Romanticism in Arabic Literature: Emotion, Individualism, and Literary Renewal

Abstract

Romanticism represents a significant phase of transformation in Arabic literature, marking a decisive shift from classical formalism to a literature centred on emotion, individual experience, and imaginative freedom. Emerging prominently during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, particularly in the context of the Arab Nahḍah (Arabic literary renaissance), Arabic Romanticism developed through interaction with Western literary movements, as well as through an internal reevaluation of classical Arabic aesthetics. This paper examines Romanticism in Arabic literature as a movement of emotional expression, individualism, and literary renewal, highlighting its thematic, stylistic, and ideological contributions.

The study analyses how Arab Romantic writers and poets rejected rigid classical conventions and embraced subjective emotion, personal sorrow, love, nature, exile, and spiritual longing as central literary themes. Figures such as Khalîl Jibrân, Mikhâ’il Nu‘aymah, ‘Abbâs Maḥmûd al-‘Aqqâd, Ibrâhîm al-Mâzinî, and members of the Apollo Group are examined to demonstrate how Romanticism reshaped Arabic poetry and prose. The paper also explores the role of diaspora literature, particularly the Mahjar movement, in introducing new literary forms, symbolism, and philosophical introspection into Arabic writing.

Furthermore, the research highlights Romanticism’s contribution to the development of modern Arabic literary language, freeing it from excessive ornamentation and bringing it closer to lived human experience. While Romanticism challenged traditional norms, it did not entirely reject classical heritage; rather, it reinterpreted it through the lens of emotion and individual creativity. The paper argues that Romanticism served as a transitional movement that laid the foundation for later literary trends such as realism and modernism in Arabic literature.

Overall, this study demonstrates that Romanticism played a crucial role in redefining Arabic literary expression by foregrounding the inner self, emotional depth, and artistic freedom, thus contributing significantly to the evolution of modern Arabic literature.