Syntactic Deviation in the Poetry of Mahmoud Noun

(Diwan Fasila for all Times as a model)

Abstract

The concept of deviation is related to understanding what transfers speech from an informative function to an expressive (performative) one. Deviation constitutes a transgression of language and a violation of the formulation of the ideal linguistic pattern; it is a means of imbuing literary language with poeticity in order to meet psychological and aesthetic needs. This study aims to identify sites of deviation as a stylistic phenomenon of artistic value and the semantic dimensions it grants the poem through its expressive, suggestive, and aesthetic potentials, which elevate the poetic text to a level of quality that reflects the poet’s feelings. This, in turn, opens the way for the critic to uncover the dominant idea or emotion governing the poet. The research seeks to examine syntactic deviation in the poetry collection A Pause for All Times by the poet Mahmoud Noun, employing both the descriptive and stylistic approaches. The introductory section addresses the concept of deviation as a literary theory and traces its origins. The study consists of three sections: the first discusses sentence-level structure in Mahmoud Noun’s poetry, manifested clearly in the phenomena of fronting and postponement; the second examines syntactic deviation at the textual level, focusing on the phenomena of shift (iltifāt) and parenthetical sentences; the third analyzes the expressive sentence, addressing interrogation, command, and exclamation. Since poetry, in its essence, is a linguistic formation that elevates language from its immediate utilitarian level to a new level rich in suggestive energies and aesthetic structures that transcend the familiar and embrace creativity, the fundamental approach to understanding the poetic text lies in analyzing its formal and stylistic components through a scientific method, whereby premises lead logically to conclusions. Among the most significant findings is that the poet adopts an existential stance rooted in the human self as a result of life experiences. The deviations reflect an existential vision and poetic tension, while the violation of syntactic norms indicates the poet’s ambiguity and his lack of intent to clarify his text.