Cinematic and Dramatic Techniques in the Poetry of Abd al-Razzaq Abd al-Wahid

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the cinematic and dramatic structure in the poetry of Abdulrazzaq Abdulwahid as one of the most significant aesthetic features distinguishing his work. The methodology is descriptive–analytical, with recourse to both Arab and Western textual critical traditions of frame-by-frame analysis, including scene, shot, exposition with light and shadow elements emphasizing the point of view interacting between montage and the dramatic construction. The research brings to light that Abdulwahid's poetic corpus closely indicated an important revolution of visual sensibilities in Iraqi poetry: as shots, images and movement act as instruments for meaning-building rather than ornamental features. It also demonstrates the poet’s deliberate use of film techniques in order to construct a visual imagery full of conflict, tension, climax, and collapse. This is illustrated by an attempt to study the visual structure of some poems, as well as exploring their depth semantic strata. The close reading illustrates that these texts are built up in accordance with the complex visual principles which make it possible to create a dense art space where aesthetic and techno has possibility for procreation, result in reciprocal relations between the poetic line and the cinematic frame, endow the poem with an exceptional ability to conceptualize affects. The study comprises two sections. The first part presents the terminology and shows how it relates to poetic text. The second examines the cinematic and dramatic aspects as they materialize in Abdulwahid’s poetics by concentrating on five techniques: perspective, montage, shot-image, scenography and light and shadow. The researchers claim that the study of filmic and dramatic techniques in poetry is a basic critical trajectory for exploring modern Arabic poetry’s aesthetic formation and wish to urge scholars to intensify further readings that would consider how contemporary poetry interacts with other modern audiovisual and technical arts.