Lahore University of Management Sciences

Course code – SALT ---

An Ecocritical Study of Selected Urdu Poems

Fall 2017

Instructor Ahmad Bilal Awan

Room No. 282(D-10)
Office Hours
Email ahmad.awan@lums.edu.com
Telephone Ext 2211
Secretary/TA Yes
TA Office Yes
Hours
Course URL (if
any)

Course Basics
Credit Hours 4
Lecture(s) 28 Duration 14 Weeks
Recitation/Lab (per Nbr of Lec(s) Per Duration
week) Week
Tutorial (per week) Nbr of Lec(s) Per Duration
Week

Course Distribution
Core SALT
Elective Yes
Open for Student For All
Category
Close for Student
Category

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Ecocriticism is one of the latest fields of inquiry in literary studies/criticism. It emerged in the 1990s, although
its roots go back to the 1970s. The term ecocriticism was first used by William Rueckert in his essay “Literature
and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism.” Emerging as a reaction to the devastation of the planet over the
last couple of centuries, ecocriticism brings one of the most pressing issues of our era - the global
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environmental crisis - into the realm of literature. It is an interdisciplinary method of inquiry that involves
ecology, environmentalism, and ethics of nature.
Simply defined by Cheryll Glotfelty, "Ecocriticism is the study of the relationship between literature and
physical environment. Just as feministic criticism examines language and literature from a gender-conscious
perspective, and Marxist criticism brings an awareness of modes of production and economic class to its
reading of texts, ecocriticism takes an earth-centered approach to literary studies... As a critical stance, it has
one foot in literature and the other on the land. As a theoretical discourse, it negotiates between the human
and the non-human.” Nature and man have always been placed at the center of world literature. But the
awareness of environmental crisis has given us new lenses through which to see nature and its relationship
to man. This new literary theory not only urges us to describe our present crisis appropriately, but also reread
classical texts of world literature, providing new hermeneutic tools to reinterpret texts as nature writings.
Urdu literature has an immense heritage of nature writings, which have depicted and interpreted nature in
diverse ways. This course is designed to read selected Urdu poems, modern and classical, in the light of
ecocriticism.
The course is divided into three parts. In the first, students will use the primary texts of the literary theory of
ecocriticism to explore its terminology. In the second part, students will study the different aspects of, and
perspectives on, nature in Urdu poetry, from the classical to the modern age. In the third and the final part of
the course, students will engage closely with selected Urdu texts which portray nature in crisis, and with it
the endangered lives of those who depend on it.

COURSE Anti-PREREQUISITE(S)

 Students who can read and write Urdu are eligible to take this course. In exceptional cases,
students may take their mid-term and the final exam in English, and write their response
papers in English.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
• First and foremost, students will develop a framework for reflection: how are we, as a
society, to come to terms with nature, wild and human? (Richard L. Fern)

• Students will become familiar with pressing contemporary issues through the close study
of selected Urdu poems in the light of ecocriticism

• Students will learn the method of close reading and analysis of poetic texts, itself a
literary art.

• Students will learn how to apply literary theory to texts.

• Students will learn about the process of writing poetry.
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• Students will explore the deep insight, keen observation, and profound sensibility of
Urdu poets who realized this crisis long ago and made it a subject of their poems.

Methodology & Requirements

This is a combination lecture and seminar-style course, with interactive discussion and focused
lectures. The course requires students to engage fully with the texts during class time, in order to
use the time most productively. The texts are our teacher - if students don’t participate, there is
no use. Students should use class discussions to organize their thoughts in preparation for writing
response papers. The response papers should focus on the topics we discussed in the classes. It
will be up to the students to decide how to approach the composition of the response paper.
Grading Breakup and Policy

Assignment(s):
Attendance: 5%
Class participation: 10%
Midterm Examination: 25%
Final Examination: 25%
Final Project/Presentation: 15%
Response Paper (5): 20%

Examination Detail

Yes/No: Yes
Midterm Combine/Separate:
Exam Duration:
Exam Specifications:

Yes/No: Yes
Combine :
Final Exam
Duration:
Exam Specifications:

COURSE OVERVIEW
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Objective
Week/ Recommend
s/
Lecture/ Topics ed
Applicati
Module Readings
on
(1) As suggested
a: Questioning the category of “nature” through examining material
and scriptural explanations.
b: The relationship between nature and humankind – how do they
respond to each other?
Week 1
(2)
a: What are environment and ecology? What does “the
environmental crisis” signify?
b: The impact of material and scientific advancement on nature.
Exploring an “ethics of nature.”

(1) As suggested
a: The basic definition of ecocriticism. Ecocriticism as a literary theory,
its emergence, and development.
(2)
Central questions of ecocriticism. (Most of these questions are taken
from Charles E. Bressler’s Literary Criticism [2011].)
Week 2
1-What is meant by “nature” in the given text?
2-How is nature portrayed in a text?
3-How are the characters in a text portrayed in relation to nature?
4-How do the characters interact with nature?
5-How does nature interact with the characters?

(1) As suggested
6-How does the text demonstrate how the microcosm (humanity)
affects the macrocosm (nature) and vice-versa?
7-How are race and gender illustrated in the text, and how are these
categories related to nature and land?
Week 3 8-Is the text challenging its readers to environmental action and
promoting changes in how we treat nature? Other classes? Races?
Genders?
(2)
What is meant by nature writing?

(1) As suggested
a: Nature in Urdu literature: a brief account of nature writings in Urdu
Week 4 poetic literature.
b: Nature portrayed in the classical Urdu poetic genres before Aligarh
Movement: qasida, marssiya, masnavi.
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(2)
Close reading of some poetic excerpts which portray nature from
qasida, marssiya and masnavi.

(1) As suggested
a: Close reading of a few excerpts from the poems of Nazir Akbar Abadi
and other poets.
c: Nature portrayed in the major writers of Aligarh Movement and
Anjuman e Punjab: Altaf Hussain Hali, Muhammad Hussain Azad and
Week 5 others.
(2)
a: Nature writings in the post-Aligarh movement: the movement of
Romanticism in Urdu poetry.
b: Close readings of a few excerpts from its poetry.

(1)
a: Nature in Iqbal’s poetry. Close study of prominent poems portraying As suggested
nature.
(2)
Week 6 a: Nature in post-Iqabl poetry: Hafiz Jalndehri, Akhtar Sherani, and
others.

(1) As suggested
a: Majeed Amjad, the first notable voice in the realm of Urdu poetry
against the large-scale demolition of forests for the expansion of cities
and industrial zones in the second half of 20th century.
b: Nature as a creative metaphor in Majeed Amjad’s poetry (Nazm).
Week 7
c: His poems’ reflections on nature.
(2)
Close reading of Majeed Amjad’s poems in the light of ecocriticism.
a: ‫ پیش َرو‬،‫ آہ یہ خوشگوار نظارے‬،‫ُرددا د ِ زمانہ‬
b: :‫ ایک کوہستانی سفر کے دوران میں‬،‫ کانٹے اور کلیاں‬،‫ہری بھری فصلو‬
(1) As suggested
a: Close reading of Majeed Amjad’s poems ‫ گاڑی‬،‫ د ُورکے پیڑ‬،‫بن کی چڑیا‬
‫ سو کھا تنہا پتا‬،‫میں‬
Week 8
b: Open discussion and student’s take on these readings.
(2)
Mid-term exam
(1) As suggested
a: Close reading of Majeed Amjad’s poems: ‫ یہیں پہ‬،‫گاوں‬ ٔ ،‫پژ ُمردہ کلیاں‬
Week 9 ،‫گھٹا سے‬،‫رہنے دے صیاد آشیاں میرا‬
b: Open discussion of these poems
(2)
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a: Close reading of Majeed Amjad’s poems: ‫ پہاڑوں‬،‫ پامال‬،‫سایوں کا سندیس‬
‫کوہ ِ بلند‬،‫کے بیٹے‬
(1) As suggested
a: Close reading of Majeed Amjad’s poems: ،‫ کوہستانی جانور‬،‫اے ری چڑیا‬
‫ توسیع ِ شہر‬،‫فصل ِ ُگل‬
b: Discussion and students’ takes on these poems.
Week 10
(2)
a: Close reading of poems by Akhtar ul Iman: ،‫ ارض ِ ناکس‬،‫ترقی کی رفتار‬
‫رویاے صادقہ‬
ٔ
b: Discussion and students’ takes on these poems.
(1) As suggested
a: Guest Speaker: A renowned Urdu poet/scholar will speak about the
topic of this course.
(2)
Week 11
a: Close reading of poems by Ahmad Nadim Qasmi: ‫ ترقی‬،‫ضرب ِ مسلسل‬
‫ جنگل‬، ‫ سیّاح کی ڈا ٔیری‬، ‫یافتہ‬
b: Close reading of a Urdu poem by Javaid Shaheen: ‫شہر کے وسط میں‬
c: Discussion and students’ takes on these poems.
(1) As suggested
a: Close reading of a poem by Muhammad Izhar ul Haq: ‫درختوں کے نام‬
‫ایک نظم‬
b: Close reading of two poems of Khurshid Rizvi: ‫سبز سے سفید میں آنے کا‬
‫ قُرب ِ قیامت‬،‫غم‬
Close reading of a poem by Moeen Nizami: ‫الہور کے لیے‬
Study
Week 12
b: Close reading of a poem by Yasmeen Hameed: Environmental
Hazard.
(2)
a: Close reading of a poem by Ravish Nadeem: ‫مٹھی سے پھسلتی نروان کی‬
‫ریت‬
b: Close reading of a poem by Zia ul Hassan: ‫اب پھول صرف گملے میں اُگتے‬
‫ہیں‬
(1) As suggested
a: Close reading of remaining poems.
(2)
Week 13
a: Final conclusion: quick overview of the course. Instructions for
further readings for those who would like to continue with this subject.

Presentations As suggested
(1) Presentation
Week 14
(2) Presentations

Textbook(s)/Supplementary Readings
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1-The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. Edited by Cheryll Glotfelty Herold Fromm
2 Excerpts from different sources will be used. Most readings will be available in the reading pack and will
also be emailed well before the respective class.