Visual Descriptions (Symbols) of Freedom in the Poems of Mohammad Afifi Matar

Poetry and literature are constantly an echo of the events taking place in individual and social lives of people. It partakes an imperative role in motivation, hence poetry in various historical periods, while being a tool for expressing emotions, has also had a great power in encouraging various fields. Egypt is one of the countries that has experienced a complex set of domestic and foreign events in the contemporary period. The issue that can be raised here is the reflection of these developments and the type of confrontation with them in the poems of contemporary Egyptian poets such as Muhammad Afifi Matar. Afifi Matar is one of the committed poets of Egypt in the contemporary period who composed poems with the themes of stability against internal tyranny and oppression and the manifestations of resistance with the approach of awareness, nationalism and patriotism and relying on the homeland. Friendship and anti-oppression have become the main features of his works and the theme of his poems. This article is accomplished via descriptive-analytical method whilst relying on library data. The findings of this study indicate that Matar has preferred the structure of modern poetry to the old form of poetry and has chosen this form as a pleasant means to express his ideals and goals. The Divan of Mohammad Afifi Matar is full of themes such as motivating people to fight against oppressive rulers, advocating patriotism, fighting silence in the face of oppression, demanding the exit of occupiers, hoping for freedom and the elimination of oppression, and so on; ultimately this has led to visual descriptions of freedom and resistance in his poems.

1. Studying the themes in the poetry of Mohammad Afifi Matar 2. Explaining and drawing the visual symbols of freedom and stability in the poems of Mohammad Afifi Matar.

Research questions: 

1. What are the themes of Mohammad Afifi Matar's poems? 2. What is the place of the visual symbols of freedom and resistance in the poems of Mohammad Afifi Matar?