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drama Presenting
life as it is
Norway might have moved on but Ibsen's plays are more relevant to us than ever By Sarah Sikandar A teacher of mine once said "literature is nothing if it doesn't work its way into our lives." Makes sense if you consider why Shakespeare who wrote centuries back in a different continent is still the most reverend dramatist. It makes even more sense when you consider that Greek literature, with whom modern world has nothing in common, still offers answers to a lot of our problems. Theatre, in this regard, is
most vital for its purpose is two-fold -- it mirrors the society and Ibsen's characters are not symbolic figures like Willy Loman. They are complex individuals who are part of a society that resists change to the extreme and is claustrophobic in its definitions of morality. No wonder Ibsen lived in self-imposed exile most of his life. 19th century Norway and present day Pakistan are identical in that Ibsen's individuals, unacceptable to Norwegians, are very Pakistani in temperament. Had Ibsen written his plays in present day Pakistan the reaction would have probably been no different because we also don't like to be told what we are. None of us would accept Noras in the house, walking out of the marriage trying to "see if I can make out who is right, the world or I." Nonetheless, every other house in Pakistan has a Nora in it, a mannequin like wife, all smiling and cheerful because she wants others to see herself as the perfect woman. I am always reminded of Nora when a see a room full of the middle-class Pakistani house wives wondering how many of them, if given a choice, would opt to leave their homes for a happier life. But an average Pakistani wife is nothing better than Mrs Alving from 'Ghosts' willing to go to any limit to concede her husband's actions and who can not see a maulvi in Manrik, always convincing people to do only what is acceptable. Ibsen sees duty as a compulsion and restrain, a check on individual freedom. But in a closely-knit familial structure like ours, duty is the strongest surviving force. In a society like ours where gender roles are being redefined and re-evaluated Ibsen's characters are the apt representations of our dilemma. Hedda Gabler is marginalised on account of her "over powering physical energy and almost no moral sense." Hedda is a misfit in any conservative society where authority and control are essentially associated with men and women are not accepted in authoritative roles. Hedda and Rebecca from 'Rosmersholm' epitomise women with "ruthless will power." Women like them are either rejected by the society or ultimately forced to give up their ideals. Although destructive in many ways, these women need to be understood by an average Pakistani to seep into the psychology of a woman living in an enclosed environment. 'Rosmersholm' and Ibsen's other plays are not merely plays of gender conflict. They delve deeper into the political and ideological issues of society. Rosmer has his own ideals to "create true democracy in this land" by "liberating [people's] minds and purifying their will." We, in Pakistan, are still trying to define what true democracy means where everyone is ready to present his/her own ideas of real democracy. 'Rosmersholm' can conveniently be a drama of Pakistan's current political scenario where reconciliation is an alien concept and political motives are not based upon staunch ideals but the desire to "try out one's powers." By putting a serious message in a character like Brendel Ibsen is not mocking the intention but sugar-coats the shallowness of ideals that lack practical solutions. Likewise Solness' obsession in 'The Master Builder,' with building and his fear of being overthrown by younger generation always reminds you, at a superficial level, of academics and artists who believe younger generation have a lot of potential but nothing substantial to offer. Ibsen was also largely unacceptable for presenting on stage the issues that were better not let out of the four walls of the house. We, in our part of the world, also have religious and social constraints that drive our fear of being 'exposed.' Repressed sexuality is something that is not accepted in Pakistan even after a century. Ibsen shows how sexuality can be the source of many psychological issues challenging man's individual responses to his surroundings (and that is much before Freud did that). Although things seem to be changing for the better, we are still going through a period of transition, getting ready to accept but still a long way to go. 'Tamanna
Betaab' By Altaf Hussain Asad Gone are the days when penning down one's life story was a rarity. It was surely not the task of the faint-hearted. When decades back Josh Malihabadi took the giant leap forward, he was castigated by all and sundry. 'Yadon Ki Baraat' took the literary world by storm. Here was the man who minutely described his love life and became Casanova of Urdu literature. Puritans in the folds of literature put Josh to task for documenting his nocturnal exploits. While there were others who rejected his claims and termed it just a figment of his imagination. Whatever was the case, he was a brave man who took criticism head on. With time social values are
also subject to change. Now Urdu literature has seen a surfeit of Celebrated short story writer Rasheed Amjad's biography 'Tamanna Betaab' is highly readable. He knows the art of engaging the readers till the very last page. This is not an ordinary feat. Very few writers can keep the readers glued to the book. Frankly speaking this book does not follow any specific rule. It is a loosely written book in which Rasheed Amjad tells us about his personal life as well as other literary personalities he interacted with. It is also the history of days and nights of literati of Rawalpindi where Rasheed Amjad has been living after migrating from Srinagar. It was in Rawalpindi where he came into contact with men like Mansha Yad, Mazharul Islam, Khalida Hussain and many others. It was also the city in which he had to start his struggle from scratch. In his early days he supported his family by doing menial jobs. After landing in Rawalpindi, his family was in dire straits. His father was a 'hermit' whose interest in practical life was almost zero. A deeply mystic person, his father used to compose verse which has been presented in a book form too. Quite candidly Rasheed tells us the chaotic relations between his parents. He does not hide anything and narrates how his mother's authoritative behaviour forced him to flee. However, he decided to take the risk and joined PWD as a caretaker. The passion to study did not die. His meeting with Mansha Yad turned out to be very beneficial. It was Mansha Yad who egged him on to read books from Ana libraries that were very common in those days. This conducive atmosphere encouraged him to write. So one fine day he wrote a story and read it in the company of literary friends amidst praises. 'Rooman' used to be a film magazine in those days. Rasheed Amjad managed to get his story published in it. Together with his friends, he set up a literary organisation by the name of 'Bazm-e-Mir'. It was here that he found his real mentor who chiseled his abilities -- Ghulam Rasool Tariq who became his guru. On his insistence, he changed his name from Akhtar Rasheed to Rasheed Amjad. Surely the change of name proved to be good omen for him. One his story got published in 'Adab-e-Latif', edited by Meerza Adib in those days. Rasheed Amjad joined the education department as a lecturer and has not looked back since. He wrote some splendid short stories which have been published in one book under the title 'Aik Aam Admi Kay Khwab'. Throughout this book, he puts to task all those who failed to deliver. One pertinent remark is: both Zia and Bhutto were not sincere with what they vouched for. Zia wanted to bring back the Islamic era while the Islamic socialism was the slogan of Bhutto. Both of these were only political stunts to allure the illiterate people. Certainly his assessment is not wrong. Similarly, he comes back hard on all those who raised the banner of socialism but did nothing to achieve their goals. He narrates how a die-hard and committed communist like Dada Ameer Haider was treated by the so called socialists. Shamsur Rahman Farooqi says that author should not present himself as a hero. Rasheed Amjad does not sugarcoat things but presents them as they are. He ought to be feted by lovers of Urdu literature for such an honest and readable life story. A word
about letters Faisalabad is not the answer to literary journals. But the two journals received from this city past week come as a pleasant surprise. They can easily be rated among the best. 'Zaban-o-Adab' is a
biannual journal of the Department of Urdu, government College University,
Faisalabad and is devoted to literary research. Published under the patronage
of Dr Arif Ali Z The maiden issue of the 'Zaban-o-Adab' carries eleven research articles. Dr Gopi Chand Narang's article on Maulana Mohammad Ali Johar's poetry and his passion for independence of the Indian subcontinent merits a special mention. Dr Narang is a renowned writer, scholar and chairman of the Indian Academy of Letters. The other journal published from Faisalabad is titled 'Niqaat.' Edited by Qasim Yaqoob, it has been rightly subtitled as "representative of the new literature." Its 405-page fifth edition carries pieces of some fifty writers and poets. Abdur Rasheed's two new poems, Dr Nasir Abbas Nayar's interview as well as Arif Farukh, Ashfaq Bukhari and Arshad Mahmood's articles and Nida Mohsin's translation add to the literary significance of the journal. The selection I liked most is about Dr Gian Chand Jain's controversial book 'Aik Bhasha-Do Likhawat'. Editor Qasim Yaqoob has included four articles on the book by Shamsar Rehman Faruqi, Gopi Chand Narrang, Ajmal Kamal and Dr Gian Chand Jain. A window to the world Translations had a
significant place in the medieval Arab civilisation. Incidentally, the Arabic
translations not only helped in preserving this heritage but also nourished
the forces that were eventually instrumental in European Renaissance.
However, the situation has changed over the centuries. Arabs, like other
Muslim nations, ceased to learn from other civilisation and consequently
suffer from intellectual and cultural stagnation. A recent UN report on Arab
human development pointed out that books translated into Spanish in one year
outnumber the books rendered into Arabic in the past eight centuries. The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, under the patronage of the crown prince, has now come up with an ambitious translation plan named 'Kalima.' Karim Nagi, Egyptian head of the 'Kalima', has been reported as saying that one hundred foreign books will be made available in Arabic during the current year and the number of title will be raised to 500 a year by 2010. The project is aimed at providing "Arabic readers with the opportunity to read and enjoy a breadth of quality writings from around the world in their mother tongue", Nagi explained. The list of the authors whose works have been selected for translation during current year includes, among others, Albert Camus, George Eliot, Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawkings and Nadine Gordimer. Not a single Urdu book has been included in the list which is not surprising as we too have stopped taking interest in foreign books. The number of titles imported yearly has been going down for the past two decades and the number of literary books translated yearly into Urdu and other Pakistani languages has never crossed the limit of 50. Saeen Akhtar Saeen Akhtar Hussain Lahori, the popular Punjabi language poet, voiced the culture and emotions of ordinary people. He was a beloved pupil of Ustad Daamen who himself was a follower of Shah Hussain Lahori, a 15th century Punjabi poet remembered as a rebel against the Mughals. Saeen Akhtar's work was influenced by the form as well as thought-content of Ustad Daman and Shah Hussain. Some of Saeen Akhtar's poems were very popular with the Punjabis settled in the UK and Canada. This saintly poet died in Lahore last month at th age of 70. The Progressive Writers Association organised a literary reference for Saeen Akhtar at Chaupal which was chaired by Shaukat Chaudhry. Newspaper columnist Sarfraz Syed and secretary of the Ustad Daman Academy Mohammad Iqbal Mohammad were the special guests at the gathering where tributes were paid to the Saeen by a number of writers and poets. Their list includes Tufail Dhana, Sahil Parani, Comrade Shehzad, Rasheed Misbah, Shafiq Ahmad Khan, Abid Hussain Abid, Zahid Hasan, Qaiser Tilaknagari, Irfan Hashim Khan and Jamshed Imam. Saeen Akhtar was particularly praised for his lifelong commitment to the cause of social justice and progressive thought. Some of the speakers also alluded to his simple, truthful and sincere personality and observed that he never compromised his principles.
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challenges it by means of replication. Ibsen's drama did exactly the same. It
is social, visionary, naturalistic, symbolic, problematical and psychological
-- all the ingredients of meaningful literature. So why is it that Ibsen's
plays were banned and publicly condemned by his own people? Fairly because he
forced them to question their individual and social selves, exactly what we
need here in Pakistan.
autobiographies. The trend of writing life story is definitely catching on.
Slowly the Urdu writers are ready to open their hearts. This is quite a
healthy phenomenon to put it succinctly. The last years have seen some
fascinating autobiographies. Seasoned columnist and poet Ashfaque Naqvi stole
the show with his autobiography 'Paap Beeti.' The mere title might spin your
head. But then there were some other good books like 'Jeewan Dhara' by Mehr
Jeewan Khan and the list goes on.
aidi,
vice-chancellor of the University, it has been edited by the noted scholar Dr
Anwar Ahmad whose recent association with the University has, I believe,
greatly helped in launching of this journal 'Zaban-o-Adab' and 'Niqaat'.
