Ali Alemarah’s Shakespeare and I: a Critical Exploration of the Qasurahs of Hamlet and Antony and Cleopatra

Abstract

Qasurah / Pomage is a term coined by Ali Alemarah, an Iraqi poet, to refer to a poem that combines both visual and verbal elements. In his Shakespeare and I (Pomage), published in 2016, the Iraqi poet holds a dialogue with the Shakespearean text. Ali Alemarah approaches key Shakespearean scenes captured in paintings, photographs and sketches that spark off a verbal element. As such, the Qasurah invests in the dynamic duality of the image and word as equal partners to achieve the effect intended. The present study examines the Qasurah, concentrating on the sections devoted to scenes from Hamlet and Antony and Cleopatra. It also explores and evaluates the ways in which the poet endeavours to blaze a trail of his own as a practitioner of the picture-poem not only in Iraq, but the Arab world as well.