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May 9, 2004
REVIEW: Work of a master critic
PROF MUMTAZ HUSSAIN was among those distinguished Urdu critics who were known for their scientific approach and their Marxist evaluation of literary works. Spread over a period of more than half a century, his work includes, besides his masterly analyses of a number of literary developments and issues, valuable studies of poets such as Amir Khusrau, Ghalib and Hali.
The idea of the Progressive Writers movement, launched formally in India in 1936, had begun to take shape earlier in that decade. The rise of Nazism and Fascism in Europe had also become a matter of great concern for writers and thinkers all over the world. Such an environment, in addition to the ideas presented by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and Iqbal, was instrumental in influencing Prof Mumtaz Hussain’s (a university student in Allahabad in those days) views. He initially wrote short stories but soon considered the medium as not being able to convey his thoughts effectively. He then turned to criticism in which, as he stated himself, his main concern was “how to imbibe our own culture and thought process with the new awareness and perceptions of the modern era”.
His critical essays included in Naqd-i-Hayat, Adabi Masa’il, Nai Qadren, Naey Tanqeedi Goshey, Adab aur Shaoor and Naqd-i-Harf cover various aspects of theoretical and applied criticism. A few years before his death in 1992, he prolifically produced many such essays, which he intended to bring out in book form. The book under review is the same collection now published posthumously. It consists of eight articles, written by him, along with an interview and a discussion. It also includes an assessment of his contribution to Urdu criticism written by Dr Sohail Ahmad Khan.
Prof Mumtaz Hussain has expressed his views unequivocally on the status of Urdu, particularly in relation to the regional languages of Pakistan, in his article “Pakistani mu’ashrah aur Urdu tanqeed” and also in his interview with Musharraf Ahmad.
He rejects the view that Urdu was introduced in Punjab by the British during their rule. He points out that although the directorate of education set up by the British after the annexation of Punjab made significant contribution in the promotion of Urdu and its literature in Punjab, NWFP and Balochistan, Urdu existed there as a language of culture long before the arrival of the British. In fact, Lahore had become a cultural centre during the Ghaznavid rule and several poets residing in that city composed poetry in Persian.
Masood Sa’ad Salman Lahori, who died in 1121 AD, was a poet of the Hindavi language, the name for Urdu in earlier days. He has also left behind a diwan in Hindavi. The writer quotes Amir Khusrau, who wrote that Hindavi is spoken and understood up to Dipalpur and Multan.
The author also asserts that the entire literature of the four major regional languages of Pakistan is deeply influenced, like Urdu literature, by Arabic and Persian languages and their literature as also the Islamic values. All the four languages share a common vocabulary with Urdu for sociology, sufism and religious themes. The scripts, too, are the same with little variations. He concludes that all these languages represent different shades of what is known as the ‘Indo-Muslim culture’. Yet he feels that the regional languages should be provided with all the facilities to grow further and flourish as he believes in unity in diversity.
The other articles in the book deal with the intellectual content of our poetry, an analytical study of the thought content in Qasmi’s poetry, a comparison of poems by Zauq and Ghalib with respect to their linguistic differences and the role of Abul Kalam Azad in the renaissance of Muslim society in India.
In “Adab aur ghair adab”, the writer points out that many progressive writers, poets in particular, had taken to excluding imagery or imaginative components from their work and focused only on the message they intended to convey. The author does not approve of this approach and dismissed such work as nonliterary or journalistic writing. On this issue he is in full agreement with some western intellectuals who consider imagination and lyricism as the basis of poetry.
He points out that for a long time in Urdu poetry there was no tradition of commenting on contemporary history. But things started to change during the times of Mir and Sauda when the pains of a decaying society got some attention, though in a coverted manner. These allusions became more explicit in the days of Ghalib. But it was Hali who was the precursor of the progressives. In that he turned his poetry into preaching. Among the modern Urdu poets, the author considers Iqbal and Faiz as the two most distinguished poets who have injected political thought into their poetry while fully taking care of the artistic and aesthetic aspects.
Prof Mumtaz Hussain was not happy with modern or symbolic short story. Though the trend is now subsiding, it was at its peak during the 1970s and 80s. It was adopted as a deviation from the descriptive style of short story writing but Mumtaz Hussain believed, and rightly so, that in this process the short story had lost its ability to communicate.
Adab aur Rooh-i-Asr
By Prof Mumtaz Hussain
Scheherzade, B-155, Block 5, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Karachi
Email: scheherzade@ahmedgraf.com
195pp. Rs160
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