Anthems of Resistance: A Celebration of Progressive Urdu Poetry

by Ali Husain Mir, Raza Mir

"Let a thousand verses bloom."

Anthems of Resistance is about the iconoclastic tradition of poetry nurtured by Ali Sardar Jafri, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Javed Akhtar, Fehmida Riyaz and all those who have been part of the progressive writers' movement in the Indian subcontinent. It documents the rise of the Progressive Writers' Association, its period of ascendancy, its crucial role in the struggle for independence, and its unflagging spirit of resistance against injustice. In the process, the book highlights various aspects of the PWA's aesthetics and politics such as its internationalist ethos, its romance with modernity, its engagement with feminism, its relationship to Hindi cinema and film lyrics, and the vision of a radically new world which its members articulated with passion. Part history, part literary analysis, part poetic translation, and part unabashed celebration of the PWA era, this book is truly a unique resource.

This is a lucidly written account of a glorious chapter in the history of Indian literature. The powerful verses of the PWA poets are wonderfully translated and, along with the highly accessible transliteration, offer the general reader a rare opportunity to appreciate the writings that helped shape a nation. Anthems of Resistance is truly an inspiring and pleasurable read."
- Professor Mushirul Hasan, Vice Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

"Such a gift from the Brothers Mir! Lyrical and thoughtful, this introduction to the vast swathe of progressive Urdu poetry belongs on all our shelves, and in all our hearts. It is a companion worthy of the poetry itself. A singular achievement."
- Professor Vijay Prashad, Director of International Studies, Trinity College, Connecticut, US

"Like the many poets they celebrate, the authors write with passion and conviction ... Their book makes for a joyous and exhilarating read."
-Professor C.M. Naim, Professor Emeritus,
University of Chicago

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, India, Pakistan, Classics, Writing, History

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Mukesh Kumar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too meandering and repetitive, it proved a chore to complete. Anybody who is not very familiar with the PWA movement, may not find it too engrossing. There was hardly any flow in between chapters, with a lot of overlapping material. Could have really used a lot more editing. The saving grace was the actual poetry of the PWA stalwarts which proves a lot to take in, covers such a large canvas of issues, conflicts. It is a little sobering to observe the shift from the misty-eyed, somewhat genteel optimism of Faiz, Kaifi and Habeeb Jalib's heroes to the almost resigned realism of Javed Saab's. It is also a bit depressing book, when you realize how the dreams of the PWA of a socialist, secular republic, of a people's movement, were gradually put to death, multiple times and that most of the shining lights of the movement have long been gone, many already forgotten.

[Laila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have had this book for several years now and have often referred to it for one off Instagram photos or conversation references but this is the first time I picked it up and read the whole thing. I had such high hopes for it (just look at the cover, the title) and I really wanted to like it but unfortunately it didn't live up to its potential for me. It's clear that the authors are so passionate about progressive Urdu poetry but when translating that passion on paper, it felt a little all over the place. There was a lot of repetitiveness, some context missing (which made me wonder who the intended audience is because the poetry within the chapters is all written in romanized Urdu), and sweeping statements. And I know it is such a hard task to cover so much in one book so some of it is warranted but I really wish it had gone through 1-2 more rounds of edits. Also, yes! it is a genre dominated by men, esp because the “official progressive writing era” was all men (but tbh I don’t really believe that bc the memory is also kept by men), but having only one chapter in there covering "ALL" progressive women poets while every other chapter featured only men felt like a tokenized moment. And this is especially frustrating at a time when all over media, it is still men who dominate the space on who gets to theorize over progressive Urdu poetry.

There were so many great things too. I loved learning about some of the poets a bit more and reading their poetry in the context of their history and lives was such a lovely experience. Though the book had its moments of despair (re the condition of India and Pakistan now as compared to the vision these poets were writing about), it was still so inspiring to discover and rediscover poems full of hope and courage. Overall, I am glad this book exists because I am grateful for the poetry I got to read and I am grateful for the passion of the authors. If this was ever published again with thorough editing, I would definitely buy the new copy!

[Sabahat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book thinking it would trace progressive ideas in Urdu poetry as a whole so it was a bit of a disappointment when it turned out that it is concerned only with the poets associated directly with the Progressive Writers’ Movement. I must say with the poetry laid out thus in front of me the book drove home how artistically superior Faiz was to his leftist contemporaries (although this was certainly not the authors’ conclusion).
Giving it four stars because I did learn some new things even if the book was occasionally repetitive and had a clear agenda. It also seemed to have a slight India bias with its inordinate focus on Sahir Ludhianwi and Javed Akhtar.

[Sathvik · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book talks about the Progressive Writers' Movement in India and Pakistan. Many of the writers in this movement are seen as major contributors to Urdu literature, as they took the themes of previous Urdu poetry, which even today, is perceived to be about things like love and spirituality, and carried the literary tradition forward to write about socially relevant issues.

The book's tone is overall depressing, as the founders of the movement aspired to build new societies once they were free from British colonialism, but were disappointed by how their countries did not embrace socialist ideals. It also talks about how some poets reacted to growing Islamist & Hindu fascism, and considering where things are in both countries today, it's very unlikely we will realize the dreams these poets have written about.

I found the later narratives hard to follow, which made the book read more like a collection of essays. It talked about progressive poets and writing Hindi film lyrics, with chapters dedicated to Sahir Ludhianvi and Javed Akhtar, who the author thinks carried forward the legacy of the progressive poets. The work of women poets is almost an afterthought, though the poems themselves are the some of the most powerful in the book. Overall, the author presupposes a lot of knowledge about the poets, which makes the narratives even harder to follow. In terms of the poets mentioned, I only really knew about Faiz beforehand, so this was a good introduction to other poets including Kaifi Azmi, Ali Sardar Jafri, Makhdoom Mohiuddin, Kishwar Naheed, and Fehmida Riaz. I'll definitely look at more work by them as a result of reading this book.

The book's greatest strength though, is the poets' words themselves, which sound beautiful and remind us we should still fight for a better world.
3.7/5

[Sajal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I devoured the book in one day and wished it had more to it.

I look back on my urdu classes in school and can't, for the life of me, recall ever reading about the Progressive Writers' Association. It was only a few years ago that I learned a bit more about PWA and Faiz specifically. All this history of resistance, and writers who spoke critically, bravely and passionately for anti-colonial and anti-imperialist struggles, is definitely not as widely taught in schools as your popular ghazals.

From it's establishment to the eventual political disillusionment of these writers post independence; the history of PWA is such a fascinating one. These writers were the first to realize that these new nation-states were merely replicating earlier models of oppression, just by simply replacing the British elites with Local ones. No wonder Ali Husain Mir refers to their writing as 'Poetry of Anger'.

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Some highlights:

fan jo nādār tak nahīñ pahuñchā
abhī me.ayār tak nahīñ pahuñchā
- Sahir Ludhianv

vo intizār thā jis kā ye vo sahar to nahīñ
- Faiz