Olive Symbolism in Palestinian and Spanish Poetry: A Comparative Study

Abstract

This comparative study aims at highlighting the symbolism of the olive tree in Palestinian and Spanish poetry. Since the olive tree is elemental in both cultures, the study attempts to tackle four main themes of such a dominant tree: resistance, peace, eternity, and homeland. In order to conduct the study, a number of poems employing the olive tree are investigated and analyzed in order to highlight the closeness between the Palestinian and the Spanish cultures. The study tries to prove the matchfullness between the symbolism of the olive tree in both poetries. The selection of the poems is based on the common ground of the olive tree symbolism in Palestine and Spain. The only theme in which the poetry in the two cultures does not completely coincide is resistance. In Palestinian poetry, the olive is used to signify resistance against occupation, while this tree is employed to denote the resistance to socioeconomic classism, urban sprawl, and natural disasters. In order to make an outstanding comparison in the three other themes, the author selected poems of both cultures where the olive tree signifies international symbolizations.