Rethinking Watariyyat Layliyya /Night Strings by the Iraqi Poet Muthafar al-Nawwab.

Within the parameters of the critical theories of Mikhail Bakhtin, this paper critically explores the text of the most controversial long poem in the history of modern Arabic literature (Mudhafar al-Nawwab's masterpiece "Watariyyat Layliyya/Night Strings") in addition to other selected texts in order to illuminate the poet's attitude toward major issues , integral to the contemporary socio-political scene in Iraq and the Arab world , like oppression, displacement, struggle and search for identity in addition to his attempt to revolutionize the consciousness of the Iraqi/Arab people at times of crisis, catastrophe and political turmoil. The paper also examines the hostile attitude of the poet toward the atrocities and brutalization committed by well-established dictatorial regimes in the Arab world in addition to the aggressive/hegemonic policies advocated by imperialistic and repressive agencies in the region. Intervening in narratives of revolution, ideology and resistance, the paper attempts to break new ground in modern Iraqi literature by providing a critical / analytical framework through which the political and radical poetry of Mudhafar al-Nawwab is filtered in terms of thematic structures and poetic techniques in order to open new horizons in trans-cultural studies and pave the way for new research landscape in contemporary Iraqi / Arabic poetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]