The Terrible and Destructive Human Tragedy of Subaltern Kashmir in the light of Agha Shahid Ali’s poetry

Abstract

Ali depicted in general the terrible and destructive human tragedy of subaltern but in particular he put forth the subaltern voice of Kashmir in the landscape of his poetry, and this novelty emerges from the chaos of Kashmir. He had been educated in English and he develops the interest in English language and literature. So English literature has influenced him and his behavior had changed accordingly that he became well aware about postcoloniality. He wants to get rid from these clenches all the countries of the world as well as his motherland Kashmir which he also represented in his poetry. He is extremely worried not only with his previously colonized home „the Indian subcontinent, particularly the region of Kashmir‟ but also with other cultures subject to the repercussion of colonialism and the modern neocolonial order. He writes poetry of „compassionate cosmopolitanism,‟ which, fixed in his multi-cultural tradition, not only foregrounds an ethics of empathy across countrywide and civilizing limitations but also implies an assessment of colonial and neo-colonial power. His cosmopolitanism is especially meaningful if read in the context of postwar American travel poetry and enables a review of the association between “home” and “foreign,” between local issues and universal apprehensions.