The Nourishing Sources for the Renewal of Objective Structure in Yemeni Traditional Poetry Discourse: The Interaction of Poetry with the Revolution

Abstract

#The study began by defining its terminology and establishing a number of monitoring criteria for the research process, both methodologically and critically directed. It started with the hypothesis that the creative poet occasionally needs to interact with new external sources (outside the text) as they emerge on the literary scene in order to renew the objective structure of their poem whenever it becomes stagnant. The traditional Yemeni poet was chosen to test this hypothesis due to the importance of this poetic stage as the precursor to modernity. It also holds the guiding power - whether manifest or hidden - over its subsequent stages, specifically Romanticism and contemporaneity. In brief, the research problem was condensed into the following question: What are the features of the revolution's modernization of the objective structure of the traditional Yemeni poet's poem? To answer this research question, the study called upon traditional poetic practice, represented by a selection of poems and excerpts as representative samples. These poetic works openly engaged with, without reservation, incorporating key concepts of the revolution - particularly the concept of "change" - into their objective structure. They introduced new intellectual material that diverged from the familiar and prevailing ideas in the Yemeni cultural scene, thus contributing as an external cultural source to their modernization. Finally, the study attempted to reveal the essential reasons for the necessary alignment of traditional poetry with the revolution. It identified three factors:

1. The revolution's need for an influential creative discourse to convey and promote its new ideas.
2. The poetic discourse's role in uprooting prevailing values, such as "imamate," and replacing them with others, such as "republicanism."
3. The support of poetry in engaging in cultural and creative battles that complement the field battles.

All of the above leads us to conclude that traditional poetry supported the Yemeni revolution in fulfilling its tasks, and that the revolution, in turn, provided the poetry with new intellectual material that contributed to the modernization of its objective structure. It also highlights that poetic discourse occasionally requires such cognitive processes whenever its resources become depleted and its form becomes rigid.