Zeina Hashem Beck’s Translingual Ghazals in Light of Historical Poetics

Abstract

This article situates Zeina Hashem Beck’s ghazals within the category of world poetry, aiming to avoid hegemonic notions of this category as much as possible. The ghazal is a form of lyric that originates as a mode in seventh-century Arabic poetry. Definitions depend on the historical period and linguistic tradition of its performance. Key moments of the form’s migration include tenth-century adaptations to Persian and Urdu, as well as late eighteenth-century popularization in European languages. A translation project led by Aijaz Ahmad engendered a revival in English in the late twentieth century. However, many North American poets wrote free-verse versions criticized vehemently by Agha Shahid Ali in the introduction to his anthology Ravishing DisUnities (2000). Through the lens of historical poetics, this article argues that Hashem Beck draws on various stages in the ghazal’s legacy for her own unique translingual iterations. Schooling in Lebanon and co-hosting of the podcast Maqsooda account for her indebtedness to Arabic poetry, yet she pays tribute to Shahid’s anthology and writes anglophone ghazals that follow the rules upheld by the Kashmiri-American poet. Close readings of Hashem Beck’s ghazals published to date identify translingual elements, as well as the ways in which motifs, such as love and exile lead to explicit localizations. The article thus demonstrates how Hashem Beck’s ghazals combine influences from different phases in the form’s development.