Unsī al-ājj and the metapoetic text: Writing hybridization 1

The poetry of the Lebanese poet Unsī al-ājj (b. 1937) separates itself from the poetic traditions and aims to produce a new vision of the poetic process. This study examines the ways in which al-ājj embodies the metapoetic phenomenon systematically in his poems as an additional rebellious and critical expression within his unique vision of the poetic process and literature. Metapoetic writing, according to al-ājj, consolidates these attitudes. It is a way to criticize implicitly the poetic situation and express a rejectionist manner of writing. Analysing several poems that al-ājj has written at distant intervals reveals that he stayed faithful to the metapoetic text throughout his poetic career. The study will also examine the deep influence of the French poet and dramatist Antonin Artaud (1896 – 1948) on al-ājjʹs metapoetic text and inner writing.