A study of evil figures of religious tradition in the poetry of Shathel Taqa in the light of expressive techniques

As a pioneer in Iraq’s modern poetry, Shathel Taqa’s poetry instantiates variegated legacies, wherefrom the religious one has received more attention than the others in his oeuvre. He highlights evil figures in religious discourse such as Cane, Judas Iscariot and Al-Masih ad-Dajjal as the source of oppression and bloodshed. Through employing this discourse, the poet expresses human crimes and stages a revolt against any oppressor on the earth who has unlawfully brought nations under their dominance. A great poet with a high poetic talent, he has not, however, received the critical attention he deserved, causing him and his work to be disregarded. The study therefore attempts to bring to the fore Taqa and his work through analysing evil figures in the religious discourse as depicted in his poetry and the techniques he employed. The results indicate that the tumultuous socio-political condition of Iraq and Arab world impacted greatly on the poet’s emotions, ignited his sentiments and made him draw on religious figures including evil ones. In employing these figures in his poetry, he tried to maintain the consistency between form and meaning and the coordination between expressive techniques and poetic themes. He used a variety of techniques, including religious discourse, fictional mode and symbolism.