Poetry in Translation: A Comparative Analysis of Selected Works of Rabia Balkhi and Nadia Anjuman A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of English in Complete Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY Submitted by: Supervised by: Mina Qarizada Mr. Sandeep Kumar Sharma Reg. No: 11613704 Assistant Professor Department of English Department of Verbal, Ability LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ARTS AND LANGUAGES PUNJAB, INDIA 2017 This Dissertation is Dedicated to My Dear Parents for Their Endless Caring, Love, Guidance, Inspiration, Support, Teaching and Encouragement in My Entire Life. “Mina Qarizada” DECLARATION I hereby declare that the dissertation entitled, “Poetry in Translation: A Comparative Analysis of Selected Works of Rabia Balkhi and Nadia Anjuman”; submitted for the award of Masters of Arts in (English) and to the institution is the original and authentic study of my own that I carried out during allotted time from 15th January to 28th November 2017 under the supervision of Mr. Sandeep Kumar Sharma, Assistant Professor of Department of Verbal, Ability. This piece of work does not contain any unauthorized works of other research scholars except the ones which are used by giving the authentic citations and references. The referred sources are properly cited in both in-text citation and in bibliography of this paper. Place: Punjab, India Name and Signature of the Student Date: 11/ 27/2017 Mina Qarizada ( ) Registration No: 11613704 I CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the dissertation entitled, “Poetry in Translation: A Comparative Analysis of Selected Works of Rabia Balkhi and Nadia Anjuman”; by Miss. Mina Qarizada bearing the registration number 11613704 has been completed under my guidance and supervision. The present dissertation is the result of her original work, investigation and study. No part of the dissertation has ever been submitted in any university. This dissertation is fit for the submission of partial fulfillment for the award of the degree of M.A in English to the School of Business and Applied Arts, Department of English, Lovely Professional University, Punjab, India. Date: 11/27/2017 Mr. Sandeep Kumar Sharma Assistant Professor Department of Verbal, Ability II ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Sometimes words are not enough to express the true feelings and gratitude pouring out from the core of the heart. Availing this opportunity for getting an interesting and informative dissertation, I would like to express my deep gratitude and appreciation to my advisor Mr. Sandeep Kumar Sharma, Assistant Professor of Department of Verbal, Ability, Lovely Professional University. I am thankful of his exemplary guidance; support, inspiration, and encouragement that made me to successfully complete this piece of work. His immense knowledge and his sense of monitoring my work by providing constructive feedback made me to go through this paper. I would like to thank from my all professors who have been the main source of knowledge and guidance to me. I especially thank the HOD and the entire faculty of the Department of English especially those who have taught me various subjects during my study in Lovely Professional University. They have been the constant sources of all those necessary help that was required till the end of M.A program. I was inspired by their guidance and encouragement and I will be willing to keep them in mind later in life because their instruction added to my skills and knowledge in working such scholarly tasks that may lead me to my professional career as a teacher back in my university. I would like to thank my wonderful and supportive parents who have always been there for me and encouraged and motivated to my personal and professional careers. They never doubted my ability to pursue my Higher Education in the level of post-graduation and they always provided me with unwavering moral, emotional and financial support. Despite the distance, I always felt their love and caring being in India for two years. III Finally, I express my gratitude to the Ministry of Higher Education of Afghanistan and The World Bank for sponsoring the scholarship program and providing me the opportunity to finish my MA degree in LPU, where I got the chance to develop my personal and professional skills. I really owe my gratitude to all of you beyond my words. Date: 11/ 27 /2017 (Mina Qarizada) IV ABSTRACT Among the artistic and literary forms, poetry holds a greater place in the consciousness of Afghans. Studying Afghan women’s writing especially poetry is very significant because it is considered to be used as a means of communicating important ideas, passing on stories and heritage, and making statements. The purpose of this dissertation is to comparatively study the poetic features of Rabia Balkhi and Nadia Anjuman’s poetry – two Afghan poetesses. The works of these poetesses had been studied separately before, but no attempt has been made to comparatively analyze their poetry particularly in the light of Feminism and Romanticism theories. This paper studies the poetic feature of the selected poems of Rabia Balkhi and Nadia Anjuman from the perspective of Feminism and Romanticism theories. The study focuses on Feminism and Romanticism in different periods of poetry development in Afghanistan. It also comparatively analyzes the feminist and romantic elements in the selected poems of Rabia Balkhi and Nadia Anjuman based on poetic diction, form and style of. Moreover, it explores the social and psychological perspectives of the poetesses about women and womanhood in different eras in Afghanistan. The findings of the paper showed that Rabia Balkhi and Nadia Anjuman’s poetry poems were different in form, style and diction while similar in themes, content, and way of expressing their true feelings and emotions. V Table of Contents Title Page. No Introduction 2-22 Chapter- I Forms and Themes of Rabia Balkhi and Nadia Anjuman’s 23-30 Selected Poems Feminism and Romanticism in the Selected Works of Rabia Chapter - II 31-51 Balkhi and Nadia Anjuman Conclusion 52-56 Bibliography 57-58 VI Introduction Poetry in Translation: A Comparative Analysis of Selected Works of Rabia Balkhi and Nadia Anjuman Introduction Poetry provides some remarkable historical, cultural, and geographical facts of a particular country like Afghanistan. It also represents the literary works, poetic themes, styles, and visions of the poets in general. It is through poetry that one can have full access to understand the contemporary literature. It is the poets' poems and works which are the basic sources to know about the literature of an age. Among the artistic and literary forms, poetry holds a greater place in the consciousness of the people of Afghanistan. Persian Poetry has different forms and styles and it differs from its richly diverse populationThe important credit would be given to the classical poets such as Mawlana Jallaudin Rumi and Saadi Shirazi who are the greatest poets of all ages in the history of Afghanistan. However, there are other female poets who have their great influences in the mind of the people from time to time. Afghanistan has it rich history in the field of poetry with regards to the famous poetesses such as Rabia Balkhi and other female poets after her. One of the important facts about women's writing in Afghanistan is to study women’s writing in order understand them. It is because of the monumental challenges that remain for those who choose to compose and publish certain work and for those whose works have been influenced with personal struggle of socio-political issues. A study of the poets and their poetry of a particular region, Afghanistan, is a clear vital step toward understanding the poetry of Afghanistan as a whole. As Marie states in her book “LOUD POEMS LIKE GUNS” regarding the history of female poetess as:"The history of female poets in the land Q a r i z a d a 2 now known as Afghanistan is a rich one, with famous examples going as far back given as Rabia Balkhi of the 10th century." (1) Among the artistic and literary forms, poetry holds a greater place in the consciousness of Afghans. Studying Afghan women’s writing is very significant because it is considered to be used as a means of communicating important ideas, passing on stories and heritage, and making statements. The purpose of this dissertation is to comparatively study the poetic features of Rabia Balkhi and Nadia Anjuman’s poetry – two Afghan poetesses. The works of these poetesses had been studied separately before, but no attempt has been made to comparatively analyze their poetry particularly in the light of Feminism and Romanticism theories. This paper studies the poetic feature of the selected poems of Rabia Balkhi and Nadia Anjuman from the perspective of Feminism and Romanticism theories. The study focuses on Feminism and Romanticism in different periods of poetry development in Afghanistan. It also comparatively analyzes the feminist and romantic elements in the selected poems of Rabia Balkhi and Nadia Anjuman based on poetic diction, form and style of. Moreover, it explores the social and psychological perspectives of the poetesses about women and womanhood in different eras in Afghanistan. The findings of the paper showed that Rabia Balkhi and Nadia Anjuman’s poems were different in form, style and diction while similar in themes, content, and way of expressing their true feelings and emotions. Due to the presence of a mutual relationship between the literature and social conditions, two factors can be involved in the emergence and direction of poetry. The poetic flow factors can be seen either out of the text or intertextual. These factors cannot be ignored by a scholar or an artist in the field of literature.