Urdu Literary Culture

Literatures and Cultures of the Islamic World

Edited by Hamid Dabashi

Hamid Dabashi is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. Hamid chaired the Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures from 2000 to 2005 and was a founding member of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society. His most recent books include Islamic Liberation Theology: Resisting the Empire ; Makhmalbaf at Large: The Making of a Rebel Filmmaker ; Iran: A People Interrupted ; and an edited volume, Dreams of a Nation: On Palestinian Cinema .

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M e h r A f s h a n F a r o o q i URDU LITERARY CULTURE Copyright © Mehr Afshan Farooqi, 2012. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 All rights reserved. First published in 2012 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-43593-7 ISBN 978-1-137-02692-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-02692-7 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Farooqi, Mehr Afshan. Urdu literary culture : vernacular modernity in the writing of Muhammad Hasan Askari / Mehr Afshan Farooqi. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–1–137–00902–9 (alk. paper) 1. ‘Askari, Muhammad Hasan, 1919–1978—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Urdu literature—History and criticism. I. Title. PK2200.A697Z63 2012 891.4Ј3909—dc23 2011051874 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: July 2012 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America.

For Rich hamsafar, hamdil This page intentionally left blank Contents

N o t e f r o m t h e E d i t o r ix N o t e o n T r a n s l i t e r a t i o n xi P r e f a c e xiii

I n t r o d u c t i o n 1 1 Quot Rami Tot Arbores: As Many Branches as Many Trees— The University of Allahabad and Beyond 15 2 Askari and Firaq: Personal Relations in Life and Letters 47 3 Fiction, Theory of Fiction, and the Critical View 75 4 “Jhalkiyan”: World Literature, Partition, and Rupture 103 5 The Illusion of Form and the Power of Tradition 147 6 Revisiting the Indo-Muslim Cultural Consciousness: Askari and Iqbal 171 7 Resuming the Past: Bright Morning and Foggy Night 2 0 3

Notes 2 2 3 Works Cited 2 7 3 Index 2 8 1 Note from the Editor

he Islamic world is home to a vast body of literary production in multiple languages over the last 1,400 years. To be sure, long T before the advent of Islam, multiple sites of significant literary and cultural productions existed from India to Iran to the Fertile Crescent to North Africa. After the advent of Islam in the mid-seventh century CE, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Turkish authors in particular produced some of the most glorious manifestations of world literature. From prose to poetry, modern to medieval, elitist to popular, oral to literary, this body of literature is in much need of a wide range of renewed scholarly investigation and lucid presentation. The purpose of this series is to take advantage of the most recent advances in literary studies, textual hermeneutics, critical theory, femi- nism, postcolonialism, and comparative literature to bring the spec- trum of literatures and cultures of the Islamic world to a wider audience and appreciation. Usually the study of these literatures and cultures is divided between classical and modern periods. A central objective of this series is to cross over this artificial and inapplicable bifurca- tion and abandon the anxiety of periodization altogether. Much of what we understand today from this rich body of literary and cultural production is still under the influence of old-fashioned orientalism or post–WWII area studies perspectives. Our hope is to bring together a body of scholarship that connects the vast arena of literary and cultural production in the Islamic world without the prejudices of outmoded perspectives. Toward this end, we are committed to pathbreaking strat- egies of reading that collectively renew our awareness of the literary cosmopolitanism and cultural criticism in which these works of creative imagination were conceived in the first place. Hamid Dabashi Note on Transliteration

y policy has been to keep transcription to a minimum. I have used the symbol ‘for the Arabic letter ‘ain and the symbol’ for M the hamza wherever it occurs in non-English words except in place names and certain proper nouns. I opted for the poetry insertions, that is, she‘rs, to appear in Urdu script for which the TrueType font Nafees Nasta‘liq has been used. I decided not to provide English transliteration of the Urdu poetry, because the phonetic demands of metrical pronunciation and rhythm can not be faithfully captured. I would have liked to include a deva- nagari version of the poetry as well, but the decision came too late in the production of the book. I have tried to provide a translation that approaches as close as possible to the evocative feeling of the original.

Preface

was drawn to the idea of a book-length project on Askari because I felt the need to understand the evolution of Urdu’s modernity from I a critical perspective within Urdu’s literary culture. I had grown up in the midst of jadidiyat (modernism) and classical Urdu, but I craved to know more about Urdu literary criticism, particularly in the years when the divide between Urdu and Hindi was becoming inexorably formalized. The Progressive Writer’s Movement (PWM) had stepped into the breach, provided a common platform, boosted the morale of writers by its close proximity to political power, but eventually their political-dictatorial agenda caused many writers to break away from their fold. I became interested in the stories of those who made their own path. What were the alternatives to Progressivism in Urdu literature at that time when the PWM was dominant? What or who were the critiques of Progressivism? The first name that comes to mind is that of Muhammad Hasan Askari.

* * *

The diversity of vernacular language literatures in the Indian subconti- nent makes the issue of the postcolonial voice a complex one. Urdu was arguably one of the most important languages of political-social and literary discourse in the years leading to Partition. Askari’s work and personal history provide a missing perspective, that is, the vernacular- critic’s understanding of the complex situation of Indian literary culture, and the effect of Partition on this situation. His life was virtually cut in two by Partition. Conceptually, this book melds the perspectives of literary studies and history, because Askari’s life was lived at the crossroads of early nation formation and the writing of literary and social history, both of which have played a generative role in the organization and articulation xiv ● Preface of politics in South Asia. Askari’s work intersects with such crucial issues as the role of the vernacular literatures in the postcolonial era, the contexts in which identities meet culture, and the emergence of Urdu literature from the newly founded nation of Pakistan as “Pakistani literature,” possibly on par with “world literature.” Askari speaks from the center of a crisis of culture—the conflict between tradition and modernity in the Muslim world—both as a leader of Urdu intellectual discourse and as a subject of the rupture inflicted on Indo-Muslim- literary-cultural history. Askari’s intellectual journey started with cosmopolitanism, but was ultimately transformed into a tangle created by his desire for a reformulated Islam.

* * *

During the course of this project, there were many people who facili- tated my research. I want to thank them all. I must especially mention those few without whose help this work would not have been feasible. My father, Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, read the initial draft and made valuable suggestions; his incredible personal library was an asset I could not have done without. My sister Baran’s home in New Delhi was a delightful pied-a-terre on my numerous trips to India. I discussed my work with scholars at Jamia Millia, notably Mushirul Hasan and Shamim Hanfi. Ahmad Mahfuz helped me find books and generously loaned me some from his personal collection. In Allahabad, Naimur Rahman Farooqi helped me access graduation records for Askari and rare copies of the university’s journal. Syed Aqil Rizvi graciously agreed to talk to me about Askari’s times. I am grateful to Frances Pritchett, Michael Beard, Jonathan Arac, David Lelyveld, and Daniel Gold for advice and for agreeing to read parts of my work. My colleagues at the University of Virginia, Jessica Feldman, Herbert Tucker, Sandhya Shukla, Peter Ochs, Anne Kinney, especially Geeta Patel, commented on sections of the manuscript. Philip MacEldowney’s help in locating elusive titles from the library network was invaluable. Thanks to Jim Nye for help with finding early copies of the journal Saqi and to Nasir Javaid of the Mushfiq Khwaja Library and Research Center, Karachi, for making available scans of “Jhalkiyan.” I am grateful to Farzaneh Milani for unlimited encouragement in the penultimate phase of the project and for trimming my administrative duties while I worked on editing an unwieldy manuscript. The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities gave me a grant and provided me with a beautiful office and work environment in the spring of 2011. I want to Preface ● xv express my thanks to the Foundation’s president Robert Vaughan and the cohort of scholars whose camaraderie and intellectual presence was a source of energy for me. I am indebted to my associate dean, Bruce Holsinger, for facilitating additional support from the university during spring 2011. I must thank the University of Virginia for several summer grants and many other supportive programs that made my work a lot easier. I would like to acknowledge my friends Satya, Rashmi, Fauzia, Paula, Dorothe, and Cassandra for their many insights into my work, logisti- cal help, and for keeping me in good humor. I am especially grateful to Zafar Syed for designing the elegant cover. Other friends whom I have never had the pleasure of meeting, notably, Azhar Ziaur Rahman and Altaf Husain Asad, located rare photographs of Askari, some of which I have used in the book. To Taasin, Sahil, Naisan, and Tazmeen for their implicit interest in my work and for bringing so much warmth and love to my life—a big thank you. Lastly and above all, to my husband, Rich, for unstinted support and the best criticism, a heartfelt thanks. Mehr Afshan Farooqi Charlottesville, Virginia November 2011

Cover page of the Urdu journal Saqi (Cup-bearer) from the 1950s. Note: Notice the calligraphy and the metaphorical allusion suggested here.