Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi

HAZAARON KHWAHISHEIN AISI Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi:The Wonderful World of Urdu Ghazals Ed. Anisur Rahman. New Delhi. HarperCollins India. 2019. 456 pages. ANISUR RAHMAN, a former professor of English at Jamia Milia University in New Delhi, is a widely published scholar in the field of New Literatures in English. A poet as well (Earthenware: Sixty Poems, 2018), he is a gifted translator of Urdu poetry into English and vice versa. His bilingual Fire and the Rose: An Anthology of Modern Urdu Poetry (1995) was the first comprehensive volume on this subject and received praise for its succinct, instructive introduction, judicious selection of poets, and the poetic quality and accuracy of the translations (WLT, Winter 1997, 233). Scholars generally agree that most of Urdu poetry breaks down into two major categories: the traditional Urdu ghazal and the modern Urdu nazm or poem. Since 1995, Rahman has turned his attention to producing, among other things, the first comprehensive bilingual anthologies of translations of both of these forms. Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi: The Wonderful World of Urdu Ghazals is the first of these. The one on the nazm is slated to appear in 2020. The ghazal genre originated in Arabic literature in the seventh century and then spread to Persian, Turkish, Urdu, and other literary traditions in the Islamic world. Its theme is most often love in its many variations, but also pro- and antireligious expression, left and right political attitudes, high- and low-brow social commentary, trenchant satire, and both wry and laughout -loud humor. Many of these themes appear varyingly in these translations. The first three words of this book’s title are in Urdu, taken from a couplet by its foremost classical poet, Mirza Ghalib (1797–1869), quoted here, with the translator ’s rendering: “Hazaaron khwahishein aisi ke har khwahish pe dam nikle / Bahut nikle mere armaan lekin phir bhi kam nikle” (Desires in the thousands I had, for each I would die / With many I had luck, for many I would sigh). Books in Review Patricio Pron Mañana tendremos otros nombres Barcelona. Alfaguara. 2019. 265 pages. ARGENTINE WRITER and literary critic PatricioPronwontheprestigiousAlfaguara Prize for 2019 with Mañana tendremos otros nombres, a novel that examines relationships between men and women within the context of modern culture. The recipient of various national and international prizes, Pron has authored six collections of short stories and eight novels, and his work has been translated into several languages. Pron’s experience as an immigrant—he has lived in Madrid since 2008—and his academic preparation—he holds a doctorate in Romance philology from the University of Göttingen—are evidenced in his most recent work. According to the author, Mañana tendremos otros nombres is also based on experiences many of his friends shared with him. The plot is simple and perhaps the least interesting thing about this text: the two protagonists, who are referred to only as “El” and “Ella,” experience a range of emotions they had not anticipated. They observe their friends’ relationships, both hetero- and homosexual ones, and both have affairs with other people before their lives take a surprising turn. The author also maintains the anonymity of the secondary characters by using the initials of their first names throughout the text. This technique, which universalizes the characters, is somewhat disruptive for readers, who encounter the capitalized pronouns and initials in the middle of sentences throughout the novel. This also has an alienating, distancing effect on the 106 WLT SPRING 2020 reader, which may have been intended by the author. The writing and construction of the text is reflected in the professions of the two protagonists: she is an architect and he, a writer and critic of nonfiction. Both endeavors, like their relationship, represent attempts to create and transcend in a context where possibilities to do so are illusory. She struggles to establish herself in a maledominated field, while he faces the changes that technology has wrought upon popular culture and the publishing industry. The novel references a broad range of themes, including sexual abuse and changing gender roles, the growing power of social media and the decline of literary culture, the terrorist threat and the precariousness of modern existence

Art · Linguistics · Literature · Persian · Poetry · Theology · Turkish · Urdu · History · Philosophy · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · South Asian Cinema and Culture · South Asian Studies and Diaspora