a black anchor on the Egyptian screens, but we find an ugly irony of the black color in the media reflecting the duplication in the Arabian world. In Egypt, when it was under the rule of Mamaleek, the people did not reject that because the Mamaleek were white, not black. Therefore, the Arabian world is not against black people in particular but it is against the idea of color or ethnic grouping in general. On the other hand, we saw a different experience in America as it witnessed for the first time the election of a black president. In 2009, Barack Obama was able to achieve the dream of every African American; he even exceeded the limits of that dream to become the first black president governing The Unites States of America. The arrival of a black man to the highest authority in America made us think if we have the ability of applying this experience on other Arabian countries, which so far, do not accept the participation of their black people in its government or in the political life. At last, we should know that we are all humans no matter of our color, as what would really matter is the color in people not the color of people.
Thesis Keywords/Search Tags:
unbelonging, poetry, Langston Hughes, Antarah, Arabic Poetry
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Submission Details: Thesis Abstract submitted by Shaimaa Hassanin from Egypt on 05-Oct-2010 12:49.
Abstract has been viewed 4564 times (since 7 Mar 2010).
Shaimaa Hassanin Contact Details: Email: dr_shaimaa_hassanin@yahoo.com
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