Abstract
In the nineteenth century India, the older indigenous
culture which had achieved its zenith during the times of the great
Mughal Empire gradually declined after the defeat of the last Mughal
king in the 1857 rebellion against the British. Ghalib was not only an
eyewitness to a great political change but he was also a victim of it. The
present study is an effort to read Ghalib’s Urdu love poetry as a
commentary on the discursive political situation in the Delhi of his times
especially in the aftermath of the 1857 defeat. Ghalib has artistically
used the canons of classical Urdu love poetry to reflect the ideological
conflicts of his turbulent times. Seen from the New Historicist point of
view, the lover’s complaints in Ghalib can be interpreted as the political
statements issued by the deposed Mughal king. Ghalib’s dealings with
his beloved may be read as negotiations between the commanding
British rulers and the subdued Indian nobleman. Ghalib’s love poetry
also gives useful insight into the reshaping of the individual identity
under the impact of the experience of loss. Sometimes, we find Ghalib
circulating subversive ideas. Ghalib’s times, especially the post 1857
years, were not suitable for the expression of subversive political ideas.
Ghalib’s poetry shows that he was painfully aware of the precarious
position not only of his native culture but also of his own individual
position as the dignified member of a quickly vanishing culture.
Ghalib’s poetry is an endeavour to give voice to the conflicted ideology
of his time when survival as a virtue had become more relevant than the
direct expression of political truths.
Dr. Muhammad Asif Khan. (2019) The Politics of a Lover’s Complaints: Loss of Power as a Metaphor in Ghalib’s Urdu Verse, Journal of Research ( Humanities), Vol LV, Issue 1.
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