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IS literature losing its lure in 21st Century? Do most of our new researchers and critics lack in basic understanding of finer aspects of Urdu’s syntax and morphology? Do most young researchers of Urdu these days love to follow the crowd? Has our criticism become prone to mental laziness and is limited to trite topics?
After reading Najeeba Arif’s new book, one feels the answers to these questions are, alas, in positive. In her book titled Urdu Fiction: Mazaahir-o-Mabaahis. Najeeba Arif, a former academic now serving as chairperson of Pakistan Academy of Letters, Islamabad, has candidly pointed out the lacunas that are harming Urdu research and criticism. Though we have had an inkling of some low-quality research works that are being churned out at our universities, Ms Najeeba has pinpointed some flaws and laments the trends.
Published by Aks Publications, Lahore, the book is a collection of articles previously published in academic journals. The thread that binds all these papers together is the study of fiction and that is why two interviews with two eminent fiction writers of Urdu — Mirza Ather Baig and Khalida Husain — have been made part of the book. What may attract the reader is the different approach towards understanding fiction and Urdu fiction: the writer has refrained from reproducing the oft-repeated, hackneyed opinions of renowned critics and has tried to evaluate works of Urdu fiction on her own, offering an independent point of view, something that has been badly missing in recent critical works on fiction. As she says in her foreword “on the whole, it is an independent study, not attached or limited to any theory, literary movement or ideology, though literary theories and principles have been taken care of, where necessary”.
In the process, she has hammered out her own, innate point of view and, while being aware that readers may disagree with her point of view, she has explained the reason for possible disagreement: “the main reason for this disagreement on the part of the reader may be the fast-changing backdrop against which these pieces have been written. This ever-changing socio-literary scene has also affected the themes, techniques and the language used in fiction. Therefore, analysing the situation and finding the stimulus influencing our fiction needs a constant study. “Just as literature cannot stand aloof and unaware of changes taking place around, the explanation and analysis of the literature too cannot be static and predetermined. The process of understanding literature keeps on discovering new dimensions,” she adds.
Another important point on literary discourse that she has raised is about the utility and importance of literature per se in the changing environment. She says “during the Renaissance, literature had gained a kind of sanctity in the West for certain reasons. Now that fascination is giving way to different ways of appreciating literature on popular level. Now literature is looked at as a means of entertainment and enjoyment rather than the intellectual guidance or personal ideal. Persons engaged in creative and critical works notwithstanding, the number of serious readers of literature is dwindling constantly. It has necessitated to see literature and its understanding in a changing, contemporary perspective. So precast formulas and rigid theories may not help much in determining the merit and usefulness of literature”.
While discussing feminism in one of the articles included in the book, Ms Najeeba says tracing feminine sensibility in literature has caught the fancy of our young researchers of Urdu and at our universities, the students, especially female ones, have made a beeline to Urdu departments to write a thesis on feminism. It is a fact that establishment of new universities and PhD programme galore have attracted new students in droves and the result is an acute shortage of topics of research. Many of these new researchers (read: students) do choose any topic related to feminism in Urdu fiction, though finding anything worthwhile in their so-called research works is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.
Other articles included explore a variety of topics, for instance, influence of 9/11 on Urdu short story, popular fiction and society, novel and Urdu criticism and Sufi dimensions in Urdu short story. Some articles discuss the art and thought of some bigwigs of Urdu fiction, such as, Shamsur Rahman Farooqi, Asad Muhammad Khan, Mumtaz Mufti, Hasan Manzar, Nisar Aziz Butt, Asgher Nadeem Syed and Khalida Husain.
One feels that her experience as a university teacher is at the heart of the matters she has discussed, not to mention her vast reading. Her fresh approach and inquisitiveness has explored some new, remarkable works of Urdu fiction, too, especially the ones generally ignored by critics simply because they were penned by comparatively new entrants. One such writer is Nina Aadil and Najeeba Arif has showered her novel Muqaddas Gunaah with praise and quite justifiably so.
Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2025
