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In the last couple of decades, Urdu literature has seen revival of two genres: novel and jadeed nazm (modern poem). The popularity of modern Urdu poem has led to a renewed interest in Noon Meem Rashid, a poet considered one of the pioneers of modern sensibility, different colouration and a new tonality in Urdu poem.
As a result of that interest we have seen a steady flow of books on N. M. Rashid over the last few years. Some literary magazines also have published special issues on him. Two new books on N. M. Rashid stoke up the feeling that Rashid’s poetic genius is appreciated and celebrated in a better way now. These books cover two different aspects: one is a selection of his poetry and the other is a compilation of research and critical articles on him.
Although there have been a couple of selections of N. M. Rashid’s poetry, the latest selection titled Chala aaraha hoon samandaron ke visaal se and compiled by Dr Tehseen Firaqi is quite a different one. Since Dr Firaqi is a researcher and critic, he has been very meticulous in this selection and has based his preference of certain poems on some scholarly debates. One must realise that Rashid was no ordinary poet and his individualistic approach and different treatment of Urdu poem had emanated from his vast reading and hard thinking. As Dr Firaqi says in his preface to the book, “Rashid’s was a different personality, full of fire and restlessness. This restlessness was channelised through poetry and he gave Urdu such poems as Saba veeran, Somnaat, Israfeel ki maut and Hasan kooza gar that are the pride of Urdu poetry.”
Firaqi Sahib says: “Rashid thought that beauty was more adorable when it amazed as well. ... For creating this ‘amazement’, he used a diction relying heavily on Persian, but it is much different from Allama Iqbal’s diction. It is totally different and individualistic, especially when compared to his contemporaries known for their modern poems, such as Akhter-ul-Iman”.
He further says: “I cannot say for sure whether Rashid had any acquaintance with the critical philosophies of the Russian Formalists, but the way he has intentionally tried to make the diction look ‘alien’ reminds one of the Russian Formalism. Though this has made his diction look much strange and complex, it is, as put by the Russian Formalists, much responsible for stylistic beauty.”
It is ironical that the coinage ‘Russian Formalism’ was initially used derogatorily and ‘Russian Formalists’ themselves detested it, but it became so widely used that it was ultimately accepted as a term. Originated in Russia and remaining popular in the early three decades of the 20th century, the so-called Russian Formalism was a reaction to the Russian critics who put too much emphasis on social importance of the contents of literature. The Formalist Movement’s stress was on the autonomy of the poetic language and formal patterns of words and sounds rather than the subject matter.
The Stalin regime considered it elitist criticism and tried to suppress the movement. As a result, it moved out of Russia and continued in the shape of Prague Linguistic Circle, also known as Prague School, with Roman Jakobson, the well-known linguist and theorist who had moved to former Czechoslovakia from Russia, joining them.
The Prague School’s contribution to developing a structural theory of literary analysis is considered very important. It also influenced linguistics and semiotics. What Dr Firaqi is trying to emphasise here is the individuality and autonomy of N. M. Rashid’s diction in that perspective.
Published by Lahore’s Sang-i-Meel Publications, the book, whose title is borrowed from a poem of Rashid’s, presents a thoughtful selection of Rashid’s poetry from his four collections: Ma vara, Iran mein ajnabi, la musavee insaan and Guman ka mumkin. It also takes care of the calligraphic errors and misprints that had crept into previous editions and collected works of Rashid. In fact, Dr Firaqi’s careful selection and his insightful preface have made the book an invaluable source of understanding N. M. Rashid.
The other book titled Noon Meem Rashid: harf-o-maani ki justuju is compiled by Dr Rafaqat Ali Shahid and is published by Majlis-i-Taraqqi-i-Adab, Lahore. A collection of articles taken from different books and magazines, the book has been divided into four portions: Rashid’s art and his thought, critical analysis of Rashid’s individual poems, the impact of Rashid’s stay in Iran on his life and poetry, some rare texts on Rashid and his letters.
The authors whose articles have been included in the book are mostly
well-known literary figures of the subcontinent, such as, Miraji, Vazeer Agha, Shams-ur-Rahman Farooqi, Shamim Hanafi, Jeelani Kamran, Muzaffar Ali Syed, Mughni Tabassum, Tehseen Firaqi, Fateh Muhammad Malik, Qazi Afzaal Hussain, Nasir Abbas Nayyar, Dr Zia-ul-Hasan, Amjad Tufail, Ashfaq Virk and many more.
Rafaqat Ali Shahid has once again proved his resourcefulness through this compilation.
Published in Dawn, October 5th , 2015
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