The mythical mask and the mechanisms of the formation of the poetic self in the poetry of Abdul Wahab Al-Bayati

Abstract

This research examines the mythical mask as a poetic technique that contributes to the formation of the poetic self in the poetry of Abdul Wahab Al-Bayati. It begins with an analytical reading of the texts to reveal the nature of the relationship between the mythical figure and the poetic voice within the poem. The research does not merely trace the presence of myth or identify its cultural references, but rather focuses on how Al-Bayati reconstructs mythical figures into masks through which the poetic self is formed and its vision of reality is reproduced.

The research adopts a critical analytical approach in studying selected examples from Al-Bayati's poetry, based on the distinction between the mythical mask, myth, and symbol, and an analysis of the mechanisms of identification between the poetic self and the mask, as well as the nature of the functions that each mask performs within the poetic structure.

The study shows that mythical figures do not perform a single function in Al-Bayati's poetry, but rather their functions vary according to the poetic context. Each mask contributes to building a specific image of the poetic self and reveals an aspect of its intellectual and aesthetic vision. The study also revealed that al-Bayati does not invoke mythological figures in their inherited form, but rather reshapes them within the text in accordance with his poetic experience. Thus, they are transformed from cultural references into poetic voices that participate in the production of meaning and the construction of the self within the poem.