Romanticism in Ahmad Zaki Abou Shadi’s and Golchin Gilani's Poetry: A Comparative Thematic Study.

Résumé

Romanticism was a reaction against the classical school and its principles. The movement also attempted to eliminate anarchy entrenched in the society. Moreover, the rough conditions governing the Arab and Iranian societies during that period of time caused poets and literati to gravitate towards a romantic approach in hopes to steer away from the real world. Accordingly, this research aims to compare the romantic approach between Ahmad Zaki Abou Shadi from Egypt and Majd al-Din Mirfkhraei, also known as Golchin Gilani from Iran. The paper depicts the similarities and differences between their poetry. In addition, based on an analytical descriptive method and with the help of the principles of the American School of Comparative Literature, the present study aims to reveal the most important romantic features in the poetry of both poets.

The results obtained from the study can be summarized as follows: Romanticism is represented as fully as possible in their poetry; similar characteristics of Romanticism in both their poetry are as follows: calling to nature, gloom, pessimism, spatial, temporal, and social alienation, love, women, romantic despair, and acceptance of death. However, dissimilar themes between their poetry include that pessimism is observed more in Golchin Gilani’s poetry compared to in Abou Shadi’s. Also, praising women can be seen in the Egyptian’s poetry more so than in the Iranian’s poetry.