Who is serving whom? Whether we are serving literature or literature is doing a service to mankind? Are we serving the language or languages to which we belong or they are serving us? Are we enriching the world of art, literature and culture or are they empowering us? These questions are paradoxical. They may look juxtaposed. An attempt to answer these questions may land us to this side of the ground or that or one can have a balanced middle path like approach. In the world of Urdu knowing populace there are people who think that the beautiful Urdu language, its literature and its culture is being served and saved by the individuals (writers or activists) or by the organisations or institutions that are being created in the name of Urdu. Well, this approach is faulty and it lacks a true understanding of the language, its literature and the sophisticated culture that it creates. The very belief that an individual is ‘Khadim-e-Urdu’ (Servant of Urdu) or ‘Muhafiz-e-Urdu’ (Protector of Urdu) is nothing but ignorance about the overwhelming power of a language, its literature and its associated culture. In fact it is language and literature which empowers us, serve us, save us and gives us our socio-cultural identity.

The research papers contained in this present issue of Das Literarisch will take us to those different dimensions of literature in which it serves and empowers us. Humaira Mahmood Afridi in her research paper talks about human well being through literature. Citing examples from Urdu literature she refers to the age old but still relevant aspect of ‘literature as pleasure’ and ‘literature for pleasure’. Hunter Liguore, through her analysis of the fiction of Yevgeny Zamyatin, Ayn Rand and George Orwell, talks of dystopian literature while Rajat Kumar Maurya and Rinu looks at the role of memory, reminiscence and human mental activity in literature. Kavita Kusugal, in her evaluative paper on the translated version of an Assameese novel based on a Bodo legend, refers to oracy and orality in literature. Sanjai Yadav and Subhojit Das, in their joint venture, evaluate the poetry of Seamus Heaney in an ecocritical perspective. Sarfaraz Nawaz, while looking at the translation of Allama Iqbal’s poetry, highlights the role and need of translating literature for inter cultural understanding.  

I want to make a special mention of the paper by young researcher Manish Prabhakar who touches a plethora of issues through his analysis of the autobiography of Marathi writer and activist Malika Amar Sheikh titled I Want to Destroy Myself. Manish highlights the lone and long struggle of the lady and through this he highlights the issues of gender discrimination, women’s rights and women’s writings. He also refers to the questions of memoir and self representation in a very subtle manner.   

Raj Kumar Misra, through analysing the famous novel Ice Candy Man, comes out with his search of the heroes of humanity at a time of violence and communal divide during the period of partition. Nagaratna Parande and Dattu K Waghmode look at the novels of Bhabani Bhattacharya in light of social realism while Prashanta Pawar V and Fayyaz Ahmed H. Ilkal view APJ Abdul Kalam’s autobiography as the tale of a struggle and passion for a soaring journey. 

In the section meant for literature in translation I have attempted to translate a few free verses of the famous Urdu poet Parween Shakir. The creative writing section of this issue is enriched with the presence of USA based writer, translator and film maker Kalpna Singh Chitnis, Indian American poet, flash fictionist, children’s writer, editor, and professor Anita Nahal, Bangladeshi writer and IHRAF fellow Tabassum Tahmina Shagufta Hussein, Gopal Lahiri and Basudhara Roy. Poems by Amita S Ahluwalia, Madhu Sriwastav, Ghanishtha Verma, Neha Singh, A. K. Dash and Sadia Hashmi and the prose piece by Zahra Ahmad are valuable inclusions of this issue. The book reviews by Jaydip Sarangi, Gopal Lahiri and Basudhara Roy will not only inform you about the books they are reviewing but also invite you towards the creative prowess of the writers of those books.

Das Literarisch is yours. We are running it not for any name, game or fame. We are not professionals. We are not running this journal for any commercial gain or academic profit. We do not need any strategic help or financial assistance from you. Rather we want more costly things than these from you. We need your love, your blessings and your support.

Keep us in your prayers, your blessings and your love.

Happy reading

S. M. Yahiya Ibrahim