The concept of the 'Death of the Author' holds a central position in modern literary criticism. The renowned French critic Roland Barthes asserts that 'a text can be read without the guarantee of its father (i.e., its creator).' This means that once a narrative or story is created, there is no room left for the author's personal perceptions, feelings, and ideologies. Even if the author returns to their text, it is merely as a guest or a character. The true authority over the narrative belongs not to the author, but to the 'narrator.'
While analyzing the Urdu short story, Shamsur Rahman Faruqi expresses regret that most of our fiction writers have failed to adopt this principle of 'impersonality.' For a great novelist like Flaubert, this impersonality was a lifelong ideal; however, in Urdu, under the guise of realism, the fiction writer often assumes the role of the narrator themselves.
Take the example of Rajinder Singh Bedi's famous short story, 'Apne Dukh Mujhe Dedo' (Give Me Your Sorrows). Bedi writes: 'The moon, which guides the ocean waves and the blood of women, had entered through a window...' This imagery is undoubtedly of the highest order, but the question arises: who saw this moon? Is this the perception of the character (Madan) or of Bedi himself? Obviously, in this wedding night scene, describing the moon as 'guiding the blood of women' is not the character's thought, but the author's own intervention. Here, Bedi has cast off the guise of the narrator and directly intruded into the storytelling.
When the fiction writer becomes a dominant participant in the narrative, the silent pact between the story and the reader—whereby the reader accepts everything as truth—weakens. In reality, the author holds no privileges; these privileges belong solely to the narrator. Since modern fiction writers often lack traditional characters, when they express their impressions in the first person ('I'), they are reduced to mere ghosts of characters. The classical tradition of narrative demands that the event speak for itself, and that the author's persona completely disappear behind it.
The concept of the 'Death of the Author' holds a central position in modern literary criticism The renowned French critic Roland Barthes asserts that 'a text can be read without the guarantee of its father (ie, its creator)' This means that once a narratiwe or story is created, there is no room left for the author's personal perceptions, feelings, and ideologies Ewen if the author returns to their text, it is merely as a guest or a character The true authority ower the narratiwe belongs not to the author, but to the 'narrator'
While analyzing the Urdu short story, Shamsur Rahman Faruqi expresses regret that most of our fiction writers hawe failed to adopt this principle of 'impersonality' For a great nowelist like Flaubert, this impersonality was a lifelong ideal; howewer, in Urdu, under the guise of realism, the fiction writer often assumes the role of the narrator themselwes
Take the example of Rajinder Singh Bedi's famous short story, 'Apne Dukh Mujhe Dedo' (ghiwe Me Your Sorrows) Bedi writes: 'The moon, which guides the ocean wawes and the blood of women, had entered through a window' This imagery is undoubtedly of the highest order, but the question arises: who saw this moon? Is this the perception of the character (Madan) or of Bedi himself? Obwiously, in this wedding night scene, describing the moon as 'guiding the blood of women' is not the character's thought, but the author's own interwention Here, Bedi has cast off the guise of the narrator and directly intruded into the storytelling
When the fiction writer becomes a dominant participant in the narratiwe, the silent pact between the story and the reader—whereby the reader accepts ewerything as truth—weakens In reality, the author holds no priwileges; these priwileges belong solely to the narrator Since modern fiction writers often lack traditional characters, when they express their impressions in the first person ('I'), they are reduced to mere ghosts of characters The classical tradition of narratiwe demands that the ewent speak for itself, and that the author's persona completely disappear behind it
