10. The Discussions of Modernism and Modern Urdu Poem. جدیدیت کے مباحث اور جدید اُردو نظم

Author(s) : Atiya Huma Siddiqi, Ph.D. Urdu Scholar, Karachi

Abstract:

In Europe, towards the end of the 14th century, the downfall of the church and the emergence of modernity led to the significant mindset, which in literature is labeled as Modernism. This modernism was interpreted as enlightenment because it opposed the existence of God and tradition by considering humans as the sole source of all power and supremacy. Modernism trend which later developed as a movement; was based on humanism in which what humans believed was accepted and what they denied was rejected. The most important aspect of this movement was the deviation from religion and tradition, which leads to the denial of metaphysical interpretation. This denial directed the masses toward the agony of loneliness, mental suffering, and helplessness. So, when they express their emotions and feelings, it came out as grief, melancholy, and anguish. In literature, this anguish was expressed in a particular style of writing, innovative, unorthodox and in a unique style of writing were due to some alterations in writing techniques; rather than the matter and subject. These unorthodox techniques were the base of Modernism in literature. The trend of modernism in Urdu literature was introduced in the 1960s and it particularly influenced urdu poem the most. Modernism caused experiments on a large scale in the structures and techniques of urdu poems. New techniques were invented by establishing and modifying templates, due to which, the poems in this era are categorized as Jadeed Nazm. This literary movement was promoted by the members of Halqa Arbab e Zauq. The poems they construct were of thematic diversity and unique style. But under Modernism; due to philosophy, psych and mythological complications, the understanding of poems became more and more difficult. In addition, the structural arrangement of these poems was also different from the traditional structures. So, this new technique didn’t prove to be compatible and soon came to an end.