This Land (Iraq) was no Longer Suitable for Anything” The Cult of Personality in Adnan Al-Sayegh’s ‘Dictator Poems’

Being politically and socially engaged, the Iraqi poet Adnan Al- Sayegh wrote a number of what might be termed ‘The Dictator Poems’ in which he sheds light on the nature of the Cult of Personality that can be considered a natural outcome of the political system in modern Iraq. These poems present very gruesome and ghastly pictures of life dominated by a ruthless and bloodthirsty dictatorial system that kept on violating human rights and abusing power. The paper aims at exploring the manifestations of the ‘Cult of Personality’ in a number of Al-Sayegh’s poems. First, it introduces dictatorship as a political system that runs contrary to the values of freedom, humanity and civilized life; it also focuses on the tyrannical and totalitarian regime that reigned Iraq for about forty years. Having established the theoretical background, the paper then presents a critical analysis of some of Al-Sayegh’s poems that deal with Cult of Personality . The conclusion argues that the aim of Al-Sayegh is not only to criticize and protest against the offenses and law-breakings of dictators, but also to warn them that they are the big losers who are to live and die alone and isolated from others.