Urdu Afsany Mein Misaliat Pasandi (Tehqiqi o Tanqeedi Jaiza)

Abstract

Urdu short story holds special importance among the genres that were influenced from the classical and modern philosophy and from the modern discoveries. Urdu short story was prominent since its start from both ideological and stylistic aspects. For this reason, it has presented the high ideals successfully along with the realistic portrayal of the problems of life. Short story has been passing through many changes between times being influenced from the contemporary philosophical debates, and also kept the stream of idealism permanently in it. The short story writers also tried to portray an ideal picture of society along with giving the realistic portrait of life. They considered “what is” insufficient and incomplete and gave importance to “what should be” which is the central point of literary idealism. The short story writers presented the topics like subjectivity, dreams, fall of dreams and human helplessness in idealistic way in the writings bearing spiritual and ethical idealism. So, the Urdu short story has remained idealist ever since its start. Owing to which, it contains the desire for high social values, thoughtfulness, dream for an ideal society, inwardness, and metaphysical approach. Be it Romantic, progressive, or psychological, the short story has remained under the influence of philosophical and literary idealism. The Romantic short story writers tried to change the environment after getting dissatisfied from it according to their heart and mind. In their idealistic thought, the nature of real is romantic, not materialistic. They seem to portray the ideal picture of real life on the level of (ideas. Whereas the progressive short story is shows the dream of an ideal society in which there is no social injustice and economic exploitation. In the same way, the mention on internal destruction and complexes of unconscious of character in the psychological short story is in fact a longing for developing the ideal man.Though much research and critical work has been done on Urdu short story, no important work regarding this important aspect of idealism in Urdu short story has been conducted in an organized way that spreads to the contemporary Urdu short story. In the following thesis, the Urdu short story has been reviewed literarily from thought and stylisticsperspectives of idealism. This research study starts from the inception of the Urdu short story in the first decade of 20th century. The writings of Yaldaram and Prem Chand to present day are included in it. The basic purpose of the thesis was to find by a research the influence of idealism on the Urdu short story and to see how successful was it in presenting the problems of age from time to time from an idealistic perspective.