Language Contacts in Arabic Poetry

Abstract

Language contacts in poetry differ from other forms of linguistic contacts, allowing writers to merge formal specificities of distinct languages within a single poem. This paper focuses on contacts between Arabic and European languages in selected poems of Adonis (*1930) and Fuad Rifka (1930-2011), both of whom are Syrian-Lebanese by birth and have lived for many years in Western Europe: Adonis in France and Rifka in Germany. How, then, do both poets deal with contacts between Arabic and French or German in their poetry? Can poetry be a way of crossing boundaries by merging patterns of different languages into one?   Erratum: p. 84, col. 1, line 23. Printed: الورق. Corrected: الورق.