Popularizing in the Poetry of Bashar ibn Burd

Abstract

Popularizing (or cultural/ intellectual promotion) is a rhetorical and ideological technique that aims at persuasion through the use of linguistic, psychological, and symbolic elements that contribute to constructing a coded message. This message is often disseminated within a communicative space that feigns realism, while in reality, it is based on a pre-determined mental construct. The importance of this popularizing perspective becomes clear when studying poetic output in Islamic eras, particularly during the Abbasid period, which witnessed a radical transformation on both cultural and civilizational levels. This transformation was driven by openness to other cultures, such as the Persians, Indians, and Romans, resulting in a cultural fusion that impacted the intellectual and literary landscape of the time. The poet Bashar ibn Burd (96 AH -168 AH) represents a creative model embodying these transformations. He lived through two distinct historical periods: the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties, and witnessed the erosion of traditional values ​​and the rise of a new cultural discourse that sought to impose alternative representations of identity and culture.

In his poetry, Bashar sought to promote his Persian culture at times, and at other times to express divergent views on prevailing Arab values, through a rhetorical discourse imbued with a critical intellectual and cultural character that engages the reader through multiple levels of meaning and symbolism. His poetry demonstrates a conscious use of intellectual, social, and political rhetorical techniques, making it fertile ground for analysis using pragmatic and discourse analysis methodologies. Based on this perspective, the research consists of two main sections: theoretical, addressing the general concept of rhetoric; and applied, concerned with revealing the manifestations of rhetoric in Bashar ibn Burd's poetry through two types: intellectual rhetoric and political rhetoric, while also explaining the mechanisms of their linguistic and semantic formation.