A Prologue
Modernism in Urdu poetry may be traced back to the call for “New Nazm” given by Mohammad Hussain Azad and Altaf Hussain Hali who appeared on the literary map after the mid nineteenth century. They took note of the changing socio-political conditions and proposed an alternative method to re-configure life and art. Hali was a votary of simplicity in expression and made a case for “Natural Poetry” which called for disengaging from traditional poetics and making poetry socially relevant. Azad also disfavoured the poetry of abstract thoughts and argued that poetical works of sheer romantic imagination could no longer be relevant. Both of them rescued poetry from the traditional linearity of theme and style that was a characteristic of the past. In consequence, they made space for contemporary social discourse in poetry but in an accessible language and simple style. Another major name in the trajectory of modern nazm is that of Mohammad Iqbal who emerged as a poet-philosopher of the East and brought poetry to the service of intellect, reason, community, and nation. Several other poets like Akbar Allahabadi, Ismail Merathi, Brij Narayan Chakbast, Josh Malihabadi, Hafeez Jalandhari, Jameel Mazhari, Akhtar Sheerani, among others, may also be mentioned as parts of this trajectory who contributed differently to add divergent shades of ideas and styles to Urdu nazm. With the passage of time, the technique of nazm also saw major changes when paband nazm started making space for mo’arra and azad nazm. This paved the way for further experimentations in the form and technique of nazm in the decades to come.
The Case of Modern Nazm
What we generally understand by modernism in Urdu poetry is associated with Halqa-i Arbaab-e Zauq (Circle of Connoisseurs) and a group of non-aligned poets who continued writing even after the Halqa poets ceased to exist as a group. It is remarkable that even when the progressive poets were feverishly at work, a group of poets joined hands under the banner of Halqa-i Arbaab-e Zauq in Lahore in 1939. This Halqa comprised mainly of N. M. Rashed, Meeraji, Gopal Mittal, Yusuf Zafar, Qayyum Nazar, Mukhtar Siddiqui, and Zia Jalandhari. They neither proclaimed any political intentions, nor declared any affiliations to any ideology—social, political, or literary. Rather, the poets of this group yearned to apprehend life’s ambiguities and called for a liberal negotiation with them. To keep pace with such a liberal approach towards life and its manifestations, these poets chose to liberate the form, re-define the language and make way for blank and free verse that could bear the burden of their experience. Quite naturally, a substantial body of their poetry turned out to be obscure, and needed effort on the part of the reader to decipher the codes, as had been the case with the understanding of much of the modernist poetry written in English, French, and other languages, with whom their association may be justifiably established.
During the intersection period, the other unnamed group of non-aligned poets believed that progressive poets had become irrelevant during 1950s itself. So, they ushered a new era defined and regulated by science, technology, sharp political divides, and materialism. They projected a new literary culture characterised by the dawn of new world order and a new kind of modernism. This was the time of proliferation of new voices, of language and form acquiring a new face, and of new poetry coming of age. These qualities found their best expression in poets like Majeed Amjad, Munibur Rahman, Akhtarul Iman, Jeelani Kamran, Ibne Insha, Khalilur Rahman Azmi, Baqar Mehdi, Mohammad Alvi, Ameeq Hanfi, Muneer Niazi, Balraj Komal, Qazi Saleem, Salimur Rahman, Zubair Rizvi, Shahryar and several others of no less worth. They emerged as careful craftsmen, accepted the influence of international modernism, even as they maintained their individual stances to become the torch-bearers of new poetics.
Towards a Newer Poetics
Just as the poets of Halqa-i Arbab-e Zauq (Circle of Connoisseurs) made way for the non-aligned poets, the non-aligned poets made way for those who took the Urdu nazm beyond the established norms of new poetics. For the sake of convenience and classification, they may be called postmodernists who changed the complexion of Urdu nazm quite significantly. They wrote poems that were informal, eclectic, introspective, and bohemian by turns. They developed their metaphors, symbols and myths afresh and reflected upon the problematic of language to construct their meaning. They chose to represent contemporary consciousness and meditated upon the contexts of their being. Precisely speaking, they worked through association of ideas, liberated the form of nazm, blended reality with myth, and myth with fantasy. In this process, they drew close to international modernism.
The postmodern Urdu nazm is exceptionally rich in many respects. A remarkable phenomenon of this postmodernist poetry is that it found some of its best practitioners in Pakistan. This also speaks of a virile tradition that had been in making there, especially during the past five decades. During these decades Pakistan’s national and political identity remained in the process of making and unmaking, even while the poets continued to draw upon the common heritages of language, culture, psyche, and the shared history with India. Most often, these poets chose to write of their socio-political condition in different styles—plain, metaphoric, symbolic, and mythical. They kept themselves engaged in writing the narratives of their self and society, as also of the nation and the larger world around. They also kept preoccupied with interrogating themselves in their poems as they sought an inner logic in life as much as they did in art. They addressed the readers both directly and indirectly as they manoeuvred language and put the poetic form into constant pressure to bear the burden of their intent. The postmodern Urdu nazm is in a state between the real and the surreal today; it is mythical and magical as it creates a condition of its own survival on its own strength. It has been in the process of being and becoming in every phase of its existence although it has already arrived in a new configuration and as a virile phenomenon. Some of the prominent names in this category include Adil Mansoori, Zahid Dar, Saqi Farooi, Ain Rasheed, Iftekhar Jalib, Ahmad Hamesh, Abbas Athar, Afzal Ahmad Syed, Sarmad Sehbai, Sarwat Hussain, Saeeduddin, Zeeshan Sahil, to name only some of them.
The Female Voice
Gender as a marker in literary texts finds its most sensitive expression in the poetry by women. As women write themselves and their contexts, they configure the points of reference that identify a social order of which they constitute a part. Pakistani women poets represent their personal predicaments, as much as they respond to issues concerning patriarchy, female bondage, religious orthodoxy, political injustice, and the need for independence. Some of the more politically conscious poets have chosen to challenge the strongholds of power and made holes in the fiefdoms of dominance. As such, these poets have explored new contexts for establishing their identity in the given political, social, religious, and cultural structures. In general, they are remarkable for their compelling presence, their strong commitment to feminist issues, and for their view of literature as a by-product of their lives and times. Their poems represent a body language, a gesture of disapproval, supported by strong verbal expressions. They underline their need to speak up. As such, their poetry turns into a kind of internal mechanism that helps towards their self-defence. This poetry does not show a sense of fear, despair, or self-pity; it draws upon irony, and pathos which unites them together, irrespective of linguistic or regional barriers. They need to disengage themselves from the fetters of conditioned response and acquire individual independence while being a part of the system. They represent their yearning for a desired existence; they project themselves as intellectually alive and socially engaged human beings. They are easily distinguishable for their iconoclasm and independent stances in the apprehension of their lives and their conditions. In writing themselves, they write a new social and literary order and extend the possibilities of language while speaking in an entirely new idiom and making radical improvisations upon them. Some of them are strongly reminiscent of many of the Western feminist and confessional poets. Remarkably, many of these poets have had eventful careers as they developed bold stances, spoke without fear or inhibition, and were punished by the political establishment at a particular time in their history. These poets are noticeable for the unique difference they have made and for the new canon they have created. This is a rare group of literary artists and social activists, the likes of whom are not to be found anywhere in South Asia. Some of the most representative poets include Ada Jafri, Zahida Zaidi, Zehra Nigah, Kishwar Naheed, Fehmida Riaz, Shaista Habeeb, Nasreen Anjum Bhatti, Azra Abbas, Peween Shakir, Fatima Hasan, Sara Shagufta, Tanveer Anjum, among others.
