Suḥaym’s Dīwān: A Study in the Light of Cultural Criticism

Abstract

This study explores the poetry collection of Suḥaym ‘Abd Banī al-Ḥaṣḥāṣ through the lens of cultural criticism, aiming to uncover the implicit cultural patterns that form the deep structure of his poetic experience. It highlights the features of his anxious self and troubled psyche within a social context grounded in exclusion and marginalization. Suḥaym represents a rejected poetic voice, burdened by the color of his black skin and the loss of noble lineage, as he is descended from a recently enslaved person. From this perspective, cultural criticism posits that the poet suffers from a fractured self and a conflicted identity, which drove him to adopt reactive, vengeful attitudes toward a society that denied and excluded him. In response, he confronted this society with rebellion, irony, and the defamation of women—using erotic poetry not as an expression of admiration, but as a form of rejection.

The research is driven by a central question: What is the nature of the implicit cultural patterns in Suḥaym’s poetry collection? From this question emerge both theoretical and applied analyses, addressing the patterns of the self and the Other (the female), alienation, chivalry, and the life-death binary. The study concludes with several significant findings, most notably that Suḥaym was imprisoned by a deeply rooted inferiority complex stemming from his slavery, skin color, and fragile social status. This internal crisis compelled him to seek revenge against his society by publicly romanticizing and exposing noble women—an act of confrontation that ultimately led to his death.