Selected Models of the Application of Formalism in Arab Criticism: Presentation and Interpretation

Abstract

The research aims to carefully analyze the principles of critical formalism and how to bridge them in the Arab critical context, with a focus on the most prominent critics who adopted this approach in the fields of poetry and prose. In addition to exploring the theoretical foundations of formalism and its impact on understanding literary texts among Arab critics. It also aims to critically review examples of Arab critical works that adopted formalism as an analytical framework, explaining the effectiveness of this application. The research was divided into two sections. The first section dealt with the application of Arab criticism of the formal approach to poetry, and the second section revolved around the application of Arab criticism of the formal approach to prose. The results of the study revealed the extent of Arab critics’ keenness to carve out practical paths for the formalist approach in dealing with literary works, whether in poetry or prose. The ability of the Arabic text to absorb and represent some of the mechanisms of formalism has emerged, as is evident in sample studies such as those conducted by Murad Abdulrahman. However, the research did not find any fully-fledged study that was able to employ all the mechanisms of formalism in a single critical analysis. It is worth noting that narrative studies that follow a formal approach have taken on a relatively broader dimension in comparison with their poetic counterparts, which indicates a noticeable preference for narrative text in formal treatment throughout the Arab critical arena.