انتظار حسین اور اُن کے افسانے “ تعارف و تجزیہ”

Abstract

This article examines the compiled volume Intizar Husain aur Un ke Afsane (1986), edited by Professor Gopi Chand Narang and published by Educational Book House, Aligarh, in collaboration with Madhya Pradesh Urdu Academy, Bhopal. The volume is divided into three sections: critical essays, Intizar Husain's own writings on his craft, and a selection of fourteen short stories representing different phases of his literary career. The critical section includes essays by Muhammad Salim ur Rahman, Siraj Munir, Gopi Chand Narang, and Shamim Hanafi, each approaching Intizar Husain's fiction from distinct methodological perspectives. Salim ur Rahman explores the existential anxiety in his early fiction, while Siraj Munir examines the motif of night and dream. Narang's central essay periodizes Intizar Husain's fictional output into three phases, tracing his engagement with memory, mythology, and socio-political disintegration. Shamim Hanafi analyzes the symbolic and civilizational dimensions of his narratives.

The second section, comprising Intizar Husain's own reflective essays, provides rare insight into his creative philosophy, particularly his use of myth, legend, and oral tradition as both artistic and civilizational necessities. The article concludes that despite certain limitations — notably the absence of major critics such as Muhammad Hasan Askari and Waris Alavi — the volume remains a foundational and multi-perspectival reference for researchers of Urdu fiction