Subject

Topic

“Salman Tarik Kureshi’s Poetry

In Landscapes of the Mind”

“Pakistani English Literature”

Presented to Dr M. Kabil Khan

&

Students of M. Phil Applied Linguistics

PresenterMuhammad Irbaz Khan

“Landscapes of the Mind”

Salman Tarik Kureshi, 1942

‘Landscapes of the Mind’ is collection of the poems written over some thirty years back, staging the familiar theme of postcolonial Deracination. On a more personal level, the poet portrays an experience of betrayal and loss of a divided self. The poet seeks to establish an intimate connection between landscape and inscape. Jagged, yet nicely toned, ample and yet deftly structured this poetry both memorably moves and disturbs.

Introduction

Salman Tarik Kureshi Was educated at Government College Lahore and the London school of Economics. A business executive, he has traveled extensively in Europe, America and the Middle and Far East. He was a founder member of ‘Mixed Voice’ a multilingual forum for poetry and creative writing in Karachi. His work has been published in literary magazines and anthologies in Pakistan, France, the UK and USA. Salman Tarik Kureshi is presently a marketing consultant living in Karachi. He is not only a poet, but also writes about the current affairs. He is presently attached with the Daily Times newspaper. He writes about national and international political relations, conflicts and issues. But my emphasis is on his poetical traits not political traits because UN KA JO KAM HAY…..

Poet’s Life and Career

The Contents of the Book

The book was published in 1997 by Oxford University Press Pakistan. Although, the book consists of 76 pages only, yet it is a treasure of geographical, cultural and national symbols. First of all, the introduction of the book is written by Kaleem Ur Rehman. There are 37poems in the collection. The most significant and remarkable thing is the title itself of each poem. Some of the titles reveal a special aptitude of the poet towards Nature or we may also call it geographically significant titles e.g. poems at serial # 4,5,6,78,9,10,11,13,14, & 24.

The Significance of the Title

The title of the book i.e. ‘Landscapes of the Mind’ is suggestive and full of meanings. The book is a collection of poetical works of Salman Tarik Kureshi. Poetry is the reflection of feelings, sentiments and emotions emerging and evolving in the poet’s mind or in Wordworthian doctrine, it is spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. Kureshi puts the precious words * in a poetical order for the readers to capture the landscapes of his mind. In other words, he aspires to make available and draw a pictorial scene before the eyes of his readers.

“This is finely nuanced poetry, as crisp and sharp in its diction as in its observation. Kureshi pushes at the implications of the resonances of geographical and cultural location, rewriting the past and generating rich images of contemporary Pakistan. This is a poet, whose power intrigues us into his mental and physical landscape, cradling the active memory like the timeless roots of an ancient banyan tree.” (Robert J. C. Young Wadham College Oxford)

A Critical View

Kaleem Urrehman says, ‘Pakistani poetry in English is more significant than Pakistani fiction in English. Apart from Bapsi Sidhwa, there is hardly any other novelist worth mentioning. In Poetry, however, the situation is different. Poets of a relatively older generation-Taufiq Rafat, Maki Kureshi and Daud Kamal – have written poetry that compels our interest and attention

Pakistani Fiction vs. Pakistani Poetry in English

Kureshi’s poetry has a different character from that of other Pakistani poets. Perhaps this is because he is of mixed descent. His father was is Pakistani and his mother Australian. Salman Kureshi has, therefore, a command over English which is like that of a native speaker of the language.

Distinctive Feature

What is Pakistani in Kureshi should not be underestimated. No doubt, he has poems on New York and other places in America, and on sites of ancient Greece, but one is hardly surprised to note that the finest poem in this selection is ‘Above Bolan’ which captures the sublimity of the Bolan Pass in its surroundings. The poem opens on this note:

A Starkness unsoftened by green,Almost extravagant,In its austerity….

Unforgettable Pakistaniness

And the remarkable thing is that the poem maintains the level of the sublime throughout until the end. It is a triumph of the imagination of the sublime. Many of Kureshi’s poems miss the tinge of subjectivity. In his lyrics like Garden, Station, Above Bolan, direct expression of emotions is absent. The ‘I’ is missing from them. The emotions the poet expresses are undoubtedly his, but the form of the poem impersonalizes them to a degree.

Sublimity and Imagination

Why so?The advantage of an impersonal form is that the reader is able to participate in the experiences the poems and the poet can communicate relatively in an easy way. Saying this is not to invoke Eliot’s theory of impersonal poetry. Impersonality here simply means that the poet curbs his egoism to render the spirit of the thing as it is. The personality of the poet is inevitably there in the poem, but it does not overhang.

Impersonal Form: Readers’ Participation

Why the Landscape of Poet’s Mind disturbed?Poets and artists often have troubled inner lives. They are never quite at home in the world in which they find themselves. Kureshi is no exception to this rule. But his problems go much deeper than is usual. And his poetry reflects them. Poems such as Sword, Switchboard, Tenant, and a few others, deal with what is disturbing in his personality.

The Question of Poet’s Mental Landscape Disturbance

Association With NatureThe geographical suggestiveness of various poems of Kureshi may be due to his affiliation with Nature. Like Wordsworth, he seems believing in contemplation and meditation to get the secrets of Nature. Kureshi, like Wordsworth raises question about the origin of various objects of Nature, e.g. Perverse Rivers, As If these Clouds, Plateau or In The Plain. Kureshi observes, meditates and contemplates repeatedly till he finds the answer and concludes reality.

Where then is the source of theseStrange rivers, like this narrow torrent beside us?What forms these streams that startProudly from the sides of mountainsTo peter out in great mud flatsA hundred miles from the sea?

Symbolism in Landscapes of the MindThere are many symbols found in Kureshi’s work. The geographical symbols are quite strong. In Perverse Rivers, he symbolizes the unpredictable human trend of changing course any time.

Perverse rivers, whose course is unpredictable, One season through one valley, the next through another * (OA)

The word perverse in the title and in the poem is enough to make it clear that the poet balks at writing his poetry. As in April, (‘the source of betrayal is at the roots’), here, too, the poet wonders about where then is the source of strange rivers. To enlarge on the lines from George Meredith that Mr Bhutto once quoted:

It’s morning: but no morning can restoreWhat we have forfeited...In tragic life,No villain need be! Passions spin the plot:We are betrayed by what is false within.

Rain and Clouds SymbolsIn Kureshi’s poetry rain and clouds are the symbol of prosperity and self sufficiency. At the bottom of the poem Perverse Rivers, we can listen to him humbly praying for rain. This prayer is, on one side, a feeling of guilt which, the poet fears, hinders him from free creativity, from writing what could be described as his proper poetry. Grant us insteadThe gift of water unrestrainedMountain-rills that quicken meadow-flowersSilt laden flows along whose banksGreat cities burgeon and, most of allGrey swirls of cloud to bringThe clean wash of rain down our bodies

Kureshi and the Western PoetryBrowning’s Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came is perhaps a presence in Above Bolan and April We may compare the following line in April

Here nature has been niggardly,Hard-bittenOnly a few spiky plantsStruggle up to shrubs

With BrowningI think I never sawSuch starved ignoble nature; nothing throveFor flowers-as well except a cedar grove!But, cockle, spurge, according to their lawMight propagate their kind…

Kureshi and the Western Poetry

Shades of Ted Hughes can also be clearly discerned in the description of the wolf in The Crumbling Hillside Shale. Perhaps T. S. Eliot is a stronger and more abiding influence on Kureshi’s poetry. Images of sterility and dryness in April and Perverse Rivers clearly point towards The Waste Land.

Kureshi’s desire for showery rain at the end of the poem Perverse Rivers can also be equated with Hopkin when he narrates the same theme in his poem, Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord, ‘Mine, O thou lord of life, send my roots rain.’ This is not to say that Kureshi is under the influence of Hopkins. In the present scenario of our national power and energy crisis, Kureshi’s insight seems functional and working to keep praying for clouds and rain in order to get filled our reservoirs.

Conclusion

The influence of an older poet creates a younger one. All fine poets need to have a father-predecessor and it is necessarily right. Influences haven’t created Kureshi, for, even in the poems which show the influence of other poets on him, the personal urgency which impels him to write shows through clearly. Kureshi is very much a poet in his own right and deserves to be read for what he has personally achieved through his poetry.

THANK YOU