[Reader-list] Dastangoi-abstract of presentation

[mahmood farooqui]

THE LOST ART OF STORYTELLING-DASTANGOI AND THE
DASTAN-E AMIR HAMZA

The Dastan-e Amir Hamzah published by the Nawal
Kishore Press, Kanpur between 1880 and 1910 in
forty-six huge volumes is the most outstanding
achievement of Urdu prose. The printed versions of
this Dastan emerged from a centuries old tradition of
oral narration, Dastangoi. Unlike folk-storytelling,
Dastangoi was considered a high profession. Since the
times of Akbar the dastango had been inducted into the
court. They were included among the retainers
of nobility; and poets and writers consulted them as
lexical authorities. As listening to dastan recitals
became a popular pastime for all classes, from
Ghalib's soirees to the streets of Jama Masjid, the
dastango acquired a mass audience before it got
printed. That it came at a time when Urdu fiction was
still in its infancy and that the fact that it was
anti-novel in its intention and effect has caused it
to be criminally marginalised in criticism and
discussion within the world of Urdu letters itself. 

My presentation will include a demonstration of the
Art of Dastangoi, as I grope my way around the methods
of those masterly performers, from the Tilism-e
Hoshruba as well as a very brief talk about the
extract that I have chosen to recite. 

A separate full length paper would be circulated
alongside a glossary of the characters. 


		
____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs