It is seldom that literary periodicals would devote to instructive criticism of prose and poetry and deviate from the most favoured opinionated sophism of looking at creative writings. Mostly such criticisms, which gained public acclaim in the recent past, have remained restricted to pointing out areas of loose and periodic writings that do not generally carry seal of standard writings.
Often these critics have misused their rights to debate on literary writings and have used their pen to attack only on the style and syntax and seldom on the central idea of a piece of writing ending up in incomprehension and inconclusive results. This, ironically, they consider as their prerogative.
This trend in Urdu literature has been easy to follow by the armchair critics as much of the intricacies involved in prose and poetry done in a haste are restricted to the music and romance of the language which is not without fatal attraction for those who read a piece of writing for the taste of the language. Creating this kind of literary aroma through good pieces of prose and poetry has its merits but the literary criticism has its own requirements.
To begin with, it tries to find out thought-content in writings. To those who are in search of cause and effect of their being in this ethereal world - thoughts matter most. Looking critically at such writings is not the job of a casual critic who either tends to ignore the space created by a writer in his works to deal with images and to communicate with his/her audience.
A limited space is always needed by the writers to move out in the open and deal with the language of reasons and ideas that give rise to newness to a thought. Striking a balance between facts and fiction and creating with words and style an atmosphere where a reader gets taste of the language as well as expressions to his own images a shape is an art that comes with extensive reading and understanding of words and their usage.
The critics who have an instinct of a teacher can understand such writings in a better way and explain it to others in simple forms.
Beginning from the last quarter of the 19th century till mid fifties when Mumtaz Hasan, Hasan Askari and Anwar Ahsan Farooqui, to name only three critics, forged their entry with a mighty pen and attacked short story writers, poets and critics with views that dealt with instructive criticism a breed of enlightened writers emerged.
These critics and their followers followed instructive criticism rather than indulging into literary polemics that rarely lead to results. Recent writings on literary criticism have been encouraging, as most of the critics have preferred to be instructive in their approaches.
Though not exactly, but to a great extent following in the footsteps of these three critics and a few others who value scholarship more than any other factor in a piece of writing the quarterly Pesh Raft International, a literary magazine, has published its special edition on Tajzia-o-Tabsara number.
Both, amateurs and experienced critics have tried their hands and attempted at critical analysis of present-day prose and poetry. All the writings, with varying proportions, are crisp, short and to the point. The beauty of writing has been maintained through brevity of expression.
It is this reason that in a publication of 256 pages more than 76 independent writings have been accommodated. These are less opinionated and more critical of ideas, facts, meanings of words, usage and techniques of translation of writings from one language to another.
For example Usman Irfani has taken a critical view of 'Gita Ki Kahani' page 34 - Urdu translation from English version of the Hindu sacred book whose original text is in Sanskrit - by Shanul Huq Haqqi. Haqqi sahib is a name in Urdu literature who has a number of good books to his credit. However, Irfani read the translation with a critical eye and could find out inaccuracies that were not expected of Haqqi sahib.
He has contested Haqqi's ability to translate Gita from its English translation in Urdu when the English translator has himself avoided to translate Sanskrit words in English. Irfani thinks a language, which has not been studied by a critic, is bound to create difficulties for a translator. A translator who tries to give meanings to alien words should be well versed with the alien language to avoid any future difficulty.
Beside the merit of this issue of Pesh Raft there is a kind of fearlessness in it that is one example of emerging trend among the new critics. They seem to be more concerned with subjects and factual accuracy rather than who says what kind of writing.
Jadid Afsana - Chand Soortain page 162 by Saba Akram. Its critic is Muhammad Ahmed Sabzwari. He has applied direct approach method and encourages readers to read the book in detail. Similarly Urdu ka Ibtedai zamana page 165, Adabi Maqalat-e-Said page 167, Cactus kay Phool page 176, Zahar jaisi karwi page 190, Kon Akhter Hamid Khan, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan Ki Jiddat Pasandi, Aawaz-e-Shikastagi and many more writings that are convincing enough that Pesh Raft is expected to follow in the footsteps of literary critics who preferred instructive criticism over all other kinds of writings.
The editor-in-chief of Pesh Raft Shafique Ahmed Shafique deserves appreciation for producing this number, which has attracted attention of serious readers of prose and poetry.
This issue has all the force to motivate people desirous of reading good and persuasive writing. It is a recommended reading for the students of contemporary Urdu literature.
Selection of paper, printing and proofreading should have been done with care.
Name of the Publicatopm: Tajzia-o-Tabsara number, of the quarterly Pesh Raft
Editor-in-chief: Shafique Ahmed Shafique
Publishers: Roshan Khayal, Nazish Kitab Kar
Printer: Ahmed Brothers, Nazimabad No. 2, Karachi
Price Rs: 256
Price: Rs 150
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