March 23, 2008

Great German poet Goethe was an ultimate classic in world literature. Based upon the assumption that literary experience is universal, Goethe visualised ‘world literature’ as a singular entity. However, his school of thought has not been well-received by some latter day critics and theorists. Today, in the rapidly ‘globalising’ world that we live, we are exposed to classics not only from our own tradition or from the languages close to us, but also from the entire corpus of literature from all over the world.

It has become not only a possibility, but also a necessity that world literature be made available for reading as a unified story, and this need has been amply served by Wahab Ashrafi’s admirable and erudite history of world literature. A leading critic and academician based in Patna (India), Professor Ashrafi has several volumes of scholarly work to his credit but this work of encyclopaedic proportions may well be the one that will be appreciated the most by students of literature as well as general readers.

The reader who has command over English is well-served by a number of interesting volumes on the topic, and one can immediately recall Macy’s now outmoded The Story of the World’s Literature, Drinkwater’s Outline of Literature and J.M. Cohen’s highly readable History of Western Literature.

Professor Ashrafi has kept in mind the model provided by such books, and has derived most of his information from them, for which he has provided references in his text. But he has carried out the commendable task of making them available to the Urdu reader. He has provided the ebb and flow of literature in the major literary traditions of the world in a highly readable and handy book, remarkable for its sweep and flow and a model by itself of compression; a virtual treasure-trove of information.

This series of volumes is designed around a thematic pattern covering major literary traditions of the world. The first volume opens with Ancient Egypt and goes on to cover classical Greek and Latin, Chinese, Hebrew, Sanskrit and Pali, Celtic literature and ancient Spain and France. The author has devoted the first two volumes to ancient literature from the era before Christ, but as he explains in the Introduction, he has deviated from a strict chronological order, so one need not be surprised to find him moving up or down a few centuries.

What is truly remarkable is the range of the book. It covers the major European languages and even includes Dutch, Swedish, Portuguese, Danish and Icelandic literatures. From English in Britain, it moves on to American literature. There are very useful sections covering Arabic, Persian and Turkish literature also. There are constructive chapters on the history of Urdu literature as well. An especially useful feature of the book is the chapter on Indian languages, ranging from the classical literature in Sanskrit to Tamil, Kannada, Bengali, Punjabi and others. It is remarkable that he has maintained his critical acumen in these sections, not letting his vision be clouded by nationalistic stance which tempts scholars to ‘rewrite’ or revise history. These sections will be especially valuable to readers from Pakistan who may not have access to the entire range of this information in a single source.

One may disagree with the opinions expressed about various authors, or the descriptive terms used for critical assessment but then such differences of opinion are inevitable in a book of this sort and with such a vast range. It is this all-encompassing range which is the most memorable feature of the book, and as such it has no peer. The Pakistani edition combines two volumes in one, so the entire set of seven volumes is available in four volumes, making it even handier.

Ma-baad picks up from where the earlier set of volumes left, so it can be read as the continuation of the story -- in a more theoretical mode. Focusing on the major thinkers and the relationship with various genres, including a survey of related material in Urdu, the book is as thorough as the series. The linkages with modern short stories, drama and even folksongs are summarised in separate chapters. Modern literary theory and critical practice come in for a detailed examination. The author contextualises the work of a number of critics including Gopi Chand Narang, Zamir Ali Badayoni, Shafey Qidwai and Qamar Jamil, who is for some strange reason referred to as Qamar Jaleel throughout the chapter. Such occasional lapses notwithstanding, the overall usefulness and readability of the book remains unchallenged.
 

Tareekh-i-Adabiyat-i-Alam
By Dr Wahab Ashrafi
Poorab Academy, Islamabad
Set of 6 volumes: Rs1,600

Ma-bad-i-Jaddediyat:Muzmirat-o-Mumkinat
By Dr Wahab Ashrafi
Poorab Academy, Islamabad
Price: Rs 395