Draft:Comparative Poetics

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Comparative poetics is concerned with the comparative study of different poetics, or theories of literature. the dominance of Western theories has hindered a comprehensive understanding of world poetics, as previous attempts at comparative poetics by scholars like James J.Y. Liu, Earl Miner, Stephen Owen, Wai-lim Yip, and Mohit K. Ray failed to establish a unifying approach. Alaa Abd al-Hadi's Nucleo-genre Paradigm offers a solution by providing a universally oriented framework that respects cultural specificities while identifying common structural elements across different genres and cultures.

Abd al-Hadi's paradigm, which is based on qualitative logic and fuzzy sets. It distinguishes between two levels of genre: the poetic level of production and the aesthetic level of reception, with the latter being given primacy. This approach allows for cross-cultural communication and understanding by focusing on the essential elements that define a genre, rather than the aesthetic elements that vary across cultures. The paradigm also avoids the problems of closure, ahistoricality, and definitive belonging by being open to constant evolution and change, thus understanding its historicality and the role of time in the development of genres.

The Nucleo-genre Paradigm is structured around the concept of a "Homogeneous Medium," without which a genre does not ontologically exists, and "Isomers," or the structural elements that are common to all manifestations of a genre, and "Isotopes," which are the aesthetic elements that differ from one place and time to another and thus do not affect the genre's identity. This framework can theoretically predict new genres and explain existing ones by considering the union of different isomers into an Arch-isomer and the evolution of genres through the Arch-isotope.

In conclusion, the Nucleo-genre Paradigm is presented as a significant advancement beyond comparative poetics, offering a humanist perspective that accounts for the sociocultural and historical contexts of literary and artistic manifestations. It provides a theoretical framework for examining various literary and artistic forms and finding the constants where they intersect, thereby contributing to a more inclusive and universally applicable understanding of world poetics.

References[edit]

<Abd al-Hadi, Alaa. (2022). The Nucleo-genre paradigm: Towards a unifying approach to the field of comparative poetics. (A. Othman, Trans.). Markaz al-Hadarah al-Arabeyya. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nucleo-genre-Paradigm-Unifying-Approach-Comparative/dp/9774965698>

<Othman, A. (June 2023) Beyond comparative poetics: An evaluation of The Nucleo-genre Paradigm. Journal of Advanced Research in Social Sciences. 6(2), https://doi.org/10.33422/jarss.v6i2.829>

<Othman, A. (September 2023). The nature-nurture controversy: The Nucleo-Genre Paradigm as a means of understanding gender. Journal of Advanced Research in Social Sciences. 6(3), 10.33422/jarss.v6i3.984>