Modernist Critical Readings of the Arab poetic Heritage and the problem of Methodology

Abstract

                 Modern Arab critics have addressed the ancient Arabic poetic text and attempted to criticize and analyze it through several overlapping critical approaches and mechanisms. They tried to build a special vision of that poetic heritage to renew and modernize it and to look for its bright aspects. They sought to revive Arab culture and build a quasi-Arab theory that keeps pace with Western modern critical studies. These critics –such as Taha Hussein, Hussein Al-Marsafi, Mandour, Ihsan Abbas, Adonis, and others- have tried to read the heritage with a modernist vision, attempting to extract its meaning and dust it off so that it would be a pillar for living our present, achieving our renaissance, and keeping pace with Western modernism while combining authenticity and modernity.