From Karbala to Palestine: The Poetics of Resistance in the Song Ahrarun Ahrar

Abstract

This study examines the poetics of resistance in the Arabic song Ahrārun Ahrār as a literary representation of the transformation of Karbala's cultural memory into the contemporary Palestinian struggle. Employing a qualitative approach, the study applies close textual reading integrated with Julia Kristeva's theory of intertextuality, Jan Assmann's concept of cultural memory, and Barbara Harlow's framework of resistance literature. The primary data consist of the song lyrics, which are analyzed through their poetic devices, religious symbolism, repetition, and intertextual relationship with the narrative of Karbala. The findings reveal that the song constructs a poetics of resistance through four principal strategies: repetition as the affirmation of revolutionary identity, the symbolic representation of Husayn and Al-Qasim as sources of moral legitimacy, intertextuality linking the tragedy of Karbala with the Palestinian struggle, and cultural memory transforming historical events into collective consciousness. Rather than portraying Palestine through descriptive political narratives, the song reconstructs resistance by activating Karbala as a symbolic and ethical framework deeply rooted in Islamic literary and cultural traditions. Consequently, Karbala functions as a moral archetype continually reproduced within contemporary Arabic literature to foster collective identity, solidarity, and resistance against oppression. This study demonstrates that Ahrārun Ahrār should be understood not merely as a musical composition but as a literary text that intertwines history, religion, cultural memory, and the aesthetics of resistance into a unified poetic discourse.