Essays on Literature, History and Society : Selected Works of Professor Syed Naqi Husain Jafri

Contents: Preface. Introduction/Masud ul Hasan. Part I: 1. The poetics and politics of the Troubadours: The Hispano-Arabic Connection. 2. Some perspectives on the medieval tradition of poetry. 3. Sufic themes and images in Persian and Hindavi Poetry : a re-ordering of universe and re-adjustment of impulses. 4. The Persian/Urdu Ghazal: a mode of Non-Conformist Utterance. 5. A modernist view of Madrasa education in Late Mughal India. 6. The signs and signifiers of the Urdu-Hindi Controversy. 7. Diwan-e-Ghalib. 8. Ali Sardar Jafri: The last romantic. Part II: 9. The need for a post-colonialist literary theory. 10. Hamlet\'s Soliloquies: A note on their nature and functional structure in the light of Natyashastra. 11. The Moone-Calfe: an interpretation. 12. The Muses Elizium : An allegorical interpretation. 13. \'When People Can\'s Abide Things as They Are\': An interpretation of Albee\'s Vision of Life. 14. American poetry in the contemporary era. 15. Image of the Orient in Shakespeare. Part III: 16. The human predicament and its sublimation. 17. Paying court. 18. Inner dimensions of Islamic worship. 19. Qurratulain Hyder\'s My Temples, Too (Mere Bhi Sanamkhane). Remembering Abbu by Qurratulain Tayyaba. Remembering a friend by Professor M. Suleman Siddiqi. Appendix (Publications of Professor S.N.H. Jafri). Index.

"This volume comprises a selection of the essays and writings of Syed Naqi Husain Jafri dealing with a wide variety of themes. The topics range from the Ghazal as a form of non-conformist poetry to Hispano-Arabic strains in English poetry, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and the Urdu-Hindi controversy, as well as a contemporary critique of Madrasa education. This volume is an important compliment (and corrective) to much of current writing insofar as there is a concern for topics beyond the realm of the humanities, thus indicating the need for a broader consensus and a broader view of history and society, and the manner in which literature, language and education bear upon each other. Jafri\'s depth of analysis and range includes other areas of interest as well, such as the evolution of non-European literary theory and its critique, Sufic themes in Awadhi and Hindavi poetry." (jacket)