Initial Engravings of Western Thoughts on Urdu Novel

Abstract

The tale of Urdu novel begins in the decade after the War of Independence of 1857, as the first Urdu novel Miral ul Uroos by Deputy Nazeer Ahmad(1831-1912) was published in 1869. Novel is evidently and strictly a Western originated genre,  specifically, with the publication of the Spanish Novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes(1547-1616) in 1605, and later, with the English Novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe(1660-1731) in 1719، it has been established that this genre's roots are grounded in the European Renaissance. However, the emergence of this genre in Urdu literature is greatly indebted to the larger colonial context of the Subcontinent, which along with other revolutionary societal changes, has also transformed the literary landscape by introducing a whole range of new genres schools of thought, of course one of these genres was the Novel itself. Thereby, it is undeniably true that the initial Urdu novelists were greatly influenced by the Western novels and European modes of thinking. These Western novels and ideas worked as a module and specimen for the Urdu novelists, however the standards and poetics of this newly emerged Urdu Novel were not in accordance with the contemporary Western or English novels, in fact, the Urdu novelists were greatly inspired by the Western novels of the Eighteenth century. This article will analyze the initial imprints of the Western novels asserted over the preliminary significant Urdu novelists, i.e., Deputy Nazeer Ahmad, Pandit Ratan Nath Sarshaar, Maulana Abdul Haleem Sharar, Mirza Hadi Ruswa and Munshi Prem Chand.

References:

1. Azimullah, Dr. Muhammad. Asarāt-e-Ingleesi Novel bar Urdu Novel (The Impact of English Novel on Urdu Novel). Lahore: Dar al-Shaur, 2015, p. 80.
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   See also: Nazir Ahmad. Banat-un-Nash. Delhi: Kitabi Dunya, 2003, p. 5.
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   See also: Nazir Ahmad. Majmua Deputy Nazir Ahmad. Delhi: Fareed Book Depot, 2005, p. 293.
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17. , p. 308–309.

    Bibliography

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