Deviation in Diwan al-Bafūr by al-Mukhtār al-Sālim Aḥmad Sālim (The Poem “A Very Innocent Condemnation” as a Model)

Abstract

This study focuses on examining the phenomenon of deviation in contemporary Mauritanian poetry, drawing on a highly significant poetic model: the poem by al-Mukhtār al-Sālim Aḥmad Sālim entitled “A Very Innocent Condemnation.” The poem is approached as a text that embodies an intensified aesthetic form, one that re-produces meaning by transforming language into a philosophical contemplative locus that transcends the boundaries of normative usage.The importance of this research stems from the scarcity of studies that have applied Geoffrey Leech’s theory of deviation to Mauritanian poetry. Most previous readings have been confined to analyzing national and political themes, without investigating mechanisms of semantic transformation or structures of stylistic foregrounding. Accordingly, this study seeks to bridge this critical gap by identifying patterns of deviation in contemporary Mauritanian poetic texts and clarifying their role in generating ethical and aesthetic meaning. Methodologically, the research adopts a structural-semantic analytical approach, based on a comparative examination of the eight levels at which deviation manifests: lexical, grammatical, prosodic (rhythmic), graphic, semantic, stylistic, temporal, and dialectal. The findings reveal that the poet transfers the lexical unit from its realistic context into a condensed symbolic horizon, thereby unveiling a philosophy of commodification and human alienation. Grammatical deviation is employed to generate an alternative aesthetic tension, while sound and tone are transformed into semantic instruments that give voice to the poem’s internal rhythm of ambiguity. Graphic and semantic deviation produce a structure of semantic detonation, wherein whiteness and textual gaps function as meaningful elements. Temporal deviation reconfigures the present and the past into a unified emotional framework that transcends event-based time. Meanwhile, dialectal deviation consolidates the principle of the “nationalization of language” by integrating vernacular speech into the body of classical poetic discourse, serving both artistic and ethical functions simultaneously. The study concludes that the concept of deviation in al-Mukhtār al-Sālim’s poetry represents both an artistic strategy and an existential stance, through which the poet reshapes the world by means of language, achieving what Leech terms “semantic openness.” This, in turn, positions Mauritanian poetry as one of the most profound Arab poetic experiences in the self-generation of meaning.