Critical Discourse in Punjabi

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.

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