An Investigation of Palestinian Resistance in Mahmoud Darwish's and Hussein Esrafili's Poetry

Comparative literature is a field of literary studies, which deals with intertextual relations and similarities. Through comparative literature, cultural relations among nations are brought into light, and effect and the influence reception of literary works are studied. Palestine, its occupation by Zionists, and people’s resistance against them are among the most fundamental subjects of Palestinian and Arab poetry. Considering the political and ideological similarities between the two nations of Iran and Palestine, Palestinian resistance against the occupiers, as one of the main subjects of Iranian Islamic Revolution poetry, can be traced in the works of many committed, poets of revolution. This paper takes a comparative approach to the study of the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish, the prominent Palestinian poet, sand Hussein Esrafili, one of the significant poets of the Islamic Revolution. Also, common themes in their poems in encountering with the subject of the occupation of Palestine have been investigated. Despite using different languages and drawing on special symbols and metaphors, Their poetry share common themes, such as the linking of the concept of resistance with religious concepts, protesting against the occupiers, criticizing the silence of international communities and Arab leaders, hoping for victory and the freedom of Palestine, and remembering the martyrs. Mahmoud Darwish’s poems abound with humanistic emotions, besides some strains of hopelessness and despair, while Esrafili’s poems have more epic and revolutionary aspects and images. Perhaps this difference is a result of the poets’ different experiences in dealing with the issue of the occupation of Palestine.