Cultural Patterns in al_Kumayt ibn Zayd al_Asadi’s Nuniyya

Abstract

The study offers a critical reading of al-Kumayt’s Nuniyya in light of the principles of cultural criticism, understood as a modern critical theory concerned with uncovering the latent, deeply embedded cultural patterns that permeate literary discourse, and with highlighting the role these patterns play in shaping the structure of the discourse and directing its meanings.

This study seeks to demonstrate the role of the dominant masculine pattern in the Nuniyya in reinforcing a culture of violence and diverting values from their ethical and human orientations toward another, patriarchal pattern whose aim is to assert superiority over the Other and exert dominance over him. It also aims to reveal the role of the class pattern in shaping the subject’s stance toward the different other, pushing it toward condescension and degradation. This, in turn, makes it possible to underscore the vitality of the classical poetic text and its ability to accommodate modern critical theories.

The study also seeks to trace the hidden causes behind readers’ willingness to consume this cultural product, which carries troubled cultural patterns. It aims to clarify the role of the cultural pattern in shaping Arab literary taste and in directing acts of reception and interpretation.