Humour and Satire in Urdu Literature

Humor and Satire In Urdu Literature Taken Gull* & Tableaus Abstract Humor & Satire are an integral part of all forms of literature; & when the tragic part of a drama/story becomes unbearable, humor/satire provide a much needed diversion & relief. This article examines the effect of humor & satire with reference to some of the leading men of letters of Urdu literature. Keywords: Humor, Satire, Urdu, Literature It is difficult for human beings to always lead a solemn and glum life. They require amusement, mental relaxation and recreation of some sort. Humor is the most suitable & Innocent option for this purpose.Humor can be verbal, visual or physical. Non-verbal forms of communication for example – music and art can also be humorous. Since literature is the replica of life it produces not only serious, subtle and delicate literary pieces but also the need for mild, mature and mellow compositions has always been longed for to coax and cajole the readers. To maintain the regulari ty and steadiness of life the elements of humor and satire are always needed. Prevalently humor and satire are used as a compound genre but they are two different words having two distinct meanings.Simon Waistlines is of the opinion hat humor is the weapon of unarmed people: it helps people who are oppressed to smile. In fact, humor succeeds where wisdom fails. Stephen Lacked asserts: â€Å"Humor may also be defined as the kindly contemplation of the Incongruities of life and the artistic expression thereof. I think this is the best I know, because I wrote it myself. † 1 This classification demonstrates three important aspects, which are the ‘Irregularities of life', ‘kindly contemplation' and ‘artistic expression'.The first point explains that a humorist does not look at the Irregularities Taken Gull, Assistant Professor, Zinnia College for Women, University of Appeaser. ** Tableaus laved, Lecturer, Zinnia College for Women, university of Appeaser. * Taken Gull & Tableaus Saved of life disdainfully rather gets amused with them, the second Is that he deals up with comic situations and gruesomeness of life and the third point explains that a humorist adopts a very skillful manner of portraying such funny situations instead of presenting them in a blunt and boring way.Moving on to the better half of humor that Is satire, sarcasm and gibe as defined by the encyclopedia Britannica; â€Å"Satire In Its literary aspect, may be defined as the expression In adequate terms of the sense of amusement or disgust excited by the ridiculous or unseemly, provided that literary form without humor, satire is invective; without literary form, it is mere clownish Jeering†2 Babul- al-Jeez Hafted Suicide defines satire in the following words: â€Å"The comic situations of life which can be pointed out and the contemptuous aspects of life which can be opposed and humorously criticized are termed as satire†. The process of sarcasm shares a lot w ith surgery. As a surgeon dissects and opens p the human body in order to extricate it by the infected portion, similarly a satirist identifies the follies of the society and extricates it of the corruptive matters. Although it is true and admitted that a satirist definitely has the gusto and ardor of elatedness and supremacy present in him. Whatever a satirist targets he shows his soreness towards it and is desirous to modify and aspire it. Perhaps the element of sympathy is absent which is considered to be the spirit of humor.ABA-AH-Chair considering, states: â€Å"Those satirists who extract amusement and laugh at the helplessness of people can never reach the heights. A good satirist is a merciless surgeon and ruthlessly dissects but in his satire there are no signs of personal revenge or hollowness. His sole purpose is constructive and to bring forward a positive change. The objective of his art is to point out the hideousness of life and to beautify society. â€Å"4 Whether it is satire or humor both require sincerity and fidelity, whereas, prejudice, priggishness and ego are all considered injurious for them.Making somebody a subject of humor or saturating someone on the basis of personal grudges is a complete violation of the rules and is The Dialogue 179 Volume VII Number 2 Humor and Satire in Urdu Literature extremely cheap in itself. That is the reason, why in every literature it is considered to be the humor and satire of the lowest degree. Contrary to this, the earnest pleasure or displeasure of mind and thought gives vitality to humor and satire. Then the most difficult aspect of this skill is to criticize your own self.To ridicule others and make them the target of buffoonery is comparatively easy but to mock at oneself jovially is most difficult thing in the world. It is therefore rightly said by Shabby-LU- Hosannas that only those nations are considered to be civilized who can make fun of their weaknesses. 5 Satire can only grow and develop in such societies where people have prudent and practical approach towards life. Only those people give space to satire who have the patience and will for change.Rehashed Mad Suicide says that humor and satire can only develop in those countries and nations who are independent and value independence. But this genre cannot build up among the nations who are bound in the shackles of slavery. Among the people where gods and decent and quality humor and satire. Sarcasm exposes before the readers the personal folly and humiliation of others which can only be handled by a mature mind of decent taste and disciplined attitude. In short, it is a genre whose reader is not only able to see the faults of others but their own misdeeds as well.The element of humor makes this genre light hearted, Jovial, intimate and infectious. It is therefore necessary that it should not be cheap and vulgar but should rather be meaningful, far reaching, universalism and enduring. In another situation humor and s atire can be made the basis for estimating standards of the literature of any language. Humor and fun are cultural and represent the customs, traditions, beliefs and norms of a particular society. In fact, the types of humor vary from people to people and society to society.The comic gestures and funny situations which can be a laughing stalk for us may not be humorous at all for a British or an American. On the other hand, according to Muhammad Alma Khan humor and satire together can create the history of the mentality of a nation and also are its heritage. Also it can be agreed upon that humor and irony of any community or civilization can be used as n absolute scale to test the glee, perception, temperaments and feelings of them. 7 Now we have to observe whether humor and satire are correlated or not.Norman Forlorn in this connection states that for literary satire two components are worthwhile; one is criticizing and saturating an odious incident or thing and the other humor. 18 0 Rasher Mad Quietude's opinion is contrary to that of Norman Furlong's. According to him satire is implicit in humor, whereas, humor should not be a part of satire. He considers humor superior to satire and a form of arts which is difficult in execution. For humor, he says: complacent attitude and conferment is required, whereas, for satire energy, sorrow, anger and assertion all are required simultaneously. In comparison to Rehashed Mad Suicide, Stayed Thatches Hussein's notion is comparatively more steady where he writes that the sour feeling that people develop while reading a satirical work is the very reason why people separate it from humor. Hence, Thicker and Meredith both have accepted the vitality of humor but not of satire. The reality is that the existence of satire is impossible without the presence of humor, whereas, humor can exist without attire. 9 Anyhow, it is important to observe the several techniques of humor and satire. ). The first technique is that of compari son in which humor is created by the simultaneously. The second technique is â€Å"the use of language†. Developing humor by creatively using the human speech and expression in which Taker (repetition), Rarity-e-leaflet (pun) and Bazaar Kanji (wit) are included . Iii). The third technique is that of a humorous situation. Iv). The fourth technique is the use of a humorous character. V). The fifth technique is that of parody. V'). The sixth technique s that of irony.No doubt there are other techniques like Sol-e-mammal (paradox), Ambulance (exaggeration) etc. But the ones given above are universally known and popular. After observing the general aspects of humor and satire, we switch on to the art of humor and satire in Urdu literature. When we throw a cursory glance at it we learn that the early onset of it can be found in some ancient Distant (legends). But the quality of humor and satire in some places is quite inferior while at others the jazzy effects of naturally pleasant and amusing humor and satire are visible. InUrdu literature humor and satire are conspicuously observed for the first time in the letters written by Kigali where frank humor and offhandedness are quite domineering. Kigali was blessed with dual attribute of being a poet and a prose writer. Humor was a part of his nature, that's why Hall called him â€Å"Hewn-e- Career† (humorous animal). His humor is pious and pure. He smiles at the occasions when people are whining and crying. He is capable of laughing at himself not only on others. In his 181 letters we find soft smiles instead of whole hearted laughter.In his letters, instead of sing loud and sharp colors, he uses a beautiful blend of light colors of humor. Besides Kigali, humor and wit are also observed in the writings of Sir Seed Mad Khan and Chablis Neumann, whereas, the elements of satire are more specific in the literature contributed by Deputy Nazi Mad. Sir Seed's work was serious, constructive and persuasive but in reaction the humor and satire of demeanor was introduced in the form of Owed-e-punch, which swathed the irregularities, serration and Jaggedness of the society.But the quality of humor and satire of this newspaper was below standard. Jaded Hussein, Mach Bag Steamfitter, Tarragon Nathan Hajji and Jaywalk Parsed Barb etc. Are the eminent figures of this age. After this, there were seen several different kinds of humor and satire in Urdu literature and it gained a lot of popularity, some were self evident while others were mellow and mild. The names of Mullah Ramirez, Rehashed Mad Squid, Pratfall Bag, Eczema Bag Caught, Patria Babushka, Shattuck Than and Flak BEMA, etc. Re worth seriousness and humor. His purpose is always serious but style of expression is pleasant and witty. His choice of diction is the main reason of his successful writings ND he is an expert of using idiomatic and flowery language of Delhi. He loves antiquity and traditional people and is considered a conservative person. His style is productive and he talks about the improvement of society but never becomes dry and stringy. Weaker Gaga says that liveliness and vivacity are the main features of his style.In his writings certain happenings, characters and comparison are not used as tools to create laughter but words and sentences are constructed in such a pleasant way that they pleasantly touch the sensations of mind and heart. Such expressions automatically create smiles and one feels fresh and lively. 0 Although Patria Babushka has less contribution (in volume) but whatever he wrote gives him a prominent place in Urdu literature. His study is very vast and he has a great appreciation & understanding of international and especially English literature.There is a touch of delicacy, liveliness and good taste in his humor. He creates humor with situations more than words. He is good at parody writing but repartee is his special technique. He does not laugh at the individuals but at the groups and classes. Stayed Abdullah writes about him that the essence of his humor is based on integrity, uprightness ND sincerity more than sympathy and kindness. He dislikes and hates absurdities. He is a misanthropist and sometimes mocks himself. 11 182 Rehashed Mad Quietude's name is also mentioned along with Patria Babushka.Rehashed Mad was an alumni of Alight and taught there as a professor of Urdu literature. His essays are not easily comprehensible and intelligible because he keeps on referring to specific incidents and only those people can enjoy his writings who have deep knowledge in history, politics and literature. He quickly mentions one thing and the mind keeps on collecting segments into a single whole. The delicacy and fore-sightedness of his thoughts is quite different from other humorists. Ale- Mad Sartor writes about him that Rehashed Mad Squid is different from Patria and Particular Bag.He is among those people who are neither considered conservative nor modern rather he belongs to both the categories. He is an expert in paradox as well as repartee. Because of this dual quality he is considered Chesterton and Bernard Shah of Urdu literature. 12 Ale Mad Sartor gives a very good comparison of these three humor and satire writers, â€Å"Patria takes the raw material or his humor from the living beings where as Particular Bag from the dead ones writers were those who were not basically humorists but their writings reflect the sweetness of humor and satire.Some salient names of such writers are Mimed-LU- Fade, Balalaika Sad, Muffed All Badland, Manual Safari All Khan, Jazz Abdul Gaffer, Goshawk Hosannas Minimize, Abdul Amazed Salk, Amazed Lahore, Abraham Sales and Abdul Myocardial etc. The eminent names among modern humor writers are: Colonel Muhammad Khan, Shaffer-our-Raman, Gymkhana Ala Kapok, Fine Nash, Moisakos Hussein Had, Tall Hag Assam, Seaside Salk, Wausau Nazism, Goshawk Abdul Chaffer, Magmata Hussein, Young Butt and Muskrat Mad Housefly. The m ost prominent name among them is Muskrat Mad Housefly who is a natural humorist.His writings are adorned and decorated with special formalities but his sentences are smooth, pleasant and abrupt. He is witty and derives meanings out of meanings and deduces deep hidden meanings from apparent descriptions which seem to be an extempore conversation of a scholar. Most of his topics are taken from our day- today life but even from these common topics he seeks out some strange and amazing aspects of humor. Shade Mashes says that the foresight of Housefly entreats into human psyche and makes observations†¦