Symposium on ‘Modern Linguistics with reference to Urdu Literature’
Aligarh : Linguists and urdu scholars discussed Urdu literature and its morphological, syntactic structures and phonological characteristics in a day-long symposium on ‘Modern Linguistics with reference to Urdu Literature’ organised by the Department of Linguistics, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in collaboration with the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.
In the keynote address, Prof Khwaja Ekramuddin (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) emphasised the importance of the emerging field of stylistics in linguistics to study literature and outlined the use of morphology, syntax, phonetics and semantics in analysing literary works.
Speaking on linguistic features and styles, he said that literature is not complete without stylistics as it plays an important role in defining emotions, feelings, metaphors and epitomes.
“Stylistics is the art of seeing the artistic use of language and beautification of discourse in literature. There is no one way to express thoughts, ideas, experiences, or imagination and every author has a distinct way to express”, Prof Khwaja pointed out.
He narrated epitomes from the works of various poets to explain the beauty of stylistics and linguistic analysis of language used in literature.
Quoting Noam Chomsky to explain the importance of language beyond its structure, the Chief Guest, Prof Anwar Pasha (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) said, “Language is not just words; it is culture, tradition, and the unification of community”.
“Language is born, changes with the passage of time, and may also die if not used by people. If we see how the language, culture, tradition, values, and stylistics are changing over time, we will understand the importance of great literary works such as Nautarz-e-Murassa and Bag-o-Bahar”, he added.
Prof Anwar also spoke on the works of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan.
The Special Guest of the programme, Prof Safdar Imam Qadri (Patliputra University, Patna) discussed contributions of Prof Masud Hussain Khan and Prof Mirza Khalil Ahmed Beg in reference to Urdu linguistics and stylistics.
He outlined the history of Urdu literary criticism and discussed the role of trend-setting writers.
Presiding over the programme, Prof S Imtiaz Hasnain (Dean, Faculty of Arts) pointed out that any talk about linguistics with reference to literature inevitably takes us to stylistics as it is a discipline that gives the interface of linguistics and literature.
He discussed findings of a French scholar in the article, ‘The Current State of Stylistics’ and Prof Mirza Khalil A Beg’s book, ‘Tanqeed aur Usloobiyati Tanqeed’.
“As a method of textual interpretation, stylistics assign the privacy of place to language and language”, he said.
In the welcome address, Prof M J Warsi (Chairman, Department of Linguistics, and Coordinator of the Seminar) said: “The era of modernization brought language, linguistics, literature, and culture into focus and modern studies have opened doors to study linguistics in relation to literature”.
“It is essential to analyse linguistic and stylistic features of Urdu literature because stylistics plays a vital role in applied linguistics”, he added.
Prof Warsi quoted G. N. Leech on the study of stylistics in literature and said, “Stylistic is a linguistic approach to literature explaining the relation between language and artistic function with motivating questions such as why and how more than what”.
He pointed out: “Amir Khusro was the first author in Urdu to initiate bilingualism, code mixing, and code switching and promoted the ‘Rekhta Goi’ tradition by adding phrases and clauses from Persian.
Prof Warsi further said that the great Urdu linguist, Masud Hussain Khan, was the first scholar to study Urdu literature in the context of Jadeed Lisaniyat.
The symposium also featured talks and scholarly presentations by Prof Ibne Kawal (Delhi University, New Delhi), Prof Mohd Ali Jauhar (Chairman, Department of Urdu, AMU), Prof Khateeb Syed Mustafa (Former Chairman, Department of Linguistics, AMU), Prof Abu Bakar Abbad (University of Delhi), Dr Abdul Hai (Mithila University, Darbhanga), Prof Aejaz Mohd Sheikh (University of Kashmir), Prof Syed Mohd Anwar Alam (Jawaharlal Nehru University), Masood Ali Beg (Department of Linguistics, AMU), Prof Mohammed Qamrul Huda Faridi (Director, Urdu Academy, AMU), Mohd Musa Raza,
Prof Shabana Hameed (Department of Linguistics, AMU) extended the vote of thanks. Dr Mehvish Mohsin and Dr Shamim Fatma conducted the programme.