Nazik Al-Malaika’s Poetry: A Semiotic Study of the Poem “The Lover of the Night” as a Model

Abstract

This study aims to approach the poem “Ashiqatu Al-Layl” (The Lover of the Night) by the pioneering Iraqi poet Nazik Al-Malaika from a semiotic perspective, based on the importance of signs and symbols in constructing meaning in modern poetry. The significance of the research stems from its attempt to shed light on the semiotic structure of the poetic text as an effective approach to understanding the intellectual and aesthetic dimensions that go beyond the poem’s surface meaning, particularly in Nazik Al-Malaika’s poetry, which is characterized by symbolism and emotional depth.

The study seeks to reveal how the main semiotic signs in the poem—such as night, shadow, oud, and thunder—are employed and how they contribute to shaping the overall semantic system of the text, with a focus on the relationship between the signifier and the signified and the symbolic and philosophical dimensions that arise from it. It also aims to demonstrate the ability of poetic discourse to transform personal experience into a universal human expression through indirect modes of articulation.

The study adopts the semiotic method, based on exploratory and interpretive reading of the text, as a critical approach capable of deconstructing the poem’s semantic structure and analyzing its system of signs. This contributes to enriching contemporary critical studies of modern Arabic poetry and opens new horizons for reading Nazik Al-Malaika’s poetic experience.