Ghalib: A Wilderness At My Doorstep: A Critical Biography

by Mehr Afshan Farooqi

Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib was born in Agra in the closing years of the eighteenth century. A precocious child, he began composing verses at an early age and gained recognition while he was still very young. He wrote in both Urdu and Persian and was also a great prose stylist. He was a careful, even strict, editor of his work who took to publishing long before his peers. His predilection for writing difficult, obscure poetry peppered with complex metaphors produced a unique commentarial tradition that did not extend beyond his work. Commentaries on his current Urdu divan have produced a field of critical writing that eventually lead to the crafting of a critical lens with which to view the classical ghazal.The nineteenth century was the height of European colonialism. British colonialism in India produced definitive changes in the ways literature was produced, circulated and consumed. Ghalib responded to the cultural challenge with a far-sightedness that was commendable. His imagination sought engagement with a wider community of readers. His deliberate switch to composing in Persian shows that he wanted his works to reach beyond political boundaries and linguistic barriers.Ghalib's poetic trajectory begins from Urdu, then moves to composing almost entirely in Persian and finally swings back to Urdu. It is nearly as complex as his poetry. However, his poetic output in Persian is far more than what he wrote in Urdu. More important is that he gave precedence to Persian over Urdu. Ghalib's voice presents us with a double bind, a linguistic paradox. Exploring his life, works and philosophy, this authoritative critical biography of Ghalib opens a window to many shades of India and the subcontinent's cultural and literary tradition.

382 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 18, 2021

Reviews

[Salman Ahsan · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is a badly organized and poorly written book. Maybe students writing their dissertations on Ghalib would obsess over the exact year of Ghalib's birth or other trivialities of this sort, but for me the book was full of inessential items and lacked anecdotes that would have brought Ghalib's persona to life. Much (not all) of Ghalib's poetry and prose quoted in the book is presented without the original text - either as just translation or with Romanized transliteration - not satisfactory in either case for readers of Urdu and Persian. Then there's the repetition; several aspects of Ghalib's literary choices, whether to write poetry in Urdu or Persian are repeated ad nauseam. Give this book a pass.

[Mujib Mundewadi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This critical biography of Mirza Ghalib offers an exhaustive and scholarly exploration of the revered poet's life and work. Its detailed approach may prove challenging for the average Ghalib enthusiast. I found this to be a difficult read.