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Dwelling At the Cusp of Modernity : Heidegger and Urdu Poetry

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Dwelling At the Cusp of Modernity : Heidegger and Urdu Poetry

This course proposes to journey through modernity as understood by one of its main thinkers, Martin Heidegger, attuned to the echoes of major Urdu poets of that era. Existential motifs resonate aplenty, for instance between a “Building Dwelling Thinking” (1951) of Heidegger, and the poem “Hasan Kuzagar” by N M Rashid. “The poets are in the vanguard of a changed conception of Being” (Heidegger) : we will try to seek through the poets of the Urdu tradition a resonance to what Heidegger was searching from the poetic seers of the West, from Homer to Holderlin. Such existential experiences will be explored through a thematic study of some of the key terms of Heidegger’s works — language, technology, thinking, being — through a patient, comparative and tentative thinking with great creations from Urdu poets such as Ghalib, Iqbal, or N M Rashid. In a post-modern era where subjectivity is hijacked by technology, Heidegger’s wisdom about post-industrial developments is always to be refreshed, and the practitioners of language that were those Urdu poets reveal the parallel lines of existential conditions across cultural and historical differences.

How this course works

The participants and the instructor meet each Thursday evening, 6:30-8:00 PM in a group Skype, for a session of textual analysis from a selection of essays and poems. Through this method, the guide offers at once the keys to participants to enter and further explore the texts on their own, and a personal reading rich with originality and creative potential. Babar will read Heidegger in English and the Urdu poets in the original Urdu language, with published alongside personal translations into English. Participative responses are encouraged across the session, during the exercise of textual analysis by the instructor and through the open discussion.

On the Fridays 20 January and 10 February, the exploration of the course is complemented with CineWords, our participative exchanges of movie interpretation, based on the documentary The Ister (David Barison and Daniel Ross, 2004) (more info) and the film In Custody (Ismail Merchant, 1993) (more info), selected by the guide in relation to the course. Each of these participative sessions takes place through a group Skype.

Finally, on the Saturdays 7 January, 4 February and 4 March, the group meets physically in the studio of IST Delhi, for a live Questions & Answers session with the instructor. The room is located in Noida, 30 minutes from Connaught Place by metro, and walking distance from the station. The exact address will be shared with each participant after registration. This session is also broadcasted on Skype for participants unable to join us physically.

Details

Term : 1 – Jan-Mar 2017
Interactive Textual Analysis Sessions :
Thursdays · 6:00-7:30 PM · Group Skype
Q/A Sessions :
1 Saturday/month · 4:00-5:30 PM · IST Delhi
Group Size : 10 Participants
Open to : All · No prerequisites

TEXTS COVERED

Basic Writings

Heidegger
1977 (English)

Selection of Essays :
“The Way to Language”
“The Question Concerning Technology”
“Building Dwelling Thinking”

Love Sonnets

Ghalib
2002

Stray Reflections

Iqbal
1993

"Hasan Kuzagar"

N M Rashid

TIMELINE

Session 1 - Thu 5 Jan

Introduction to Heidegger

Background reading : Heidegger, “What Calls for Thinking ?”

Questions & Anwers 1 - Sat 7 Jan

Questions & Anwers session at IST Delhi · 4:00-5:30 PM.
The discussion is livestreamed on Skype simultaneously for participants unable to join physically.

The group discusses remaining points of analysis and interpretation from the introduction on Heidegger. The topics and themes of discussion are flexible and spring from the questions and comments of the participants.

Session 2 - Thu 12 Jan

Heidegger, “The Way to Language”

Parallel readings of excerpts from Ghalib, Iqbal and Rashid

Session 3 - Thu 19 Jan

Heidegger, “The Way to Language”

Parallel readings of excerpts from Ghalib, Iqbal and Rashid

CineWords 1 - Fri 20 Jan

Participative discussion on the documentary
The Ister by David Barison and Daniel Ross (2004) (more info)
in a Group Skype · 6:30-8:00 PM.

Open interpretations and cross-analyses with the texts of the course.

The participants will be shared a link to watch the documentary online. They are expected to join the discussion after having watched the movie on their own.

Session 4 - Thu 26 Jan

Heidegger, “The Way to Language”

Parallel readings of excerpts from Ghalib, Iqbal and Rashid

Session 5 - Thu 2 Feb

Heidegger, “The Way to Language”

Parallel readings of excerpts from Ghalib, Iqbal and Rashid

Questions & Anwers 2 - Sat 4 Feb

Questions & Anwers session at IST Delhi · 4:00-5:30 PM.
The discussion is livestreamed on Skype simultaneously for participants unable to join physically.

The group discusses remaining points of analysis and interpretation from the essay “The Way to Language” and corresponding creations by the Urdu poets. The topics and themes of discussion are flexible and spring from the questions and comments of the participants.

Session 6 - Thu 9 Feb

Heidegger, “The Question Concerning Technology”

Parallel readings of excerpts from Ghalib, Iqbal and Rashid

CineWords 2 - Fri 10 Feb

Participative discussion on the movie
In Custody by Ismail Merchant (1993) (more info)
in a Group Skype · 6:30-8:00 PM.

Open interpretations and cross-analyses with the texts of the course.

The participants will be shared a link to watch the movie online. They are expected to join the discussion after having watched the movie on their own.

Session 7 - Thu 16 Feb

Heidegger, “The Question Concerning Technology”

Parallel readings of excerpts from Ghalib, Iqbal and Rashid

Session 8 - Thu 23 Feb

Heidegger, “The Question Concerning Technology”

Parallel readings of excerpts from Ghalib, Iqbal and Rashid

Session 9 - Thu 2 Mar

Heidegger, “The Question Concerning Technology”

Parallel readings of excerpts from Ghalib, Iqbal and Rashid

Session 10 - Thu 9 Mar

Heidegger, “Building Dwelling Thinking”

Parallel readings of excerpts from Ghalib, Iqbal, and a special attention to Rashid, “Hasan Kuzagar”

Questions & Anwers 3 - Sat 11 Mar

Questions & Anwers session at IST Delhi · 4:00-5:30 PM.
The discussion is livestreamed on Skype simultaneously for participants unable to join physically.

The group discusses remaining points of analysis and interpretation from the essay “The Question Concerning Technology” and corresponding creations by the Urdu poets. The topics and themes of discussion are flexible and spring from the questions and comments of the participants.

Session 11 - Thu 16 Mar

Heidegger, “Building Dwelling Thinking”

Parallel readings of excerpts from Ghalib, Iqbal, and a special attention to Rashid, “Hasan Kuzagar”

Session 12 - Thu 23 Mar

Heidegger, “Building Dwelling Thinking”

Parallel readings of excerpts from Ghalib, Iqbal, and a special attention to Rashid, “Hasan Kuzagar”

YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Jahandad Babar

Jahandad Babar

Instructor

Experience with the Texts of this Course : 4-5 years

My journey has been a fascination to learn from two parallel springs of wisdom : Western philosophy and Eastern traditions. In spite of their historical, geographical and cultural distance, the seers of both the traditions intertwine in their thoughts more often than one would generally assume. While dealing with a disjoint like modernity, discovering how one of the most important thinkers of the West, Martin Heidegger, and some of his contemporaries in the East wrestled with the ideas of being, of an authentic life, or of human subjectivity, is engaging as well as rewarding. Heidegger held Poets in high regard, so we will make an effort to take him literally by juxtaposing him with some of the Masters of Urdu Poetry, to try and understand if we are still thinking.

Jahandad Babar is a software programmer based in Delhi.
Discover his courses here.