The Transformative Role of Poetry Education in Constructing Modern Arabic Identity: A Systematic Literature Review
Article Number: e2025604 | Available Online: December 2025 | DOI: 10.22521/edupij.2025.19.604
Radwan Muh, d Said Eazolli , Hanan A. Hatamleh
Full text PDF |
856 |
316
Abstract
|
Background/purpose. In its explorations of the transformatively generative role of Arabic poetry in the constitution of modern Arab identity, the present study maps the historical trajectory, cultural roles, and modern developments in its history. Based on the pre-Islamic conventions, Arabic poetry was always a form of cultural expression, ethical probe, and critique. Materials/methods. A qualitative systematic review was conducted on peer-reviewed articles (2000–2024) listed in Scopus and the ISI Web of Science. Thematic analysis was used to identify key tendencies related to identity, gender, migration, digital transformation, and learning activity in Arabic poetry. Results. Data show that contemporary Arabic poetry blends ancient motifs with modern concerns such as displacement, women's empowerment, and social justice. Social media and machine learning have increased poetry's acceptability and influence, notably in marginalized and diasporic communities. |
Conclusion. Arabic poetry continues as a dynamic and responsive form for expressing cultural identity and shared consciousness. Through the combination of heritage and technology, it sustains the expression of creativity, inclusivity, and cross-cultural dialogue in the 21st-century world. The research points to the importance of interdisciplinary and online methodologies in maintaining the currency of Arabic poetry within the discourse of world cultures.
Keywords: Arabic poetry, modern Arab identity, cultural transformation, digital innovation, poetic resistance, globalization, interdisciplinary approach.
ReferencesAbdulrahim, S. (2013). Between Empire and Diaspora: Identity Poetics in Contemporary Arab-American Women's Poetry. Routledge.
Abdulrahim, S. (2013). Between Empire and Diaspora: Identity Poetics in Contemporary Arab-American Women's Poetry.
Al-Abdullatif, A. M., & Alsubaie, M. A. (2022). Using digital learning platforms for teaching Arabic literacy: A post-pandemic mobile learning scenario in Saudi Arabia. Sustainability, 14(19), 11868. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141911868
Al-Bagdadi, N. (2008). Registers of Arabic literary history. New Literary History, 39(3), 437-461. https://doi.org/10.1353/nlh.0.0046
Aleksov, B. (2011). Jovan Jovanovič Zmaj and the Serbian Identity between Poetry and History. https://doi.org/10.1515/9786155211669-009
Al-Haiaderh, M. T., & Alrafaiah, G. A. (2024). Heritage and the challenge of Jordanian national identity in Nayef Abu Obeid’s poetry. National Identities, 26(3), 305–321. https://doi.org/10.1080/14608944.2024.2319047
Alharbi, M. (2021). Reimagining the ever-changing construct of Saudi writerly identity: A heuristic approach. Arab World English Journal, 11, 150–165. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol11no4.17
Al-Musawi, M. J. (2006). Arabic poetry: Trajectories of modernity and tradition. Routledge.
Al-Rawashdeh, B. A., Issa, A. H. B., Al-Gayam, I. M., & Rababah, M. A. (2025). The concept of poetry from some great Arab poets' perspectives. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 16(3), 1043–1051. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1603.35
Alyafeai, Z., Al-Shaibani, M. S., & Ahmed, M. (2023). Ashaar: Automatic analysis and generation of Arabic poetry using deep learning approaches. arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.06218.
Arcilla Jr, F. E. (2024). Poetic devices, thematic significance and social realities in poetry: A critical literature review. Randwick International of Education and Linguistics Science Journal, 5(1), 70-85. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4892787
Awan, A. G., & Khalida, Y. (2015). New trends in modern poetry. Journal of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, 13, 63-72.
Baxley, G., & Sealey-Ruiz, Y. (2021). In the Black radical tradition: Poetry as a praxis for healing and resistance in education. Research in the Teaching of English, 55(3), 311-321.
Brunner, E. (2013). Confessional poetry: A poetic perspective on narrative identity. In Rethinking Narrative Identity (pp. 187-202). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Burton, J., & Van Viegen, S. (2021). Spoken word poetry with multilingual youth from refugee backgrounds. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 65(1), 75–84. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1178
Carli, S. (2015). The Love Affair between Philosophy and Poetry: Aristotle's Poetics and Narrative Identity. The Southern Journal of Philosophy, 53(2), 151-177. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjp.12102
Cibils, L., & Marlatt, R. (2019). Poetry and cultural identity: A sociocultural approach for teacher education classrooms. Action in teacher education, 41(2), 137-153. https://doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2019.1600599
Davis, C. (2021). Sampling poetry, pedagogy, and protest to build methodology: Critical poetic inquiry as culturally relevant method. Qualitative Inquiry, 27(1), 114-124. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800419884978
Dawood, H., Al Zadjali, F., Al Rawahi, M., Karim, S., & Hazik, M. (2022). Business trends & challenges in Islamic FinTech: A systematic literature review. F1000Research, 11, 329. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.109400.1
De Young, T. L. (2007). The Influence of the Colonial Encounter: Self, Identity and Other in Modern Arabic Intellectual Discourse. al-'Arabiyya, 40, 27-44.
Ebbrahimi, M. (2024). The Influence of Classical Arabic Poetry on Contemporary Poetry. Sexual and Psychological Disorders, 2(3).
Fakhreddine, H. J. (2021). Arabic poetry in the twenty-first century: Translation and multilingualism. Journal of Arabic Literature, 52(1–2), 147–169. https://doi.org/10.1163/1570064x-12341423
Farah, B., Elias, R., Aguilera, R., & Abi Saad, E. (2021). Corporate governance in the Middle East and North Africa: A systematic review of current trends and opportunities for future research. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 29(6), 630-660. https://doi.org/10.1111/corg.12377
Firdous, S., & Iqbal, M. S. (2025). Modern Arabic literature: A fusion of tradition and innovation. Zakariya Journal of Education, Humanities & Social Sciences, 3(1), 1–11.
Fitrianto, I. (2024). Innovation and Technology in Arabic Language Learning in Indonesia: Trends and Implications. International Journal of Post Axial: Futuristic Teaching and Learning, 134-150.
Griffiths, M. O. (2010). How arbitrary one's identity: the construction of cultural identity in contemporary Welsh poetry in English.
Halldórsdóttir Gudjonsson, B. E. (2018). ‘I wish color had no history’: an exploration of identity through student performance poetry. Ethnography and Education, 13(3), 322-339. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457823.2017.1422134
Harb, L. (2019). Persian in Arabic Poetry: Identity Politics and Abbasid Macaronics. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 139(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.7817/jameroriesoci.139.1.0001
Hassan, W. S. (2002). Postcolonial theory and modern Arabic literature: Horizons of application. Journal of Arabic Literature, 33(1), 45–64. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700640252955487
Hill, C. (2022). Poetic resistance: Karen long-distance nationalism, rap music, and YouTube. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 25(1), 30-50. https://doi.org/10.1177/13678779211027179
Issa, M. S. B. (2025). How cutting-edge technologies shape cultural identity in ultramodern Arabic literature. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 11, 101511.
Keshav, M., Julien, L., & Miezel, J. (2022). The role of technology in era 5.0 in the development of Arabic language in the world of education. Journal International of Lingua and Technology, 1(2), 90-108.
Khaled, F., & Anderson, J. (2024). Textart, identity and the creative process: A case study with Arabic heritage language learners. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 27(1), 113–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2022.2158721
Liaqat, F., Naimat, A., Alv, U. F., & Pathan, H. (2024). Unveiling Self-Identity of Teachers: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Perception and Interpretation of Selected Poems of Rupi Kaur's-Homebody. World Journal of English Language, 14(4), 10-5430. https://doi.org/10.5430/wjel.v14n4p284
Moje, E. B., & Luke, A. (2009). Literacy and identity: Examining the metaphors in history and contemporary research. Reading research quarterly, 44(4), 415-437. https://doi.org/10.1598/rrq.44.4.7
Molderez, I., Baraniuk, D., & Lambrechts, W. (2021). The role of poetry in promoting a sustainability mindset: Walter Benjamin as a guide toward a slow journey. Frontiers in Sustainability, 2, 694317. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2021.694317
Nazar, S. (2021). Nazik Al-Malaika: Her Poetic Themes and Contribution towards Identity Crisis of Arab Woman. Tahdhib-al-Afkar, 07-18.
Ng, M., Gakidou, E., Lo, J., Abate, Y. H., Abbafati, C., Abbas, N., ... & Azargoonjahromi, A. (2025). Global, regional, and national prevalence of adult overweight and obesity, 1990–2021, with forecasts to 2050: a forecasting study for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. The Lancet, 405(10481), 813-838.
Nnyigide, N. M., & Egenti, M. C. (2014). African unity, identity and development in some contemporary Igbo poems. Ogirisi: A New Journal of African Studies, 10, 36-59. https://doi.org/10.4314/og.v10i1.3
Petteway, R. J. (2021). Poetry as praxis+“illumination”: Toward an epistemically just health promotion for resistance, healing, and (re) imagination. Health Promotion Practice, 22(1_suppl), 20S-26S. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839921999048
Prince, C. (2022). Experiments in methodology: sensory and poetic threads of inquiry, resistance, and transformation. Qualitative inquiry, 28(1), 94-107. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004211014611
Saber, A. M. (2025). Transcending borders: The role of language and culture in Nathalie Handal’s poetic expression through a transnational perspective. Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1108/jhass-06-2025-0104
Sengupta, N., Sahu, S. K., Jia, B., Katipomu, S., Li, H., Koto, F., ... & Xing, E. (2023). Jais and jais-chat: Arabic-centric foundation and instruction-tuned open generative large language models. arXiv preprint arXiv:2308.16149.
Starkey, P. (2006). Modern Arabic literature. Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780748627240
Sultan, Y., Yessenova, K., Seyitova, B., Baltabayeva, Z., Koblanova, A., & Ismailova, F. (2024). Fostering cultural awareness and academic engagement through poetry analysis in Kazakh educational contexts. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 11(4), 124-147. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/2294
Talib, A. (2014). Poetry and History: The Value of Poetry in Reconstructing Arab History.
Wahdan, A., Al-Emran, M., & Shaalan, K. (2024). A systematic review of Arabic text classification: areas, applications, and future directions. Soft Computing-A Fusion of Foundations, Methodologies & Applications, 28(2). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-023-08384-6
Yuldasheva, K. A. (2024). The Impact Of Literature On The Spiritual Advancement Of Arab Society. Current Research Journal Of Philological Sciences, 5(01), 74-78.
Zyoud, S. E. H., Al-Jabi, S. W., Amer, R., Shakhshir, M., Shahwan, M., Jairoun, A. A., ... & Abu Taha, A. (2022). Global research trends on the links between the gut microbiome and cancer: a visualization analysis. Journal of Translational Medicine, 20(1), 83. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-022-03293-y