r Nasir Abbas Nayyar is one of the most prominent contemporary critics of Urdu literature. He has been writing regularly in Urdu as well as English. His published works include collections of short stories. However, literary criticism is his real forte. His predilection for new critical theories and trends is influenced mostly by post-modernism and post-colonialism. He seeks to extrapolate literature and elucidate its semantic significance through new critical theories. As a result, an inquisitorial discourse is conspicuous in his critical writing. His allegiance to certain Western ideas about literature and criticism is sincere and consistent. H encourages his readers to appreciate nuances in the work under review.

The main function of criticism is to inculcate literary taste in the readers. This requires that the critic have a clear mind themselves. IA Richards (1893-1979) in English and Shams-ur Rahman Faruqi (1935-2020) in Urdu are good examples of this.

Nayay Naqqad kay Naam Khutoot (Letters to a Modern Critic), the latest book by Nayyar, deals with theoretical as well as applicative facets of critical theories in the form of letters. The book follows a style of writing that originated in the West in the mid-Seventeenth Century. It is called epistolary criticism in English literature. In this form of writing, all kinds of critical ideas are presented in the form of letters. Prominent writers who have employed this method include Alexander Pope, Katherine Phillips, Jonathan Swift and Edmund Cave. In Urdu literature, Khutoot-i-Ghalib and Ghubar-i-Khatir may be cited as something of a precedent.

The letters contain mostly the discussions of critical theories that Nasir Abbas Nayyar has been engaged in for the past twenty years. The opening letters are significant in that they discuss the relationship between creativity and criticism. We are aware that the emergence of literature is based on the articulation of subjective experience. Poetry is the first “imitation” of the “imitation” that is human experience. It was for this reason that it was recognised as quintessential and attributed excellence. Long after Plato and Aristotle, however, as a sense of supremacy arose among poets, they grew alien to literary criticism. This behaviour is discussed at length by Nayyar, who also blames some critics for popularising the attitude.

It is unfortunate that some of the books in Urdu, whose titles promise a discussion of criticism, disappoint the readers. Not so Nayyar’s book, which is also an intellectual investigation of the lack of balance in criticism written over the last seventy years.

The earliest letters deal with some of the questions in Urdu criticism raised about thirty years ago. The first question raised here is: how to get rid of clichés in criticism. From the beginning, there has been a structure that most of our critics have followed religiously. It is tough, therefore, for a new critic to formulate thought-provoking questions. As the rattle for conformity grows louder, the whispers begging to differ lose significance. Perhaps it is for this reason that much of our literary criticism is crammed with impressionism.

Nayyar, instead, tells his critic friend to develop the skill to detach oneself from popular perceptions. It seems that Nasir Abbas does not see things the way they have been seen for a long time. He suggests that once we detach ourselves from the prevalent perception of an object, we become capable of deeper concern. He thus emphasises the need for establishing an individual view. Once an intellectual attitude preferring individual views as opposed to collective opinions takes root, it encourages candid expression in both literature and literary criticism. This can lead to a discounting of the tradition of impressionistic writings deemed as criticism.

Nayyar has also dealt with the significance of questions from a philosophical point of view. The ‘science of question’ is regarded as key to philosophy. Nasir Abbas Nayyar introduces ‘question’ as a philosophical tool. Only the right questions can be conducive to an adequate understanding of a literary fact from a new perspective. It must not be forgotten here that the act of posing a question keeps the critic’s mind open. An active mind is never pledged to a finical ideology.

The eccentricity of a great critic is the intellectual dynamism that prompts him to raise new questions. Nayyar’s book also discusses the Art of Rhetoric. Some of the past debate on the subject has caused great harm to literary criticism. Critical writing can never afford to be rhetorical. One of Urdu criticism’s tragedies is the rhetorical style preferred by many of its writers.

Criticism, unlike literature, is a science. Great criticism also refutes myths and assumptions prevalent in the literature with transparent arguments. This is only feasible when an astute critic like Nayyar explicates scholarly sagacity from stylistic rhetoric.

An important point about the book is its use of Western sciences and philosophies. This topic has been debated in the literary culture of Urdu since the beginning. How far can Western sciences help in the understanding of Urdu literature? The new critics are often asked why no substantial paradigm of erudition has been created here. There are a few things to keep in mind in this regard. First, there should be no distinction between East and West as far as knowledge is concerned. Second, knowledge is not good or bad per se. Ibne Rushd (1126-1198), in opposition to Ghazzali (1058-1111), pointed this out. Third, contemporary critics are equally well-versed in Western and Eastern sciences.

It is for these reasons that the new criticism in Urdu is much more diverse than criticism in the past. An excellent example of this is Nasir Abbas Nayyar’s writings. The point of view that the principles of criticism should be extrapolated only from the literary text has gained many adherents in Urdu.

Nasir Abbas Nayyar also vigorously raises the question: who among the new critics repudiates excellence in literature? He then proceeds to answer the question very clearly: “There is no sole source of principles of criticism. Criticism simultaneously infers principles from literature, from other sciences and from contemporary thought.”

A close reading of the book shows that it is meant to establish an intellectual dialogue. It also seeks to pave the way to strengthen the complex relationship between literature and criticism. There is hardly a problem related to literature and criticism that Nasir Abbas Nayyar has not discussed. The book refutes many assumptions about Urdu criticism. Nayyar’s style is syllogistic and pellucid. It is for this reason that his criticism attains a level of creative pre-eminence.

Nayay Naqaad kay Naam Khatoot

Author: Dr Nasir Abbas Nayyer

Publisher: Sang-e-Meel Publications, 2023

Pages: 272

Price: Rs 4,000

The reviewer, an Urdu poet and critic, is based in Kanpur, India.