The Role of Social Context in Producing Invisible Meanings in Old Arabic Poetry

Abstract

Interest in the social context emerged due to the substantial transformation the London School of Linguistics brought about with its social orientation. For decades, formal linguistics had dominated linguistic studies, focusing solely on the internal linguistic context and excluding society from its scope. Although context theory was crystallised by John Firth, interest in the external context is as old as linguistic studies. The Arabs placed great importance on the external context, which they called the position, in all scientific fields, particularly those related to the Holy Quran. The importance of social context is highlighted when studying poetic texts, especially those from a different time and culture. old Arabic poetry is full of invisible meanings, shaped by the specificity of Arab society – its environmental and social nature on the one hand and the temporal dimension on the other – as societies evolve in their beliefs, values and customs. This research examines old Arabic poetry through social context, focusing on invisible meanings that cannot be fully understood without social contextualisation. It first presents a theoretical foundation on context theory, starting with Arabic heritage, passing through textual linguistics and culminating in contemporary context theory.