The God Motif as an Existential Strategy in Contemporary Azerbaijani Poetry

Abstract

This article examines the God motif in contemporary Azerbaijani poetry as an existential strategy rather than a manifestation of religious revival or doctrinal belief. Departing from traditional moral-theological interpretations, the study argues that divine references in modern poetic discourse undergo a process of post-sacral resemanticization, whereby sacred language is refunctionalized to articulate inner conflict, ethical tension, and metaphysical uncertainty. The research is based on a qualitative analysis of selected poems by Ramiz Rövşən, Vaqif Bayatlı Odər, Səlim Babullaoğlu, and Aqşin Yenisey, using functional-semantic analysis and comparative poetics as the primary methodological tools. The findings demonstrate that the God motif operates in three dominant functional roles: as an existential addressee invoked when human communication proves insufficient; as a psychological projection externalizing fear, guilt, and loneliness; and as an ethical reference point through which injustice, fate, and freedom are evaluated. The study shows a clear shift in contemporary Azerbaijani poetry from belief to dialogue, where God emerges as a discursive interlocutor embedded within the poem’s aesthetic and linguistic structure. By reframing the God motif as a poetic construct rather than a theological assertion, the article contributes to literary scholarship by relocating the discussion from ideological interpretation to functional poetics and opens new perspectives for comparative research in Turkic and post-Soviet poetic traditions.