WINE, URBAN CULTURE, AND SOCIAL CRITICISM IN ABU NUWAS’S ABBASID POETRY

Devi Banyu  Maulid; R. Myrna Nur Sakinah

doi:10.33365/linguistics_and_literature.v7i1.2544

Devi Banyu Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung
R. Myrna Nur Sakinah Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33365/linguistics_and_literature.v7i1.2544

Keywords: Abbasid Dynasty, Abu Nuwas, New Historicism, social criticism, urban culture, wine poetry

Abstract

This study examines how wine imagery in Abu Nuwas's poetry reflects urban culture and functions as social criticism in Abbasid Baghdad. Abu Nuwas (c. 756–814 CE) is one of the most celebrated poets of classical Arabic literature, renowned for his khamriyyat (wine poetry). While his wine poems are often read as celebrations of hedonism, this study argues that they serve a more complex cultural function. Using New Historicism as the theoretical framework, this qualitative research analyzes eight selected poems through close reading. The findings reveal that wine imagery operates on multiple levels: representing the cosmopolitan character of Baghdad, negotiating religious authority, exposing social contradictions, and revealing the tension between worldly pleasure and spiritual consciousness. The tavern emerges as a micro-cosmopolitan space where religious and cultural boundaries are crossed. Wine becomes a literary lens through which Abu Nuwas diagnoses and critiques the fragmented nature of Abbasid urban society. This study contributes to the understanding of how classical Arabic poetry engaged with urban experience and social critique, offering insights into the relationship between literature and society in medieval Islamic civilization.

Author Biography

Devi Banyu, Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung

This study examines how wine imagery in Abu Nuwas's poetry reflects urban culture and functions as social criticism in Abbasid Baghdad. Abu Nuwas (c. 756–814 CE) is one of the most celebrated poets of classical Arabic literature, renowned for his khamriyyat (wine poetry). While his wine poems are often read as celebrations of hedonism, this study argues that they serve a more complex cultural function. Using New Historicism as the theoretical framework, this qualitative research analyzes eight selected poems through close reading. The findings reveal that wine imagery operates on multiple levels: representing the cosmopolitan character of Baghdad, negotiating religious authority, exposing social contradictions, and revealing the tension between worldly pleasure and spiritual consciousness. The tavern emerges as a micro-cosmopolitan space where religious and cultural boundaries are crossed. Wine becomes a literary lens through which Abu Nuwas diagnoses and critiques the fragmented nature of Abbasid urban society. This study contributes to the understanding of how classical Arabic poetry engaged with urban experience and social critique, offering insights into the relationship between literature and society in medieval Islamic civilization.

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