Genre Intrmixing In The Poetry Of Lakhdar Barka

Abstract

The Arabs historically distinguished between poetry and prose, setting boundaries for each and providing precise definitions. However, these definitions began to shift relatively with the Iraqi trio and with Nazik al-Malaika, whose efforts largely sought to break the barriers of the traditional poetic line. From this also emerged the prose poem and genre intermingling, which is the core concern and aim of our research, centered on the following questions: How can poetry and prose be combined? And how is this manifested in the works of our poet, Lakhdar Barka? Lakhdar Barka embodied this literary cross-fertilization in his collection, demonstrating a distinct specificity in his poetry while, at times, transcending other genres, and at other times, intersecting with them—such as narrative, biography, and painting.