'Cultural and Social Context' and 'Individual Consciousness of the Historian' in Urdu Literary Historiography: A Comparative Study of Methodology

اردو ادبی تاریخ نگاری میں ’تہذیبی و سماجی سیاق‘ اور ’مورخ کا انفرادی شعور‘: منہاجیات کا تقابلی مطالعہ

Abstract

This research paper presents a critical and comparative analysis of the methodologies employed in Urdu literary historiography, tracing its evolution from traditional chronicle writing (Tazkira tradition) to the modern concept of "Cultural Totality." Focusing primarily on the historiographical contributions of Dr Saleem Akhtar, Dr Tabassum Kashmiri, and Dr Jameel Jalibi, the study investigates the dialectical relationship between the "Socio-Cultural Context" and the "Historian's Individual Consciousness." The paper challenges the traditional demand for absolute neutrality, arguing in favour of Dr Saleem Akhtar’s stance that a historian’s subjective opinion, decisiveness, and psychoanalytical insight are indispensable for interpreting literary history. Furthermore, it examines the conflict in linguistic historiography between the dry, technical principles of structural linguistics and the socio-cultural approach that views language evolution through the lens of social conditioning. The study also re-evaluates the philosophy of periodisation, advocating for the application of Hegel’s concept of Zeitgeist (Spirit of the Age) over linear, dynastic divisions, citing Allama Iqbal as the quintessential embodiment of the "Interim Period." Finally, the paper analyses the stylistic divergence between the "Encyclopedic" detail of Jameel Jalibi and the "Capsule" (concise) historiography of Saleem Akhtar, concluding that a synthesis of psychological depth and sociological breadth is essential for the future of Urdu literary history.