The Influence of Western Fiction Writers on Saadat Hasan Manto’s Fiction Writing

Abstract:

Saadat Hassan Manto was a great storyteller of his time. A characteristic of Munto’s fiction, which gives him the most prominent place among all his contemporaries, is the presence of truth in his fiction. He honestly presented his observations and spirits in a form of fiction, without any curtain. When Manto stepped into the field of creative writing, examples of Western artists like Leo Tolstoy, Guy de Maupassant, O. Henry, Ernest Miller Hemingway, Mayam, Sigmund Fried, G.W.F Hegel and D.H Lawrence, etc., were present before him. Manto was consciously or unconsciously inspired by these Western fictionists. Some of his fictions depict the startling style of Mayam Saal and pessimistic revelations of Anton Chekhov, whereas some of his fictions narrate the simplicity and realism of Maxim Gorky, which is portrayed in his fiction stories like Hatak, Shughal, Nayra and naya-qanoon etc. Monto inspired his topic, art and technique from Western fiction and created fictions in Urdu as an eloquent and prolific fictionist.

Keywords:

Saadat Hassan Manto, Fiction, Realism, Inspiration, Literary Style, Naya-Qanoon, Pessimism.

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