A Semiotic Analysis of Kazem al-Samawi’s Poem “Malhamah al-Hijra al-Thalasah

Semiotics is among the new approaches which the critics and researchers have used to analyze and interpret literary texts. It is a medium through which the signs get meaning in the text. Kazem al-Samawi (1919-2010) is one of the most well-known Iraqi contemporary poets, a part of whose work is replete with signs, symbols, and myths. “Malhamah al-Hijra al-Thalasah” is a poem in which he has transferred his intended meaning to the audiences through a collection of signs. The method of this qualitative research is that it uses descriptive-analytical tools to take use of manuscripts and other library resources in the analysis of Al-Samawi’s sonnet to examine its most important linguistic codes, express the relationships of these codes with the poet's life, and interpret the function of them in the harmony of the poems. The purpose of this research was to help the readers of al-Samawi’s poetry become more familiar with the hidden layers of his work and thought. The results showed that both the personality and the inclinations of the poet have been clearly reflected in the poem through the signs. In the same way, a handful of aesthetic and intertextual sings take function in the harmony of the poem, and these features considerably add to the values of it. Results also showed that al-Samawi’s poem mainly root in the experiences of his long years of life in exile, when he was conscious enough to use such codes in his poetry for exciting the readers’ sense of challenge and resistance. It is evident that al-Samawi is able to express his intention and purposefully communicate with the reader through these sings and symbols.