Reviving the Effaced Other in Francis Thompson’s “Arab Love Song”: the Pre-Islamic Arabian Qasidah

This article critiques the hegemonic role of the textual space created by what Gérard Genette called the paratext in constructing a cultural boundary of otherness. Such paratextual strategy shapes the Catholic-oriented readings of “Arab Love Song,” a poem by the British poet Francis Thompson, which have controlled its reception as a Catholic metanarrative on the pre-Islamic Arabian otherness. In particular, the authoritative paratext on “Arab Love Song” has maintained an undisputed projection of demonology and exorcism as pillars of the pre-Islamic Arab Bedouins’ life. My proposed reading of “Arab Love Song” engages both narratology and postcolonial criticism to uncover the effaced pre-Islamic Arabian voice in the paratexts of Thompson’s poem. In this context, this article demonstrates how Thompson’s poem communicates a very non-Catholic perspective, regardless of the poet’s objective. Arguably, “Arab Love Song” has both captured and revolutionized the theme and structure of the pre-Islamic Arabian love poem, the renowned qasidah.