East and West in the Poetry of Suad Al-Sabah

Abstract

The issue of the relationship between East and West in twentieth-century Arabic literature was shaped by the historical and political realities that emerged in the Arab world during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In this period, Arab public life was marked by active debates concerning individual rights and responsibilities, prompted by profound political, economic, and social transformations. In Arab countries, where social life had long been regulated by the dogmas of the Qur’an and Sharia law, the activities of Muslim reformers and Arab Enlightenment thinkers contributed to the growing relevance of the “woman question.” This development coincided with the rise of the women’s movement in Western countries. Consequently, women’s literature became a subject of particular interest.Thus, in modern Arabic literature, the emergence of the women’s movement paralleled the entry of women writers onto the creative stage. It is noteworthy that Arabic literature at the time was undergoing major transformations without the support of an established tradition in this domain. As a result, women writers were compelled to assume the role of pioneers.The 1960s constitute a particularly significant period in the history of modern Arabic literature with regard to the activity of women writers. More than half of the authors representing this generation were women. The works of Arab women writers are characterized by a broad spectrum of gender-related issues, foremost among them the question of personal freedom.

A prominent representative of this generation is Suad Al-Sabah, who, through both her public engagement and poetic literary work, seeks to defend women’s interests in the Arab world. The principal themes of her poetry include the reconciliation of Islamic and Western values. In her poetic vision, the West is associated with freedom and materialism, whereas the East embodies a traditional, spiritual, and passive reality. In twenty-first-century Arabic poetry, the theme of the encounter between these two worlds remains a matter of continuing relevance.