Hello, this blog on figurative analysis by I.A. Richards is a response to a blog task by Dr. Dilip Barad sir. This blog deals with verbal analysis of Bollywood songs based on essays of I.A. Richards ‘Figurative language’ and Indian Poetics theory.
I.A.Richards
I.A. Richards, in full Ivor Armstrong Richards, (born Feb. 26, 1893- died Sept. 7, 1979), English critic, poet, and teacher who was highly influential in developing a new way of reading poetry that led to the new criticism and that also influenced some forms of reader-response criticism.
He wrote three of his most influential books: The Meaning of Meaning (1923;); and Principles of Literary criticism (1924) and Practical Critical(1929), companion volumes that he used to develop his critical method.
The essay ‘Figurative language' is a part of ‘Practical criticism’. The objectives of writing Practical Criticism are
1. To introduce a new kind of documentation to those who are interested in the contemporary state of culture whether as critics, philosophers, as teachers, as psychologists, or merely as curious persons.
2. To provide new techniques for those who wish to discover for themselves what they think and feel about poetry (and cognate matters)and why they should like or dislike it.
3. To prepare the way for educational methods more efficient than those we use now in developing discrimination and the power to understand what we hear and read.
In the Essay ‘Figurative Language’ he gave four types of meanings.
- Sense- ‘items’ referred to by a writer.
- Feeling- “an attitude towards it, some special direction, bias or accentuation of interest towards it, some personal flavor or coloring of feeling”.
- Tone- writer’s attitude to his readers or audience
- Intention- writer’s aim, which may be conscious or unconscious.
Two uses of language
- The scientific use
- Emotive use
Four types of misunderstanding
- Sense of poetry
- Over- literal reading
- Defective Scholarship
- Difference between the words in poetry and prose
New Criticism:
New Criticism emphasizes explication, or "close reading," of "the work itself." It rejects old historicism's attention to biographical and sociological matters.
There are also the critics like- Cleanth Brooks who gave ‘Language of Paradox’; Allen Tate who talked about the Tension in the poetry between two opposite forces: extension (literal meaning- denotative) and intension (metaphorical meaning- connotative).
In Indian poetics also we have Three different ways of reading meaning.
- અભિધા - we consider the direct meaning of the words.
- લક્ષણા - there is no direct meaning, we need to consider secondary meaning.
- વ્યંજના - there is direct meaning but it's not suitable so have to go for secondary meaning.
Now let us do a verbal analysis of the Bollywood song.
Singer- Sonu Nigam
Writer- Anil Pandey
Movie- Kabhi khushi Kabhi Gham
Composer- Sandesh Sandilya
सूरज हुआ मद्धम, चाँद जलने लगा
आसमान ये हाय क्यूँ पिघलने लगा
सूरज हुआ मद्धम, चाँद जलने लगा
आसमान ये हाय क्यूँ पिघलने लगा
मैं ठेहरा रहा, ज़मीन चलने लगी
धड़का ये दिल, सांस थमने लगी
ओ, क्या ये मेरा पेहला पेहला प्यार है
सजना, क्या ये मेरा पेहला पेहला प्यार है
हो ओ ओ, ओ ओ ओ ओ ओ,
आ आ आ आ आ आ
सूरज हुआ मद्धम, चाँद जलने लगा
आसमान ये हाय क्यूँ पिघलने लगा
मैं ठेहरी रही, ज़मीन चलने लगी
धड़का ये दिल, सांस थमने लगी
हाँ, क्या ये मेरा पेहला पेहला प्यार है
सजना, क्या ये मेरा पेहला पेहला प्यार है
है खूबसूरत ये पल, सब कुछ रहा है बदल
सपने हकीकत में जो ढल रहे है
क्या सदियों से पुराना है रिश्ता ये हमारा
के जिस तरह तुमसे हम मिल रहे है
यूँही रहे हर दम प्यार का मौसम
यूँही मिलो हमसे तुम जनम जनम
मैं ठेहरा रहा, ज़मीन चलने लगी
(ला ला ला, ला ला ला, ला ला ला)
धड़का ये दिल, सांस थमने लगी
हाँ, क्या ये मेरा पेहला पेहला प्यार है
सजना, क्या ये मेरा पेहला पेहला प्यार है
तेरे ही रंग से यूँ मैं तो रंगीन हूँ सनम
पाके तुझे खुद से ही खो रही हूँ सनम
ओ माहिया, वे तेरे इश्क में
हाँ दुबके पार मैं हो रही हूँ सनम
सागर हुआ प्यासा, रात जागने लगी
शोलो के दिल में भी आग जलने लगी
मैं ठेहरी रही, ज़मीन चलने लगी
धड़का ये दिल, सांस थमने लगी
क्या ये मेरा पेहला पेहला प्यार है
सजना
क्या ये मेरा पेहला पेहला प्यार है
New criticism/ First reading
First sense we get through this song is that it can be a nature song as it has used many natural elements like sun, moon, land, sky, ocean, etc.. We also get a sense of a love song as the word ‘pyar’ is found several times. It also suggests appreciation or thanking the beloved for love and being his/her companion and his/her importance in her/ his life. The poem also describes some unsystematic or random things which are perhaps to prove their lostness in love, in each other.
Misunderstanding
This is a Hindi song, so it becomes difficult for English native to understand it. I am trying to explain it in a way that everyone can get its gist and use figurative language in it. We will look at what misunderstanding can happen in reading this song.
मद्धम- dim light
जलने- burn, Lightened
पिघलने- melting
ठेहरा- steady, stay
चलने - walk, move
थमने- pause
These are some words from the first stanza of the song which seems to be problematic in the song when we go for scientific reading/ over literal reading.
सूरज हुआ मद्धम, चाँद जलने लगा
आसमान ये हाय क्यूँ पिघलने लगा
मद्धम and जलने (meaning are given above) are the words generally used for light or fire but here it is used for sun and moon. And also there is a contradiction, sun is brighter and moon but it is described as dim and moon brighter and rising and setting are the words used for sun and moon instead of dimming and brightening.
मैं ठेहरा रहा, ज़मीन चलने लगी
धड़का ये दिल, सांस थमने लगी
In the above lines, it suggests ‘ I was steady and land started moving’ and ‘heart started beating and breathing stopped ' which is completely unscientific. ‘ We can interpret that perhaps the protagonist is on Escalator! And the next line seems like the protagonist is in threat, due to the sudden effect of something he/ she is in shock. Both these activities are completely unscientific.
सपने हकीकत में जो ढल रहे है
ढल- falling, descend
Descend is generally fall, fall of evening but here ‘descend’ is used for falling of dreams into reality.
यूँही रहे हर दम प्यार का मौसम
यूँही मिलो हमसे तुम जनम जनम
प्यार का मौसम- season of love
These lines are wishes by the protagonist that the season of love stays the same forever and they meet similarly in their every birth. We interpret the protagonist to be a believer of re-birth philosophy. Season of love, according to the mythos grid we can read the season they are talking about can be summer as summer is the season for romance. But seasons are a changing thing; it cannot stay the same forever. And about the idea of meeting in every birth seems to be impractical, we don't have any proof about re- birth philosophy and if we believe in it, we don't remember anything about last birth so we don't know whether we are with the same partner or not.
तेरे ही रंग से यूँ मैं तो रंगीन हूँ सनम
Here the question arises: रंग -color means which color? Are they celebrating Holi? Is there any color to specific people which are shared with the beloved?
Also ‘सनम- sanam’ is the same as beloved or nick name or just spoken out of love?
पाके तुझे खुद से ही खो रही हूँ सनम
This line gives the idea that a homogeneous solution; solute completely loses its individual characteristics and apt characteristic of solvent and form solution. Here the question of equality can be raised! These are lines sung by female protagonists, we can interpret the society which forces women to adapt to a new house, follow rules of husband/ beloved and lose her own individuality which is considered ‘sanskar’. Why is a woman खो रही- losing herself after getting beloved?
ओ माहिया, वे तेरे इश्क में
हाँ दुबके पार मैं हो रही हूँ सनम
दुबके- drowning पार- beyond
How can someone drown in a human and also come across. We can also read as is the female protagonist achieving something she longed for after falling in love with him? इश्क में
हाँ दुबके- drowning in love; is love given a metaphor of ocean or ocean a metaphor of love?
सागर हुआ प्यासा, रात जागने लगी
शोलो के दिल में भी आग जलने लगी
सागर हुआ प्यासा- ocean getting thirty; रात जागने लगी- night awaking; शोलो के दिल में भी आग जलने लगी- fire in the heart of flame. Here the ocean, night and flame is personified. This seems completely illogical. Ocean is full of water and night is for sleeping.
We find many problems in over literal reading of the poems. All These complaints rest upon assumptions about language that would be fatal to poetry. If we look at every song or poetry scientifically perhaps it would not ever survive. Language in poetry and prose is very different so it needs a different attitude for better understanding.
Analysis song with Indian poetics terms:
Click Here to Read my Blog On Indian PoeticsReading it through Gujarati meanings the major part of song comes under લક્ષણા (there is no direct meaning, we need to consider secondary meaning). For example; मैं ठेहरा रहा, ज़मीन चलने लगी- I was steady and land started moving. It has direct meaning but it makes no sense so we go for better understanding the perhaps protagonist is in state of shock and to explain his state he is using this types of metaphors.
Rasa
Theory by Bharata. Indian concept of aesthetic flavor, an essential element of any work of visual, literary, or performing art that can only be suggested, not described. rasa is an individual feeling, what feeling one attains from reading poetry. In this song I felt is ‘shringara rasa’ which evolves from love.
Dhvani
Rasa is something beyond the language, but Dhvani is all about language. Dhvani theory talks about understanding what is not said, to read between the lines. सागर हुआ प्यासा, रात जागने लगी
शोलो के दिल में भी आग जलने लगी these lines are the perfect example. It indirectly. Its Dhvani talks about the restlessness and happiness of the lover.
Vakrokti
Vakrokti, theory by Kuntaka. Vakrokti means irony. Vakrokti we find here is through this line क्या ये मेरा पेहला पेहला प्यार है सजना protagonists are sharing so much of their feelings and still they are in doubt about their feeling.
Riti
Vamana wrote that, શિલે ભવા શૈલી. According to Vamana riti is superior and most important in literature. Every writer has her/ his own style and this song is also written in a specific style, majorly ABCB.
Auchitya theory :
According to Ksemendra, any literary work should be written in proper format, structure wise, beauty wise, use of figurative, flow of emotions, each and everything should be proper. And we find that this song completely justifies all the needs of Auchitya. We can find here the flow of the emotions of poets.
This blog is like a new learning and experiment. If you find anything to add please comment below. Thank you
[Words- 1860]
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