Critical Discourse in Punjabi

1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-032-57697-8
Verlag: Taylor & Francis

Buch, Englisch, 421 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 590 g

Reihe: Critical Discourses in South Asia

This volume forms a part of the Critical Discourses in South Asia series which deals with schools, movements and discursive practices in major South Asian languages. It offers crucial insights into the making of the Punjabi language and literature, and its critical tradition across a century. The book brings together English translation of major writings of influential figures dealing with literary criticism and theory, aesthetic and performative traditions and re-interpretations of primary concepts and categories in Punjabi. It presents 30 key texts in literary and cultural studies from Punjab from the beginning of development of Punjabi language to its present form, with most of them translated for the first time into English. These seminal essays cover interconnections with socio-historical events in the medieval, colonial and post-independence period in Punjab. They discuss themes such as spiritual and aesthetic visions, poetic and literary forms, modernism, progressivism, feminism, Dalit literature, power structures and social struggles, ideological values, cultural renovations and humanism.

Comprehensive and authoritative, this volume offers an overview of the history of critical thought in Punjabi literature in South Asia. It will be essential for scholars and researchers of Punjabi language and literature, literary criticism, literary theory, comparative literature, Indian literature, cultural studies, art and aesthetics, performance studies, history, sociology, regional studies and South Asian studies. It will also interest the Punjabi-speaking diaspora and those working on the intellectual history of Punjab and conservation of languages and culture.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Nayar, Rana

Saini, Alpna

Bansal, Tania

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Sprachwissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literarische Strömungen & Epochen
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Stadt- und Regionalsoziologie
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Regionalwissenschaften, Regionalstudien
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturen sonstiger Sprachräume Indische & Dravidische Literatur

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements



Translator’s Note

Alpna Saini



Introduction

Rana Nayar



Section-I: Background and Overview



Punjabi Language: Evolution, Growth and Possibilities

1. The History of Punjabi Language

Pyara Singh Padam



2. Literary Development of Punjabi Language

Vidya Bhaskar Arun



Punjabi Literature: A Historical Survey

3. Main Trends in Punjabi Literature

Parminder Singh, Kirpal Singh Kasel, Gobind Singh Lamba



Problematics of Punjabi Literary History and Historiography



4. Methods and Problems in Writing the History of Punjabi Literature

Sant Singh Sekhon



Punjabi Culture

5. Punjabi Language, Literature and Culture

T.R. Vinod



6. The Culture(s) of Punjab

Gurbax Singh Frank:

Punjabi Folk Literature

7. Folklore and Literature

Sohinder Singh Bedi



8. Dynamics of Creative Process in Folk Literature

Nahar Singh



Section-II: Theorising Medieval Literary Forms



Literature of the Medieval Age

9. Folklore and Medieval Punjabi Literature

Karnail S. Thind



Gurmat Literature

10. Gurmat Poetry - Tradition and Multiple Perspectives

Jagbir Singh



11. The World of Gurbani – Principles of Interpretation

Jagbir Singh

Aesthetics of Gurmat Literature

12. The Poetic Form in the Philosophy of Guru Granth Sahib

Gopal Singh



13. Literary History of Shri Guru Granth Sahib

Taaran Singh



Sufi Literature

14. Critical Reflections on Punjabi Sufi Poetry

Haribhajan Singh



15. The Poetic Universe of the Sufis

Haribhajan Singh



Punjabi Narrative Traditions

16. Origin and Development of Punjabi Prose in the Medieval Times

Gurcharan Singh



17. Qissas and Romance: A Historical Perspective

Sant Singh Sekhon



Section-III: Theorising Modern Literary Forms



Punjabi Literature of the Modern Age

18. An Overview of New Punjabi Literature

Kartar Singh Duggal



Modern Punjabi Poetry

19. Reading Modern Punjabi Poetry - From Bhai Vir Singh to Surjit Patar

Tejwant Singh Gill



Modern Punjabi Fiction

20. Theoretical Possibilities in the Modern Punjabi Novel

J.S. Rahi



21. A Critical Study of the Punjabi Novel

Niranjan Tasneem

Modern Punjabi Drama



22. History of Punjabi Drama

Satish Kumar Verma



23. Rethinking Punjabi Drama

Satish Kumar Verma



Section-IV: Theorising Contemporary Issues in Punjabi Literature



Progressive Punjabi Literature and Marxist Aesthetics

24. Poetry and Social Criticism

Sant Singh Sekhon



25. Contemporary Progressive Literature

Kishan Singh





Punjabi Meta Criticism

26. Punjabi Meta Criticism: Past and Present

Harbhajan Singh Bhatia



Punjabi Literature and Feminist Movement

27. Punjabi Diasporic Fiction – A Feminist Perspective

Dhanwant Kaur



28. The Linguistic Revival of Punjabi Feminism

Fakhra Hassan



Punjabi Literature and Dalit Aesthetics

29. Existence, Identity and Beyond - Tracing the Contours of Dalit Literature in Punjabi

Paramjit S. Judge



30. Contemporary Punjabi Dalit Poetry: A Distinct Ideological Discourse

Yograj

List of Contributors

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Rana Nayar is Professor (Retired) from the Department of English & Cultural Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh in 2017. His main areas of interest are World Drama/Theatre, Translation Studies, Literary Theory and Cultural Studies. A practising translator of repute (Charles Wallace India Trust Fellow & Sahitya Akademi Prize Winner), he has rendered around 12 modern classics of Punjabi into English. These include novels, short stories and poetry and range across the works of Gurdial Singh, Mohan Bhandari, Raghbir Dhand and Beeba Balwant, published by Macmillan, National Book Trust, Sahitya Akademi, Sterling, Fiction House, Katha, Rupa and Unistar et al. He also has one collection of poems Breathing Spaces (Unistar, Chandigarh) and four critical books, i.e., Edward Albee: Towards a Typology of Relationships (Prestige, New Delhi, 2003), Inter-sections: Essays on Indian Literatures, Translations and Popular Consciousness (Hyderabad: Orient BlackSwan, 2012), Gurdial Singh: A Reader (New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 2012) and Cultural Studies in India (New York, London, New Delhi: Routledge, 2016), an anthology, edited along with Pushpinder Syal and Akshaya Kumar, to his credit. A committed theatre lover, he has directed over 20 major full-length productions, and has acted in almost as many.

Alpna Saini is Professor of English at Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, India. Her areas of interest include gender studies, cultural studies, Indian drama, Indian cinema and translation studies. She translates from Punjabi and Hindi into English and vice versa. She has extensively published research articles and translations from Punjabi and Hindi to English. She has published a book of critical essays on the drama of Girish Karnad titled Subjectivity as a Locus of Conflicts in Girish Karnad: a Discussion of his Plays. She has also edited and introduced a book titled Negotiating Boundaries: A Study of Bushra Ejaz’s Writings with Neetu Purohit. Her most recent work of translation was Blood Flowers: Selected Poems of Harbhajan Singh Hundal which she co-edited with Rajesh Sharma.

Tania Bansal completed her PHD in Comparative Literature from Central University of Punjab, Bathinda in 2017. After serving on the faculty of Chitkara University, Himachal Pradesh, she moved to Akal University, Talwandi Sabo (Punjab). Currently she is serving as Assistant Professor at Chandigarh University, Gharuan, Mohali. Her research interests are new historicism, feminism, partition history and translation.