Representations of Resistance in Yahyaal-Samawi's Poetry

Yahyaal-Samawi, Iraqi poet, is one of the most prominent figures of resistance literature and contemporary Arabic poetry. Al-Samawi defended his motherland with his poems, and in this course he went through torture, adversary, and moving out of his land. He started writing his resistance poems during Ba’athist rule in Iraq under Saddam. He played an important role in opposing Saddamists’ misguided policies and also in the 1991 uprisings. He lateropposed the American occupation of Iraq, writing impassioned odes to warn his nation and government against wicked policies of the USA. This paper employs a descriptive-analytical methodology to study al-Samawi’s ideas of resistance presented in his poetry through concepts like freedom, rejecting oppression, criticizing the rulers, opposingthe country’s occupation, condemning war and terrorism, inviting to awareness, and standing against repression and despotism to restore the country’s freedom and the people’s rights. Among al-Samawi’s best poems are his odes in grief of martyrs who fought against repression and despotism. These odes describe heart breaking scenes of martyrdom and portray sorrow and pain, hope and resistance.