Major Themes and Literary Techniques in Mosab Abu Toha’s Poetry Collection Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: A Formalist Approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33806/ijaes1198Keywords:
Abu Toha, formalist approach, techniques, themes, Things You May Find Hidden in My EarAbstract
This paper examines some major themes in Mosab Abu Toha’s debut poetry collection Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear (2022) and the literary and technical devices used to convey them. Applying the formalist approach, the paper investigates the integration of content, form, language, and technical/stylistic devices in the selected poems. While the main themes explored include siege, resilience, home, and identity, the examined figurative tropes include metaphor, imagery, symbol, paradox, and irony. Aiming at an in-depth study, the paper argues that there is a close correlation between the identified themes and the employed techniques and literary forms such as prose poem, free verse, autobiography, litany, photopoem, allusion, enjambment, and free punctuation. The paper illustrates how all these constituents ultimately work together to create the internal unity and true meaning of the poems.
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