Thesis Summary - the Annual of Urdu Studies

256 • THE ANNUAL OF URDU STUDIESMuslims in India. An entirely different picture emerges from a novel byBismillah, where the religious symbolism of weaving is used as an illustrationof asserted identity and as an aesthetic counterpart to the criticalsocial content of the novel.The writers share roots in the tradition of literary realism. This isreflected in a common aesthetic approach: depiction of reality that laysclaim to documentary truth, love of realistic detail, emphasis on everydaylife, and commitment to social themes. The novels show a clear preferencefor scenic representation with its aesthetic effect of immediatenessand authenticity; the influence of regionalism is noticeable in a concept ofspace limited to the representation of one’s own private sphere of experience,i.e., a specific microcosm. Apart them these similarities, however,considerable differences can be noted regarding the artistic expressivenessand the authors’ theoretical claim to the narrative structure of the novel.Specific novels are analyzed with a view to the aesthetic implications ofcompositional techniques and narrative discourse. Particular aspects thatare discussed include the aesthetically effective harmonization of contentand form, the extreme condensation of the time-space structure as aformal expression of existentialist concepts, the conceptualization of thetime problem by means of an adequate discursive time structure, but alsothe lack of artistic dexterity in applying basic narrative techniques.Several novels serve as examples in the discussion of how specificnarrative perspectives and points of view are found suitable for the representationof reality and, especially, the treatment of identity as a literarytheme. Multiple perspective conveyed through a combination ofthird-person narrative, interior monologue, direct speech and style indirectlibre appears as an effective device in the authentic and direct representationof a subjective world view. First-person narrative with its proximityto autobiography and inherent scope for self-reflection is shown to beespecially suited for the depiction of problematic or shattered identity. Aninteresting exception is the use of a self-conscious narrator in Raza’snovels, ironically pointing to the fictitiousness of the novel. Here, in acurious fashion, autobiographical identity problems fuse with fictionalidentity problems.The Hindi-Urdu controversy and the decline of the Urdu language,which represents an acute threat to the cultural identity of the Muslims innorth India, form the background for the discussion of the authors’ theoreticalstance in the language controversy, the use of language in thenovels, and the treatment of language and identity as a thematic topic. AsMuslims who write in Hindi, the authors refute the widespread cliché