June 2, 2002

Literary critics in Urdu, especially in this country, are few and far between. They number just a smattering of the actual creative talent available here, which means that while poets and writers are being born profusely, the people who must judge them technically, are nowhere on the horizon. Mumtaz Hussain, Aal-i-Ahmed Suroor, Safdar Mir, Mohammad Ali Siddiqui, Ehtesham Hussain, etc., were probably as close to the largely unbiased literary critics that we have had in approximately five decades.

So, when we see the progress of a senior but controversial critic, Iftikhar Jalib, in the realm of the all-purpose literary criticism, it is hard to make up one’s mind if such a thing is possible in this day and age. Mostly, in this era of specialization, critics focus on either poetry or prose as their field of work, not both. That gives them a better grasp of their subject.

Furthermore, as a rule, it wouldn’t be such a great idea to take up literary criticism if a person is himself a poet or a professional literary writer, because then he is generally treading on dangerous ground. But, there have been many exceptions to that rule.

As it is, reading through Iftikhar Jalib’s Lisani tashkeelat aur qadeem banjar, one gets the uneasy feeling of being face to face with fickle prose. Undoubtedly he addresses issues, such as, structuralism, which may not have such avid admirers in this country as in the West. But the book has some very exciting chunks that make you indulgently interested.

Structuralism is a sort of science of the building blocks of language, which has been a rage in Western literary circles, for the last five decades. Much research has been done on structuralism and post-structuralism in Europe. It began as a science of patterns evident in the social and cultural phenomena. Since the father of modern linguistics, Ferdinand de Saussure, initiated this movement, language came to play a key role in this subject, particularly in France, during the 1960s.

But, when the indigenous critic got hold of it in the subcontinent, the movement became fashionable in the literary circles. Despite all that, structuralism isn’t known to all and sundry, and is still a very specialized subject in literary criticism in Pakistan. While Iftikhar Jalib is not actually a Draconian head-chopper, it is a fact that generally, he is absolutely brilliant while assessing modern poetry, but seems to lose his grip when analysing prose.

So, if there were to be a barometer to measure the increase or decrease in reading interest, it would move up and down from chapter to chapter — from undivided attention to the lack of it. Not exactly what the Oxford jury terms ‘unputdownable!’

But then one could call this book essential for those who want to know how words themselves have a lineage that determine the mood of poetry and how some poems are magical in their expression all through, because of the use of certain words which are from the same family. Iftikhar Jalib explains to you with all honesty, why Faiz’s Yeh raat uss dard ka shajar hai or Aahista is a much more potent force than Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi’s Tehzeeb or Aadmi.

He tells us how Noon Meem Ra’shid is able to paint a picture with words in Saba Veeran, with historical symbols and lingual harmony. In that context, the author explains with a natural flair, the whole power of expression, which is the sum total of the lyrical vocabulary fielded in a particular poem. But as against this marvellous analysis, when he picks Manto’s short story, Phundne, for structural assessment, it becomes an extremely confusing and complex labyrinth of words and implications.

For one thing, Phundne is not one of the best specimen of short story writing from Manto, and for the other, Iftikhar jalib seems ill at ease with the semantics of that particular story, which is slightly different from the usual Manto expression. Phundne isn’t the way Manto used to write frequently; he was brilliantly simple and as blunt and forthright as life. Although symbolic in a fluid way, he was never abstract and prosaic, as he is in this story. So,this piece of prose is not exactly representative of the great writer.

Later in the book, Iftikhar Jalib turns to the opinion of two modern critics, Hameed Akhter and Ahmed Hamesh, on his own poetry! And after that he starts to explain how natural it is to minus link words from language to write poetry, as he himself has done. This is followed by some examples from his own poems. Even if you set it aside, how could you explain the inclusion of criticism on his own poetry, in the midst of complete chapters on people like Ghalib, Manto, Faiz, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, Noon Meem Rashid and others?

Moreover, it almost borders on the pedantic side of criticism, where more Western names are thrown into every other paragraph to substantiate the analysis rather than to reinforce the logic.

In structuralism, issues such as thought, ideology, imagery and the knitting of sentences are debated with acerbic candidness. In our modern-day world, even the most specialized subjects are being taught with simple techniques. Obviously, a literary person may not find it easy to be simple in his creative expression, because most of it is either intuition or the outcome of great study and research.

But, if you want the article or the book to be read, and get your message across to the audience, it is important that readers get the gist of what the author is trying to say. A book, especially non-fiction, is avidly read if it is scholarly, but is understood by only a few if it is full of unnecessary jargons.

Structuralism, as it is, needs concerted effort to win popular acceptance if it were to be introduced to a fiction addicted nation. If it is too heavy and lacks clarity and lucidity, it will not win many admirers. Iftikhar Jalib has great command on the language and can be incredibly lucid, as seen in passages, which are more fluid than others. It would be such a pleasure to read more of his analyses with the same commitment to fluency.

Lisani tashkeelat aur qadeem
banjar
By Iftikhar Jalib
Fiction House, 18 Mozang Road, Lahore
Tel: 042-7249218
224pp. Rs2001

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