Any discussion on literature ultimately revolves around literary movements. Each movement draws its sustenance from a specific episteme that identifies the movement. This is how theories become the catalyst in producing a literary text. In modern literature we have modern theories.
The tapestry of modern theories draws heavily from different aesthetic, ideological and literary canons exuding different colors and shades; including New Criticism, Myth Criticism , Psychoanalytic Criticism, Marxism Post colonialism, Existentialism, Postmodernism, Feminism, Genre Criticism Phenomenology, and Hermeneutics, Russian Formalism/Prague Linguistic Circle/Linguistic Criticism/Dialogism, Surrealism/ Dadaism, Structuralism and Semiotics, Post-Structuralism and Deconstruction and many more. But there were only some of them that surface in the literature worldwide.
Yes! I am talking about post-modernism in general and structuralism and post structuralism particularly which owes much to Claude Lévi-Strauss, A. J. Greimas, Jonathan Culler, Roland Bathes, Ferdinand de Saussure, Roman Jakobson, Vladimir Propp, and Terence Hawkes.
I would like to add one more name here who deftly applied this method of reading to the Urdu literature and that name is Professor Gopi Chand Narang. He is the first person who introduced this theory and its several shades with remarkable thoroughness despite several difficulties. The first difficulty that he faced was finding the exact translation of the terminologies and jargons. He used the word Sakhtiyat for structuralism. The word “structure” contains all particles that build a structure. In the physical term if we think about a building then it contains rods, concretes, cement, sand, plus the outer shape of the construction and that all together build a structure of a building. Professor Narang used this term in that it was the closest to the meaning as no other word in Urdu carries the same meaning.
This might be the strongest means to understand structuralism. In English structure means the whole semantic frame work including the net of the words and much more. Further Urdu literature seldom does ingest the new concepts and methods of comprehending the reality. The cultural ethos or linguistic behaviour could be one of the reasons for not understanding this jargon. In the south Asian culture people believe to stick to the tradition and acceptance of new thing becomes secondary.
Whenever a theory emerges it rejects the previous theory in order to understand the literature. After the progressive movement there was no movement still the literature is being produced but it is not very effective. When the new criticism or Ontological criticism came in the picture it created a stir for a while but after some time the same silence loomed large over the horizon
Most of the literary movements that gained currency in Urdu drew heavily from the western literature. But the credit of introducing most of the modern literary theories to Urdu goes to Professor Narang, the winner of two padma award the professor emirates of Delhi University.
Urdu book, Jadeed Adabi Theory aur Gopi Chand Narang by Dr. Maula Baksh, Head department of Urdu Dyal Singh College, simultaneously published from Sung-e-meel Publisher in Pakistan and Educational publishing house India highlights the contribution of Professor Narang in proffering a perceptive discussion on new literarily theories.
The foreword titled “why is this book?” Presents a complete synopsis of the discussion that Dr. Maula Baksh undertook in the book running into 40 pages it is so engaging that the readers find it tempting to go through it., It is a quite interesting introduction of the modern literary theories and Professor Narang’s perception and views.
The first chapter briefly describes the social, political, and literary circumstances that gave birth to new theories and it also explains why the old theories and doctrines are not compatible with the demands of the contemporarily times. Why do we need the modern literary theories, and why does the post modernism become a dominant discourse nowadays. More over he believes that the cultural and social circumstances engender the new schools of thought. On top of that the author believes it is not the final testament or testimonial of the theory like previous theories claimed, whenever the society will grow and change the new doctrine would be born and the new society may not approve the previous theory and develop its own and that might deny the old one. Nobody can guarantee that the specific theory wont change now onward.
In the second chapter Structuralism and post-structuralism was redefined by the author. As it was discussed earlier Professor Narang had faced a lot of difficulties in finding exact terms in explaining this new school of thought. Dr. Maula Baksh has attempted to explain the theory with examples. In the third one the author explained the defining preferences of post modern criticism and emphasized that the reader is more important even reader is given preference over the writer.
The fourth chapter is all about cultural study; here the author asserted that Professor Narang is the first scholar who propounded it in Urdu literature. His several books and the style of his criticism is the center point of this chapter. His voluminous book Sakhtiyat pas Sakhtiyat aur Mashriqi Sheriyat has also been discussed in this chapter briefly.
In the fifth chapter the prose of Professor Narang has been discussed and it is stated that Professor Narang initially wrote short stories later on he stepped in Urdu criticism and now he is the foremost proponent of the modern literary theories in Urdu literature. A close look at works of thee opponents of Narang provides somewhat comic relief to the readers. By reading this book I must say Dr. Maula Baksh has enjoyed a lot by tearing apart arguments put forward by the namby-pamby critics.
In the last chapter the author had defended Professor Narang with remarkable thoroughness
This book is a mile stone in Urdu literature in that it delineates the modern literary theories candidly and highlights the contribution of Professor Gopichand Narang vividly The whole Urdu literature is highly indebted to Professor Narang for opening new vistas upon to Urdu knowing people .The credit of reinterpreting Professor Narang’s Contribution goes to Dr. Maula Baksh.
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