Spatial Polarities in Andalusian Maqamat Mahmoud Ahmed Matar, Prof. Dr. Saleh Wais Mohammed

Abstract

This research aims to demonstrate the importance of spatial oppositions in Andalusian maqamat and to reveal their semantic and aesthetic role in shaping the narrative structure of these maqama texts; This is approached through the dualities of familiar/ hostile space and open/ closed space. The study seeks to trace the ways in which these spatial dualities manifest in constructing the narrative space, considering space as an active element that transcends its geographical presence to perform psychological and symbolic functions contributing to directing the movement of characters and the development of events. In this research we relied on the descriptive analytical method in approaching the maqama texts, while benefiting from the data of the historical method to uncover the spatial dimensions (historical, social, and psychological) whenever such benefit was necessary for understanding the nature of the relationship between characters and space, and how feelings of familiarity and hostility are shaped according to historical, psychological, and social transformations. The research also sought to highlight the connotations acquired by open space through what it carries of breadth, freedom, and movement, in contrast to closed space, with its suggestions of confinement, isolation, and restriction of freedom and movement.