NEW DELHI, May 15:
Rabindranath Tagore’s creative output has left an ineffaceable impact on Urdu literature and his creativity still seems to be a perennial source of inspiration for writers, says a new book on Urdu literature and journalism.
“Urdu Literature and Journalism: Critical Perspectives” by bilingual critic Shafey Kidwai comprises well-focused and cogently-argued essays and works out a new perspective on Urdu literature. Some of the essays in the collection have been previously published while some were delivered as lectures in seminars and conferences.
Kidwai compiles the essays to break away from traditional view that Urdu literature is influenced by emotionalism. He weaves different strands of thoughts and new theoretical discourses reflected in various genres of literature to produce a kaleidoscopic portrait of contemporary Urdu literature in the book, published by Cambridge University Press India.
In one of the essays on Tagore’s influence on Urdu literature, the writer says the concept of emancipation of human beings and an unflinching commitment to human concerns are the marked features of Tagore’s poetry but Urdu poets perceived him as a poet who excels in creating a multitude of emotional effects.
“This erroneous but widely held view about Tagore prompted progressive poets to take a cue from Nazrul’s revolutionary poetry,” he says.
Kidwai says Premchand, up to a certain extent, was influenced by Tagore.
“Since Premchand alluded to the texts of Tagore at least 12 times in his letters and he took pride in emulating the style of Tagore; one can easily conclude that Premchand, up to a certain extent, was influenced by Tagore,” he writes.
Besides Premchand, another prominent Urdu poet Josh Malihabadi, whose enthralling sensuous poetry coupled with revolutionary zeal blazed a new trail in Urdu poetry, had a close affinity with Tagore as he spent six months in Shantiniketan at the invitation of Tagore.
According to the author, Hamidullah Afsar and Parvez Shahidi, two famous progressive poets, roped in the falcon imagery of Tagore frequently in their poetry. Shahidi wrote a poem ‘Imprisoned Songs’ on the occasion of Tagore’s birth centenary celebrations and Afsar translated ‘Seeshu’ into Urdu.
For him, if one has the collection of Hafiz in one hand and Geetanjali in the other, then he is the most prosperous person.
Tagore’s focus on subtlety of narration and interiority of experience did not go well with the writers committed to modern sensibility but Tagore’s fiction continued to inspire fiction writers. Many novels, plays and short stories of Tagore appeared in Urdu, Kidwai says.
“‘Gora’ and ‘Kabuli Wala’ got wide spread currency in Urdu and a modern short story writer Anwar Qamar created his short story titled ‘Kabuliwala ki Wapsi’ on Tagore’s ‘Kabuli Wala’. The story was written in the backdrop of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.
“His story begins where Tagore’s hero completes his journey. It is perhaps the first example of creating fiction upon fiction, the hallmark of post-modern fiction,” the book says.
The book also includes essays on Urdu journalism, tracing its history and development in pre- and post-Partition India. The contribution of Urdu journalism to the freedom struggle of India and its influence on the First War of Independence have been made clear through these essays.
However, the contention of the author is to make it clear to the readers that Urdu journalism is more than just ‘protest journalism’ – a term which, he thinks, has been wrongly attached to Urdu periodicals. (PTI)
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