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8/6/2019 Presentation Pamela
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Jawdat Haydar and the Modern Spirit
of the Mahjar Poets
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Haydars Life
Haydar was born in Baalbeck in 1905.
He joined his exiled family in Anatolia in 1914.
Upon his return to Lebanon, he developed a
particular interest in the English language.
In 1925, he traveled to the USA to pursue his
education at North Texas University.
He wrote his first English poem there. In 1928, he decided to come back to Lebanon,
but he faced some complications.
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Haydars Life
In 1960, he decided to devote the rest of his life
to poetry writing.
In 1980, Voices, his first collection of poems,
was published in New York.
Voices was followed by Echoes (1986),
Shadows (1999) and 101 Selected Poems
(2001). His writings reveal the influence of the Mahjar
poets.
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The Mahjar Poets
By 1905, the Mahjar poets had already settled in
the USA and started their literary careers.
They belonged to the wave of Lebanese
immigrants who were forced to leave theircountry because of Ottoman oppression.
Living as exiles, they were rooted in their Arabic
culture; therefore, they continued to write in
Arabic. However, they realized the importance of their
newly acquired English language and decided to
use it to address the outside world.
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The Mahjar Poets
They were concerned for the Arabic languageand aware of the need to overcome thelimitations set by Arabic poetry.
As a result, they found much freedom ofexpression in English.
Due to their exile, they wrote about their feelingsof nostalgia, longing for Lebanon, idealization of
nature, alienation, and cultural experience. These themes are found in Haydars poetry, but
under a MODERN light.
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The purpose of the study is
To argue that Haydar not only reincarnates the
spirit of the Mahjar poets, but he also represents
a continuity, which is shaped by modernism,
through the development of the themespreviously emphasized by the Mahjar poets.
Neoclassicism Romanticism The Mahjar Movement The Tammuz School Modernism Jawdat Haydar
1870s 1900s 1940s 1950s-1960s 19801870s 1900s 1910s-1920s
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The Four Major Areas Under Study
1- Haydars Cultural Identity
2- Haydars Use of English
3- Haydars Poetic Themes
4- Haydars Modernism
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1- Cultural Identity
The Mahjar poets retained their Arab identity
while embracing the American culture. As a
result, they were obviously culturally hybrid. The
nature of their identity is revealed in Rihanisterms: I am a citizen of two worlds [the East and
the West] a citizen of the Universe (The Book
of Khalid 237).
Although Haydar did not live in exile, his writings
reveal his belonging to two cultures: the Arab-
Lebanese and the English.
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1- Cultural Identity
Haydar declared: Despite its international
course, the poetry I write in English is steeped in
my roots as an Eastern and Arab man who feels
the hardships of his nation and suffers deeplywith it (Khairallah 51).
One critic commented: Haydar grants us the
privilege of sharing with him the intellectual
heritage of those Lebanese who feel as much at
home in the American cultural tradition as in
their own (Wahbeh 5).
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1- Cultural Identity Haydar praised the beauty of his homeland:
The deep is rising, the ships heading east
The green mountains capped with snow behind
Perhaps the eye of an artist possessed
May contain such a paradise in mind
(Voices, Lebanon, 5-8)
At the same time, he remembered Texas dearly:
Oh! no more never more those homely sunsets,
No more never more those song sparrows to hear;
Ah! For the Queen moon to take me where she sets
On the horizon in old Texas, the dear.
(Echoes, Sweet Home, 13-16)
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1- Cultural Identity
Because Haydars poetry aimed to release thepoet from the constraints of time and place, it isuniversal in many ways.
Cultural identity is not a stable nucleus in thehuman being because it is a continuous andchanging process (Funk and Sitka xiv).Therefore, it would be inappropriate to bind
Haydar with one cultural identity. Instead, it isbetter to perceive him as a cultural hybrid, whohad a humanistic sense of belonging to theworld.
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2- The Use of English
Haydar considered the Arabic language to beone of the greatest languages in the world(Mishwar al Omor 168), but he was also aware
that it was outdated and needed to bemodernized and changed.
The fact that the English language provided him
with what he needed to express himself explainshis decision to use English exclusively in hispoetry.
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2- The Use of English
In addition, the use of English meant the ability
to reach larger audiences around the world,
especially for a poet who sought to convey his
messages to the world.
Finally, Haydars exclusive use of English may
be interpreted as a direct development from the
Mahjar tradition of writing.
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3- The Themes
Idealized nature and
condemned the harmful
effects ofindustrialization and the
preoccupation with
materialism.
Used the theme of
nature to condemn the
scenes of destruction inLebanon.
And to warn against
imminent environmental
catastrophes.
1) NatureThe Mahjar Poets Jawdat Haydar
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3- The Themes
Expressed theirnostalgia by
remembering thechildhood years theyspent in Lebanon.
Stayed in the past.
Expressed his nostalgiaby remembering the
glorious past ofLebanon.
Projected the past into
the future to show thereaders that Lebanoncan restore its gloriousimage of the past.
2) Nostalgia for the pastThe Mahjar Poets Jawdat Haydar
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3- The Themes
Longed for their native
country because they
were living as exiles inthe USA.
Expressed his longing
for Lebanon despite the
fact that he was not inactual exile.
His longing springs
from his rejection of the
present situation of hiscountry and his wish to
reunite with the
Lebanon of the past.
3) Longing for LebanonThe Mahjar Poets Jawdat Haydar
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3- The Themes
Were compelled to
leave their country.
Felt alienated upon
their arrival in a strange
land.
Were unable to cope
with and integrate theirnew-found society.
Did not write his poems
in exile.
Expressed feelings of
alienation which were
the result of his
rejection of the bitter
reality of his countryand environment.
4) AlienationThe Mahjar Poets Jawdat Haydar
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4- Haydars Modernism
The Mahjar poets alienation was the result of apersonal experience.
Haydars alienation, on the other hand, was the
result of the combination of collectiveconsciousness with personal experience.
What makes Haydar a modern poet is hiscommitment to political, social and
environmental issues. Commitment or Iltizam is, in fact, a modern
concept, introduced to Arabic poetry in the1950s.
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4- Haydars Modernism
1) Political Commitment:
Haydar believed in Lebanese unity; therefore, he
called for all Lebanese people to unite in the name
of their love for their country:
Brothers why be like a moon on the wane
Ever beating the bolted door in vain
Hence why not unite again to stand gainPrideful of your Lebanese cultured vein(Shadows, Brothers, 1-4)
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4- Haydars Modernism
He was also a supporter of Lebanese
nationalism and condemned foreign powers for
disseminating discord among the Lebanese and
causing the War. He condemned the strong nations which purport
to be protecting the rights of man and yet abuse
them.
In short, he condemned the erroneous use of
power which leads to the destruction of nations
and people.
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4- Haydars Modernism
2) Social Commitment:
Haydar was attentive to his peoples sufferings.
He was also a supporter of womens rights.
He called for Lebanese immigrants to return totheir country:
Come back put your foot down and your head up
Like proud Sannin on the breast of our landWith eyes looking the world from the top up
Our flag, down the years of the brine washng sand(Shadows, Lebanese Immigrants, 21-24)
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4- Haydars Modernism
3) Environmental commitment:
Haydar committed his poetry to the
condemnation of forces that strive to harm
nature. In his own terms: Nature is a gift fromGod. I hope that through my work I can convey a
simple message saying: People of Earth, better
listen and be awake, be wise, read the past to
make the future. Do not pollute nature, do notdestroy it, avoid wars; otherwise, you shall lose
the paradise you are living on (McDonnell 29)
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4- Haydars Modernism
He warned against the creation of another hellon earth through the wrong use of science.
Blinded by their desire for glory and
achievement, scientists have turned the worldinto a place of despair:
The world has become the home of despair
Countries full of scorpions and baneful snakes
Mad cows pigs goats and sheep and still unawareOf the most bloody future and earthquakes
(101 Selected Poems, Walk Straight, 1-4)
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In my 100 years I have seen a lot of changes
around me in the world, but the elements that
inspired me to write remain constant all through
my life on this earth. (Jawdat Haydar) These elements are related to his love for his
country and its nature and his belief in the
possibility for world peace.
His poetry shows a Mahjar influence, which he
developed and modernized.