The impact of Mahmoud Darwish's diasporic identity on his poetry: a post-colonial study of selected poems

This paper aims to examine the reflection of diasporic identity on Mahmoud Darwish's poetry. The study also examines the impact of Mahmoud Darwish's poetry on Palestinians' suffering in their homeland. As many are aware, immigration or displacement to another country and feeling sad due to being far from home can have an impact on a person’s life. Mahmoud Darwish, who was exiled from Palestine, continued to resist compulsory displacement through his unwavering poetry. Despite leaving his homeland, he consistently maintained his Palestinian identity. This is clearly evident in his poems, where his resistance through poetry gained strength even while he was far away. The theoretical framework in this study is mainly based on the postcolonial perspective. Applying postcolonial theory in the analysis of Darwish's poems helps provide new insights into the ways how colonial histories continue to shape and influence the Palestinians' identities. In addition, it sheds light on how Darwish reflected his own experience as a Palestinian living in the diaspora. This hard experience as a diasporic individual, has largely shaped his poetic works. Finally, the findings of the study conclude that diasporic identity was widely portrayed in Darwish's poetry and showed the impact of exile and displacement on the construction of identity in his works.