Ghalib: Innovative Meanings and the Ingenious Mind

Interpretations of Mirza Ghalib's works have been changing with the times. Romantics, classicists, progressives, and modernists, all have found evidence in his writings that appeared close to their viewpoints.

This work studies the ingenious poetics of Ghalib by tracing the roots of his creative consciousness and enigmatic thought in Buddhist dialectical philosophy, in particular in Nagarjuna's concept ofshunyata(emptiness or voidness). The author also underscores the importance of the Sabke Hindi tradition, that is, the Indian style of Mughal Persian poetry with indigenized poetics, especially through Abdul-Qadir Bedil, whom Ghalib considered his mentor. He contends that Ghalib reinvented and polished this tradition deploying the dialectical mode and the language of silence he mastered through his understanding of the ancient philosophy of India under the influence of his mentor Bedil of the Sabke Hindi tradition. Creativity is a complex matter where nothing is cut numerically to the preconceived notions. The charm of love poetry of Ghalib comes from his complexity and ingenuity. This has been established through the study in this book that makes it exciting and revealing. Gopi Chand Narang
engages with Ghalib criticism that has flourished since his death and analyses the important works of the poet, including pieces from earlyNuskhas andDivan-e Ghalib, using this central argument.


Author: Gopi Chand Narang
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 12/06/2017
Pages: 464
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 8.70h x 6.00w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9780199475919


Review Citation(s):
Choice 09/01/2018

About the Author

Gopi Chand Narang, Professor Emeritus, University of Delhi and Jamia Millia Islamia, Surinder Deol, Previously Program Manager and Senior Specialist, World Bank in Washington

Gopi Chand Narang is professor emeritus at the University of Delhi and Jamia Milia Islamia. A renowned exponent of Urdu literature, he has won numerous prestigious awards and has been recipient of honours, including Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan and Sitara-e Imtiaz as well as the President's National Gold Medal, for his study of Allama Iqbal, from Pakistan. He has served as president of Sahitya Akademi. He was a visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Minnesota during the 1960s and at the University of Oslo in the late 1990s. He has published more than 60 widely acclaimed books in Urdu, Hindi, and English. As a versatile genius, his work transcends disciplinary boundaries and has been a source of enrichment to scholars in literary theory and criticism.

Surinder Deol pursued the path of literature after retiring from the World Bank. He is author of several books, including a collection of his poems titled A Moment in the Universe that was published in 2006, followed by a novel Endless Life in 2012. In 2013 he undertook a major project to translate Ghalib's Urdu Divan in American free verse, a genre popularized by Coleman Barks for his translation of Rumi. This translation titled The Treasure: A Modern Rendition of Ghalib's Lyrical Love Poetry was published in 2014.



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