Veiled Sentiments

In “The Poetry of Personal Life,” Abu-Lughod turns from Bedouin ideology to the way it shapes Bedouin personal life. Poetry, “that vital and highly valued expressive form” in Awlad ‘Ali communities (171), is the vehicle by which she will explore that personal life. She feels that the ghinnāwa, or poems about personal life, are the most expressive and relevant category of Bedouin poetry.

Although Abu-Lughod rarely captured recordings of any events in the village other than weddings, due to skepticism about her recording machine, she describes a “frequently requested” recording of two women singing back and forth, “responding to each other’s songs in turn” (172), while they sew a tent together. In the recording, the women exchange sadness and comfort, eventually finishing with an exhortation to avoid bringing up past loves. When Abu-Lughod replays this video for women in the village, they often grow sad or cry.

Awlad ‘Ali women appreciated the reciprocal, conversational mode of this poetry because “improvisational talent and ability to play with linguistic forms are highly valued in Bedouin culture” (173). But part of the beauty of these ghinnāwa are also their delivery: whether “mournful” or “beautiful” (173), both women’s voices captivated their audiences. Abu-Lughod suggests that the listeners are moved because they know the unfortunate circumstances of the sad woman’s life. The “ambiguous” (175) ghinnāwas gave other women insight into her experiences, and the emotional link that they provide is the most important to the listener. As a result, Abu-Lughod shapes her analysis of ghinnāwas in Awlad ‘Ali society around the “social use” of the poems (177).

As Abu-Lughod cites in her introduction, the Awlad ‘Ali use poetry under many different circumstances. She believes that ghinnāwas, or deeply personal “little songs,” communicate moving sentiments that “illustrate much about poetry’s role in Bedouin life” (177). It is the only form of Bedouin poetry mentioned in earlier studies that continues to be relevant at the time of her writing. Ghinnāwas are sung “in what is almost a chant” (178), which is why she calls them poems, not songs.

The ghinnāwa is a democratic form of poetry that, unlike other Awlad ‘Ali poetic forms, need not be sung by an expert. They are recited in daily life, “usually in the midst of conversations but also in sweethearts’ dialogues” (178). When sung in more formal events, they are presented in a high pitch, with words repeated and syllables stretched out. While the ghinnāwa “is formulaic and traditional” (180), performers can play with delivery styles.

Abu-Lughod points out distinct similarities between the poetry that she records and poetry across the Arabic-speaking world, into Libya and hundreds of miles beyond. Despite this remarkable similarity, the ghinnāwa is embedded deeply into specifically Bedouin culture; its “social contexts” are its most important feature (181). “It is about the feelings people have” in everyday life, and “the self and the beloved” are the most conventional formulas for poems (181).

The poems speak through parts of the self to speak about the self, addressing the ‘ēn (eye), the ‘agl (mind or psyche, a different meaning from the “social knowledge” meaning), and the khāṭr (“heart or feelings, what we might consider the inner person”) (182). These terms help those who recite the poems speak of “sentiments of the heart or self” (182). Almost always, ghinnāwas describe pain or negative emotions, and they most commonly describe romances between men and women.