OF late, two books, one on post-colonialism and the other on postmodernism vis-a-vis Urdu have been published. Since books on such issues do not get published quite often, they deserve a mention.
As an academic discipline, post-colonialism, sometimes referred to as post-colonial studies, tries to analyse the consequences of colonialism and imperialism.
It is a kind of intellectual response to the subjugation of natives that was not only limited to the geographical or political tracts of lands, but also had influence over the social, cultural and literary lives of the nations colonised by the West in the name of civilisation.
From the perspective of literary criticism, post-colonialism is giving the voice to the colonised and letting them speak for themselves on issues such as the effects of colonialism on human minds and how the creation and dissemination of knowledge was controlled and used for furthering the cause of the colonialists.
The interesting debate that often ensues while discussing post-colonialism is that colonialism never really ended and what we have now instead is neo-colonialism, a way of conquering a country not through military means but through capitalism, globalisation and cultural influences. There are many who believe that Pakistan was never really decolonised and we are still ruled by the powers in the world that matter. It naturally follows that the natives of the Indo-Pak subcontinent were subjected to linguistic colonialism as well, a form of colonialism from which we cannot free ourselves even today. One of the effects of the hangover from colonialism is the influence of the English language on our society.
Dr Nasir Abbas Nayyar is among those few critics and researchers of Urdu who have devoted much of their time for studying post-colonialism and the influence of colonialism and imperialism on Urdu language and literature. Mr Nayyar teaches Urdu at the Punjab University’s Urdu department and modernism, postmodernism and modern critical theories are his areas of special interest. His new book ‘Ma baad-e-nau aabadiyat: Urdu ke tanazur mein’, or post-colonialism from Urdu’s perspective, (Oxford University Press, 2013) is an effort to find new dimensions of our language and literature. As he puts it in the foreword: “The impetus behind this book was the search for meanings which have been lost somewhere in the unsatisfactory interpretation of our colonial past.” He further says: “I do not claim to have written the history of the subcontinent’s colonisation. My aim was just to understand the process that was active at the bottom of the history of colonisation and whose effects do exist even today in one way or another. In other words, this book is an endeavour to interpret the background that played a pivotal role in shaping the poetics of Urdu and the basic thoughts behind the creation of Urdu literature”.
Mr Nayyar has tried to re-evaluate some landmarks of the history of Urdu language and literature by seeing them against the backdrop of colonial philosophies. For instance, he has assessed the linguistic theories of William Jones that, among other things, view vernacular dialects as “vulgar”. He has also questioned the motives behind the efforts of John Gilchrist and Fort William College for promoting local languages such as Hindi and Urdu and thus creating a linguistic schism between the two that eventually culminated in the surge of Hindu revivalist movements. It was also the beginning of the Hindi-Urdu controversy. Mr Nayyar thinks that both William Jones and Gilchrist had a firm belief in the important role the language could play in colonial landscape and successfully implemented the vision that helped tighten the grip on the subcontinent.
The other book ‘Postmodernism and Urdu ghazal’ (The Research Forum, Karachi, 2013) is in English, as the title suggests. Qaiser Alam, the author, is an omnivorous reader and has devoured much on literature, philosophy, religion and culture. During 1991-94 he had been editing ‘Studies in Tradition’, a magazine devoted to the study of art, history, culture and religion. To promote inter-faith dialogue, he had launched a journal ‘Dialogue’ just after 9/11. Although it could not survive beyond a few issues, the journal was something badly needed at that time and even today.The book is an effort to see the modernist and postmodernist overtones of Urdu ghazal, by far the most popular genre of Urdu poetry. The most important — and perhaps the most interesting too — part of the book is the English translation of some of the most exquisite couplets from Urdu ghazals with a commentary on the basic theme, the tone and the nuances of the couplets.
The original Urdu text is also reproduced carefully. The book highlights some aspects of Urdu poetry hitherto unexplored. The English translation has much to offer and would prove to be especially helpful for those who cannot read Urdu.
drraufparekh@yahoo.com
