Ibn Jinnī and the Art of Poetic Criticism: A Study of Rhetorical and Linguistic Mechanisms

Abstract

This paper explores Ibn Jinnī’s methodological approach to poetry criticism by analyzing his use of rhetorical and linguistic instruments across selected poetic excerpts. Structured into an introduction, three thematic sections—on rhetorical devices, linguistic and grammatical tools, and his influence on later critics—and a conclusion, the study demonstrates how Ibn Jinnī’s work laid the groundwork for an integrated linguistic framework in Arabic literary criticism. It argues that his contributions to grammar, rhetoric, prosody, and poetic analysis not only solidified his reputation as a leading critic and linguist but also profoundly shaped subsequent critical theory. Ibn Jinnī’s reading of al‑Mutanabbī underscores the poet’s timelessness and textual complexity, while his innovative examination of Kathīr ʿIzzah’s verses effectively inaugurated a new mode of critique focused on the text’s underlying subtexts.