Marxists And Progressive Trends In South Asian Literatures: A Case Study Of Selected Pashto Poetry

Abstract

The Marxist trends in South Asian literature, especially Urdu, and Pashto, are directly connected with the developments of progressive and Marxist literature, which was impacted by the literature developed in former USSR. The Urdu as well Pashto literatures, were influenced by the progressive trends during its formative phase in post-colonial Pakistan. The establishment of Communist Party of Pakistan, (CPP) and the demand for Pakistan are interconnected as the Communist leaders accepted the right of self-determination for the Muslim of India. Although CPP was banned in 1954 along with its associated cadres like Progressive Writers Association and Student organizations, however, it was the literary front which expressed the demands, aspiration, and philosophy of leftist political parties, which resulted into a progressive literary movement in Urdu as well as in Pashto literature. This paper attempts to highlight the Marxist, and progressive trends in Pashto literature by analyzing selected poetry of progressive poets of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan.