''Shi'r'' (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

: مجلة شعر; ''Poetry'') was an

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

and modernist monthly literary magazine with a special reference to poetry. The magazine was published in Beirut, Lebanon, between 1957 and 1970 with a three-year interruption. The founders were two leading literary figures: Yusuf al-Khal and

Adunis Ali Ahmad Said Esber (, North Levantine: ; born 1 January 1930), also known by the pen name Adonis or Adunis ( ar, أدونيس ), is a Syrian poet, essayist and translator. He led a modernist revolution in the second half of the 20th century, ...

. It was named after

Harriet Monroe Harriet Monroe (December 23, 1860 – September 26, 1936) was an American editor, scholar, literary critic, poet, and patron of the arts. She was the founding publisher and long-time editor of ''Poetry'' magazine, first published in 1912. As a ...

’s Chicago-based magazine, ''

Poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

''.

History and profile

''Shi'r'' was started in Beirut in 1957, and the first issue appeared in January. Its founders were Yusuf al-Khal, Adunis and Unsi Al Hajj. It was started as a quarterly, but later its frequency was switched to monthly. Their goal in establishing ''Shi'r'' which was an avant-garde journal was to present a non-political version of poetry. This version of poetry is called Al Shi'r al Hurr (Arabic: Free Poetry) which refers to

prose poetry Prose poetry is poetry written in prose form instead of verse form, while preserving poetic qualities such as heightened imagery, parataxis, and emotional effects. Characteristics Prose poetry is written as prose, without the line breaks associ ...

. Therefore, it adopted a modernist approach towards poetry. The magazine also aimed at supporting the Afro-Asian solidarity and nonalignment which had been stated in the

Bandung Conference The first large-scale Asian–African or Afro–Asian Conference ( id, Konferensi Asia–Afrika)—also known as the Bandung Conference—was a meeting of Asian and African states, most of which were newly independent, which took place on 18–2 ...

in 1955. Al-Khal was the editor-in-chief of ''Shi'r''. Adunis served in different positions: at the beginning he was the editor and from 1958 he began to function as the secretary of the editorial board. He became the managing editor in 1961 and co-owner and co-editor-in-chief of ''Shi'r'' in 1963. However, he left the magazine soon after these roles. The contributors were part of the Shi'r school, and the magazine was an organ of this movement. The magazine was significantly affected from

Ahmed Zaki Abu Shadi Ahmed Zaki Abu Shadi ( ar, أحمد زكي أبو شادي, ; February 9, 1892 – April 12, 1955) in Cairo, was an Egyptian Romantic poet, publisher, medical doctor, bacteriologist and bee scientist. Family Abu Shadi's father, Muhammed Abu Shad ...

's the Apollo Poet Society founded in Cairo, Egypt, in 1932.

Salma Khadra Jayyusi Salma Khadra Jayyusi ( ar, سلمى الخضراء الجيوسي; born 1926 or 1927) is a Palestinian poet, writer, translator and anthologist. She is the founder and director of the Project of Translation from Arabic (PROTA), which aims to provi ...

argues that ''Shi'r'' is, in fact, the successor of ''

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

'' which was the publication of this society.

Sargon Boulus Sargon Boulus ( syr, ܣܪܓܘܢ ܦܘܠܘܨ; ar, سركون بولص) was an Iraqi poet, journalist and writer. Born in 1944, he died on 22 October 2007. Biography Boulus was born on 10 March, 1944 in Habbaniyah, Iraq, to Assyrian parents. ...

, an Iraq-born

Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

poet, started his career in the magazine in 1961. Although both were avant-garde publications and supported free verse movement, '' Al Adab'', a literary magazine established in Beirut in 1953, was the main adversary of ''Shi'r''. Because the contributors of ''Shi'r'' opposed the movement of

committed literature Committed literature (french: littérature engagée) can be defined as an approach of an author, poet, novelist, playwright or composer who commits their work to defend or assert an ethical, political, social, ideological or religious view, most of ...

(al-adab al-multazim in Arabic), a dominant approach in the 1950s and 1960s in the Arab world which was also supported by ''Al Adab''. ''Shi'r'' was banned in some countries due to its alleged support for the cultural war against

Arab nationalism Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language an ...

and its being funded by the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

and French intelligence. It was temporarily shut down in 1964 and was restarted in Spring 1967. In the second phase al-Khal also served as the editor-in-chief of the magazine of which the scope was expanded to cover other literary subjects in addition to poetry. ''Shi'r'' ceased publication in Autumn 1970 after publishing forty-four issues.

Studies on ''Shi'r''

Kamal Kheir Beik Kamal Kheir Beik (1935–1980) was a Syrian-born poet and dissident. He is known for his Arabic poems written in free verse and for his frequent exiles. He was assassinated in Beirut on 5 November 1980 together with two other members of the Syr ...

, a Syria-born dissident and poet, analyzed ''Shi'r'' in his PhD thesis which was completed at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

in 1972. Another comprehensive study on ''Shi'r'' is a book by Dounia Badini published in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shir 1957 establishments in Lebanon 1970 disestablishments in Lebanon Avant-garde magazines Defunct magazines published in Lebanon Magazines published in Beirut Magazines established in 1957 Magazines disestablished in 1970 Monthly magazines published in Lebanon Poetry literary magazines Defunct literary magazines Literary magazines published in Lebanon Modernism