The Use of Color Symbolism in Modern Libyan Poetry (1970-2000)

Abstract

The study discussed the use of color symbolism in modern Libyan poetry in the period from 1970-2000 through poets' interest in colors, and their use of them for various expressions, sometimes cheerful and happy, and other times sad. The problem emerged in that poets employ colors according to their awareness of their suggestive symbolic value in constructing the poetic image. Therefore, the poet relies in his use of colors according to the strength of their appearance to him. We find that in most cases, color is not mentioned in what is described to him, but rather reveals the poet's feelings, as it is a source of vitality, activity, comfort and reassurance, and a symbol of different feelings of sadness and happiness. This study aimed to present the origins of color in modern Libyan poetry and its concept in language and terminology. It also traced the understanding of ancient and modern critics of color symbolism, its objectives, and motivations, and then traced the meanings and symbolism of colors in poetry. With the employment of colors and their symbolism through models of Libyan poets in their use of color symbolism in their poetry and the connotations these symbols carry that vary according to the colors and their effects, then I concluded this study with a set of results that I reached through the study with the help of a list of sources and references that I used in this research, and I relied on the descriptive analytical method, in order to analyze the poetic texts in this research and the previous studies were the greatest support for me in this study, including the study (Khadija Boutayeb) of color in the poetry of Muhammad Al-Fayturi, and the study (Naima Miftah) in which I studied symbolism in the poetry of Khaled Zaghbiah, but we did not focus specifically on color as a symbol and other studies that prompted me to choose this topic for study specifically.