Editing primary texts in Urdu

Date: Thursday, Mar 31, 2022 
Time: 5:30 pm -7:00 pm 
Venue: Seminar Room 3, Aman CED Building, IBA Main Campus

IBA's Department of Social Sciences & Liberal Arts hosted an event discussing: EDITING PRIMARY TEXTS IN URDU: What is a Primary Text? And How to Read It?

Recently, the first critical edition of all published poetry of Faiz Ahmad Faiz (Kulliyat-i Faiz, 2019) was published to critical acclaim. Edited by Dr. Syed Nomanul Haq, the book establishes the correct text of Faiz’s verse, without interfering with the original or emendations. This was done by collating all available editions of the poet’s works and using a base text to note every variation/omission by means of a full critical apparatus. In addition, the work has critical annotations and indices, with a detailed introduction. The work comes at a timely juncture when textual research has dwindled severely in Pakistan's scholarly preoccupations, with the passing away of earlier generations of critics who did superb textual work—critics such as Mushfiq Khwaja, Maulana Imtiaz Ali Arshi, and Shamsur Rahman Faruqi. This occasions our planned discussion at IBA where Kulliyat-i Faiz will serve as a window to develop a discourse generally on textual research, its methodology, and its significance.

Persian scholar and musicologist Dr. Muhammad Athar Masood also joined in the conversation with Dr. Syed Nomanul Haq about this exciting new edition of Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s poetry, and issues relating to producing critical editions in general.