The Semiotics of Andalusian Presence in Ahmed Rami’s Play The Poets’ Romance

Ahmed Taher, Mai

doi:10.21608/mjoms.2025.222463.1203

The Semiotics of Andalusian Presence in Ahmed Rami’s Play The Poets’ Romance

Author

mai Ahmed Taher

Misr University for Science and Technology

10.21608/mjoms.2025.222463.1203

Abstract

This study examines the play The Poets’ Romance by the "Poet of Youth" Ahmed Rami, which revolves around the love story of Ibn Zaydun and Wallada, the daughter of Caliph Al-Mustakfi. Other characters include Ibn Abdus and Ibn Burd, a friend of Ibn Zaydun. The play consists of a single act divided into five scenes.

The study aims to analyze the play through a semiotic perspective, seeking to interpret its symbolic elements. Theatre as an art form operates within a system governed by the semiotics of language, gestural and kinetic expression, costumes, lighting, music, and sound effects.

The research is structured into two main sections:

1. The Title Framework and the Dedication Analysis:

This section explores the constructive composition of the title (The Poets’ Romance) and the aesthetic connotations it evokes. It also examines the dedication as an entryway into the text, highlighting how Rami dedicated the play to Umm Kulthum, making her an implicit presence woven into its fabric.

2. The Symbolism of Theatrical Elements:

This section delves into:

o Character Masks and their symbolic implications.

o The Lyricism of Dialogue and the dominance of poetic expression over dramatic action.

o The Variety of Poetic Meters, showing how different meters were employed without being confined to specific thematic functions.

o Syntactic Phenomena, with a focus on stylistic repetition, particularly in interrogative structures and key lexical elements, analyzing their meanings within the play’s semiotic framework.

Keywords