The Logic of the ‘nonsensical’: a comparative study of semantic concepts in Arabic literary criticism

This research critically examines the elusive concept of “nonsensicality” within Arabic literary criticism, exploring its semantic domains and the methodological challenges of defining and employing the term in scholarly discourse. Despite frequent appearances of the “nonsensical” in both classical and modern critical texts, its boundaries often blur with adjacent concepts such as the marvellous, the fantastic, the strange, and the supernatural. This study adopts a descriptive-comparative method, surveying both Arabic and Western critical traditions to identify the complex semantic network underpinning nonsensicality. It argues that the persistent ambiguity surrounding this concept is rooted in the overlapping and sometimes contradictory terminologies that have evolved across intellectual traditions and translations. Through meticulous analysis of linguistic, philosophical, and critical sources, the research delineates the core semantic nuclei of nonsensicality, proposing that it serves as a root concept with distinctive logic diverging from conventional rationality and realism. The study further synthesizes the synonyms and related terms into three principal semantic circles: the marvellous, the fantastic, and the strange. By clarifying these boundaries, the research enables literary critics to more confidently utilize “nonsensicality” as a distinct analytical tool, avoiding conceptual conflation and enhancing interpretative clarity. Ultimately, this inquiry enriches the understanding of nonsensicality not as mere irrationality or absurdity, but as a complex, multi-layered phenomenon that organizes and transforms meaning in literature and intellectual thought.