Urdu Poetry in Society

Georgetown University is hosting two informal weekly seminars consisting of discussions with South Asia scholar Dr. Moazzam Siddiqi in Spring 2006. Details of both seminars appear below. The seminars meet in the Intercultural Center, the Georgetown GUTS buses serve us well, and on-street parking is available. By arrangement with our host, please contact the convener, Maggie Ronkin, for more information and to hold a seat: ronkinm@hotmail.com.

Seminar on Sufism NEW OFFERING

Georgetown University
Spring 2006

Instructor: Dr. Moazzam Siddiqi
Convener: Maggie Ronkin

Description

Seminar Topics

This seminar offers a survey of the history and evolution of Islamic mysticism from its origins in the Quran and the practices of the Prophet and some of his companions to its expansion into Islamic lands in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Iran, and Central, South, and Southeast Asia. Topics include: (a) the assimilation of Hermetic, Pythagorean, Platonic, Neo-Platonic, Jewish, Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist influences into Islamic mystical traditions, (b) the teachings and writings of some major Sufi masters, (c) the study of some major Sufi orders and their rituals and practices, (d) influences of Sufism on poetry and music, and (e) a brief history of Sufism in the New World. Audio specimens (performance recordings) of Sufi ceremonies from different parts of the Muslim world, their liturgy, and the accompanying music and poetry, will augment the series of lectures.

Urdu Poetry in Society

Georgetown University
2005 - 2006

Instructor: Dr. Moazzam Siddiqi
Convener: Maggie Ronkin

1. Description

Seminar Topic

This is a non-credit seminar that takes socio-historical, literary, and linguistic perspectives on Urdu poetry in society. We will highlight the evolution of Urdu poetry from its beginnings in 16th century Deccan to its florescence in other important literary centers of north central India, Delhi (early 18th century), Lucknow (19th century), and Lahore (20th century). We will culminate with discussion of the advent of the modern era.

Prominent Themes

Sociocultural and literary environments in which this tradition grew, and patronage patterns

Indian and Indo-Persian elements influencing the poetry in its formative years

Vernacular Hindi influences

European, largely English, literary influences

Religious and political influences, especially in the wake of post-Industrial Revolution literary movements imported from Britain

Impacts of socialism, communism, and the Progressive Writers Movement

Study of Selected Writings of Representative Poets from Each Period, with Audio Performance Recordings

The Dakhani Period: Quli Qutub Shah and Wali Dakhani

The Delhi Period: Mir Taqi Mir, Khawaja Mir Dard, Mirza, Rafi Sauda, Mir Hasan and Nazar Akbarabadi. Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib. Dagh

The Lucknow Period: Jur‘at, Insha, and Mushafi. Nasikh and Atish. Marsia poems and Mir Anis and Dabir

The Modern Age

Ghalib’s response to the intellectual awakening ushered in by the Industrial Revolution

Ghalib’s younger contemporaries, Hali and Azad, and the modern elements in their poetry

Muhammad Iqbal, poet-philosopher of the East and West

Poets of the Progressive Writers Movement and other modern poets: Mira Ji, Akhtarul Iman, Ali Sardar Jafri, Majaz Lucknawi, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, and N.M. Rashid

2. Fit of the Seminar with Missions of the University and the Audience (from the original proposal)

The proposed seminar projects the missions of some of Georgetown’s premier academic centers: the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, and the Department of Arabic Language, Literature, and Linguistics, among others. Of particular relevance to these prospective sponsors are the seminar’s interrelated goals:

To re-enforce Georgetown’s prominent humanistic role in fostering dialogues between the Muslim and Western worlds, as well as between modes of scholarship in and about them;

To connect with the next generation of U.S. Muslim leaders—including local professionals who are likely to invest in quality education, and students of Arabic and Persian, who, on a nationwide scale, display enthusiasm for Urdu;

Through a multi-modal focus on language, poetics, and music, to enhance the understanding of Indo-Muslim intellectual cultures, which became highly distinctive and ornately developed in the span of more than five centuries, and

To introduce a particularly South Asian Islamic approach to rhetorical analysis, which has absorbed indigenous influences and focuses on form and content in ways that Arabic and Persianate approaches have not.