Thesis (M.A.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Arts - Department of English

The poetry of Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye and the Egyptian vernacular poet Amin Haddad provide evidence on the powerful role poetry and the poet play in the world we live in today. With their creative imagination, poetic language and their cultural heritage, Nye and Haddad become catalysts for social and political change. This study will examine their selected poems to explore the role of cultural memory in reconstructing the 2cultural identity3 of the society each represents. In this case, cultural memory preserves the collective knowledge of society from one generation to another; and this act of re-construction can be regarded as an important form of resistance. The study asserts that cultural memory does not only ensure cultural continuity from one generation to the other but is effective as a means to transform the present. In order to prove this, the selected poems will be analyzed in the light of Jan and Alieda Assmann{u2019}s concept of cultural memory as well as Bill Ashcroft{u2019}s concept of the 2transformation of imagination3. Comparing the works of both poets will hopefully, highlight their ability to reconstruct a unified and particular cultural identity. In the act of reconstruction, they preserve their cultural heritage, circulate it and inspire their audience with hope for change

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