Most influential writer of the last century?

[Ace Base]

Not restricted to language, nationality or genre, who to you think are the most influential writers of the last century and why?

There are many who can beget beautiful dreams and create beautiful words, but I'm not looking for a D H Lawrence or a Frost, not a Mahfouz or a Narayan but more along the lines of Muhammad Iqbal or perhaps even a Fitzgerald.

The writer must be responsible for inspiring a paradigm shift or a revival or a revolution or new movement.

I think the must influential writers of the last century are, in no particular order:

1. Shiekh Nasir Al Albani for reviving the spirit of independant thought in Islam and authentication of Ahadith.

2. Shiekh Muhammed Iqbal for inspiring a separate homeland for the Muslims (although I think the end product was quite different from what he envisaged).

3. F Scott Fitzgerald for epitomising the "jazz age".

4. Chairman Mao for creating/furthering a philosophy.

There are probably more but I can't think of them right now.

Perhaps you can help?

 

[Schiller]

excellent thread, will contribute in detail later. a qs for now

would you say Joyce has a shoe in?

p.s fitzgerald???

 

[Ace Base]

excellent thread, will contribute in detail later. a qs for now

would you say Joyce has a shoe in?

p.s fitzgerald???

Joyce stands as much of a chance as Camus. Although they are birds of a different feather.

P. S. What's wrong with Fitzgerald, eh?

 

[Hussain]

can Mirza Ghulam Ahmad be classified as a person of previous century
if yes then he should be included in this list as his followers today are not less than 3-4 million

 

[Daoud]

I would say Tolkein's work has inspired a lot.
Best selling book and hugely popular movie. However, look at things such as Dungeons & Dragons or a large amount of RPG video games over the last 20 years. They've all been inspired by Tolkein

Probably not what you had in mind, but very influential none the less

 

[Ace Base]

I would say Tolkein's work has inspired a lot.
Best selling book and hugely popular movie. However, look at things such as Dungeons & Dragons or a large amount of RPG video games over the last 20 years. They've all been inspired by Tolkein

Probably not what you had in mind, but very influential none the less

Excellent choice, Daoud!

By the same token, can Rowling be considered as well?

 

[Ace Base]

can Mirza Ghulam Ahmad be classified as a person of previous century
if yes then he should be included in this list as his followers today are not less than 3-4 million

Include away!

What matters is what you think and why.

 

[MIG]

Not restricted to language, nationality or genre, who to you think are the most influential writers of the last century and why?

There are many who can beget beautiful dreams and create beautiful words, but I'm not looking for a D H Lawrence or a Frost, not a Mahfouz or a Narayan but more along the lines of Muhammad Iqbal or perhaps even a Fitzgerald.

The writer must be responsible for inspiring a paradigm shift or a revival or a revolution or new movement.

I think the must influential writers of the last century are, in no particular order:

1. Shiekh Nasir Al Albani for reviving the spirit of independant thought in Islam and authentication of Ahadith.

2. Shiekh Muhammed Iqbal for inspiring a separate homeland for the Muslims (although I think the end product was quite different from what he envisaged).

3. F Scott Fitzgerald for epitomising the "jazz age".

4. Chairman Mao for creating/furthering a philosophy.

There are probably more but I can't think of them right now.

Perhaps you can help?

How about other writers of the Arab World - Khalil [G]Jibran ?

 

[Daoud]

Excellent choice, Daoud!

By the same token, can Rowling be considered as well?

Probably could, but I dont think Rowling's work has been as influential on other such a wide range of things. Certainly not yet anyway

 

[MIG]

I would also include Sir Syed Ahmad Khan of Aligarh - the man who advocated education as a weapon against fighting Western hegemony - not liked by all Mulla types but very influential and also founder of that very famous Muslim institution of learning in India - The Aligarh Muslim University

 

[lahori@denmark]

can Mirza Ghulam Ahmad be classified as a person of previous century
if yes then he should be included in this list as his followers today are not less than 3-4 million

its around 200 millions ahmadi muslims...i m not sure but around 30 millions ahmadi muslim only in india..

 

[Ace Base]

How about other writers of the Arab World - Khalil [G]Jibran ?

Gibran falls into the same category as Salinger, Lawrence and Fynn; thought-provoking, even beautiful but ultimately inconsequential.

Just my opinion, though.

 

[MIG]

But surely AB, the Arab world must have seen some influential writers - Would Nasser or even Gaddafi qualify as "influential" in their writings?

 

[Ace Base]

Speaking of Arab writers, surely Sayyid Qutb is THE most influential writer of this century?

Mahmud Darweesh and Qabbani have also had some influence in shaping the century.

 

[Ace Base]

But surely AB, the Arab world must have seen some influential writers - Would Nasser or even Gaddafi qualify as "influential" in their writings?

Yes, Gaddafi would qualify!

Good spot, that one.

Nasser and Arab nationalism?

Yes, I'll give you that one too although really, Nasser was inspired by Qutb!!!

 

[Ace Base]

But surely AB, the Arab world must have seen some influential writers - Would Nasser or even Gaddafi qualify as "influential" in their writings?

It's a sad reflection of the condition they are in that Arabs have done very little "influencing" in the last 100 years.

Qutb, Gaddafi and who else?

Sheikh Nasir was an Albanian...

 

[MIG]

How about in terms of political commentary - Would Mohammed Hassanein Heikal be counted as one ?

 

[Rana]

can Mirza Ghulam Ahmad be classified as a person of previous century
if yes then he should be included in this list as his followers today are not less than 3-4 million

They are over 200 million followers of him

 

[Ace Base]

How about in terms of political commentary - Would Mohammed Hassanein Heikal be counted as one ?

Possibly.

Masha Allah, you seem quite well-versed with contemporary Arab writers! You've just put to shame almost one million Emaratis!

 

[Ace Base]

Chomsky- influential or controversial?

 

[Toony™®]

alan oliver.

 

[Daoud]

Chomsky- influential or controversial?

Influential AND controversial

 

[z10]

as Daoud puts it, influential and controversial are not mutually exclusive


Mein Kampf?

 

[z10]

einstein's theses would be highly influential aswell

 

[MIG]

as Daoud puts it, influential and controversial are not mutually exclusive


Mein Kampf?

Mein Kampf is the works of a madman - I wonder if many people read it of their own volition ?

 

[zaf1986]

Sir Syed has to be up there.

 

[Ace Base]

as Daoud puts it, influential and controversial are not mutually exclusive


Mein Kampf?

Subhaan Allah, I thought of Hitler too!

But was deterred, because it occured to me while on the toilet!

 

[zaf1986]

How about in terms of political commentary - Would Mohammed Hassanein Heikal be counted as one ?

Haykal was a historian as well IIRC...

 

[z10]

Mein Kampf is the works of a madman - I wonder if many people read it of their own volition ?

a madman yes, but a higly successful one

many have read it, out of curiosity to see how the mind of Hitler worked more than anything else i suspect

 

[zaf1986]

I don't think Hitler was any more mad than George Bush or Tony Blair or any of the other jokers around today.

 

[Daoud]

a madman yes, but a higly successful one

many have read it, out of curiosity to see how the mind of Hitler worked more than anything else i suspect

I started reading it once, and couldnt get past 2 chapters. Definetely the rambling of a mad man. Having said that, he was incredibly effective until the war started

 

[Ace Base]

I don't think Hitler was any more mad than George Bush or Tony Blair or any of the other jokers around today.

Truer words haven't been spoken.

 

[MIG]

I don't think Hitler was any more mad than George Bush or Tony Blair or any of the other jokers around today.

Hitler presided over the systematic murder of jews in the 2nd WW - how is that similar to Bush or Blair ? If they were anything like Hitler, you and I would be living in concentration camps instead of leading free lives in the West.

 

[zaf1986]

Systematic murder of Jews (as well as others including Muslims) was not an act of madness. IMO.

 

[Ace Base]

Hitler presided over the systematic murder of jews in the 2nd WW - how is that similar to Bush or Blair ? If they were anything like Hitler, you and I would be living in concentration camps instead of leading free lives in the West.

The systematic murder of the Jews is no different from the campaign of hate and paranoia whipped up by Bush and his lap-dogs, but I see what you mean.

 

[robosapien]

from a pure literary perspective, i would go for joyce, elliot, sartre or even marquez. i think influential writer is the one who can influence the intelligentia and has remarkable acheivements in defining the standards or approaches for new and upcoming writers.

iqbal is influential mostly in subconitent and was not a true philosopher. he was a g8 poet but most of the ideas were taken from goethe et al. mao was not a writer either. he influenced the world with his politics and actions. his written work is not at all comparable to someone like marx. einstein and other physicists who had contributions on the fourth dimension of time probably had the greatest influenced on science, art, literature and wt not but they were not writers either. but if do include them, then there are many other scientists who have influenced this world "silently", for instance, turing, knuth and many more.

 

[samisback]

its around 200 millions ahmadi muslims...i m not sure but around 30 millions ahmadi muslim only in india..

what say that again

any proof ?

 

[robosapien]

so a question to be asked is how do we define someone being influential? as i said b4 that my understanding of an influential writer is the one who can influence the intelligentia and not the zombies (or masses).

 

[Hash]

what say that again

any proof ?

You could always go to the Ahmadiyya Jamaat offices and count the bait forms

 

[zaf1986]

Hash: Are you Ahmadi by any chance? (just wondering).

 

[z10]

in that case, Robo: Thomas Harris

he wrote arguably the first ever unclassifiable trilogy, ofcourse, namely the hannibal leveter trilogy.

It was the first of its kind in that it had all genres in one, from romance to horror and crime to spiritualism

 

[from_da_lost_dim3nsion]

a madman yes, but a higly successful one

many have read it, out of curiosity to see how the mind of Hitler worked more than anything else i suspect

it was not ppl that after reading his boook changed thhe wrold , it was he, himself that changed the world.i dont think many ppl even heard about his book before WW II .

 

[z10]

actually, the propoganda machine drove the book to all corners of Germany when he came to power

but, the point remains, he is one of if not the most influentials characters of the last century and his thoughts, his beliefs are encapsulated in this one book

 

[Geordie Ahmed]

alan oliver.

) )

 

[kasoo10]

For me it has to be Allama Muhammad Iqbal. Hands down!

Recently I came to know that his prose is much more influencial then his poetory. Although he is recognised for his poetery.

 

[robosapien]

Speaking of Arab writers, surely Sayyid Qutb is THE most influential writer of this century?

Mahmud Darweesh and Qabbani have also had some influence in shaping the century.

bear my ignorance, but i'm not at all aware of these wirters and their contributions to shape the 20th century. will u enlighten us about it?

 

[robosapien]

I would also include Sir Syed Ahmad Khan of Aligarh - the man who advocated education as a weapon against fighting Western hegemony - not liked by all Mulla types but very influential and also founder of that very famous Muslim institution of learning in India - The Aligarh Muslim University

i think his influence was more of an activist than a writer. i've read some of his khutbaat when i was young but i'm not sure if his writing was that influential.

 

[robosapien]

in that case, Robo: Thomas Harris

he wrote arguably the first ever unclassifiable trilogy, ofcourse, namely the hannibal leveter trilogy.

It was the first of its kind in that it had all genres in one, from romance to horror and crime to spiritualism

again, i dont know abt the guy. but having "all genres in one" is either a trademark of old classics or commercial digest type novels.
i remember ibne-insha wrote a column on commerial novels where he described the ingredients of ready made, on-demand historic, islamic and romantic novels. so such author asks ppl, "would u like 80% war and 20% romance or the opposite"

 

[Schiller]

so a question to be asked is how do we define someone being influential? as i said b4 that my understanding of an influential writer is the one who can influence the intelligentia and not the zombies (or masses).

one of the reasons robo and I are old friends, is because we quite often tend to think along the same lines. Above mentioned post is an example.

Influence perhaps should be based on that.

and to start it off, id forth the name of Wittgenstein and Freud.

 

[zaf1986]

Asbaab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind is a good read.

 

[Schiller]

sir syed/allama - i wouldn't call influential.
joyce,witty,shaw,hemingway(maybe)
freud and Eliot

 

[robosapien]

sir syed/allama - i wouldn't call influential.
joyce,witty,shaw,hemingway(maybe)
freud and Eliot

sir syed or iqbal were only influential in subcontinet or in pak. i dont y ppl r mixing influential wirters of pak (or muslim writers) with the influential writers of the whole world.

 

[z10]

would it be fair to say that the 19th century had a greater number of influential writers than the 20th century?

 

[nafajafam]

bear my ignorance, but i'm not at all aware of these wirters and their contributions to shape the 20th century. will u enlighten us about it?

Sayyid Qutb's most famous book, i think is 'milestones'. If i remember correctly, he wrote it during his jail time. It's about establishing a truly islamic state and islamic movement among other things. to many he was viewed as a extremist, and he might have been as well. i do not know. ab, i am sure can explain it much better.

 

[Aurangzeb]

Hitler presided over the systematic murder of jews in the 2nd WW - how is that similar to Bush or Blair ? If they were anything like Hitler, you and I would be living in concentration camps instead of leading free lives in the West.

you and i can easily be living in concentration camps...guantanamo bay is the gulag of the 21st century...american propaganda (especially fox news) has many parallels with hitleristic propaganda...hitler blew up the reichstag, bush blew up the twin towers...the similarities are astounding...

 

[Aurangzeb]

to answer the question...noam chomsky...nuff said...

 

[MIG]

sir syed or iqbal were only influential in subcontinet or in pak. i dont y ppl r mixing influential wirters of pak (or muslim writers) with the influential writers of the whole world.

And why not ? Lives of millions in the sub continent were changed by their thinking - this is a thread about influence of certain writers and not about who can name as many exotic names as possible !

 

[MIG]

you and i can easily be living in concentration camps...guantanamo bay is the gulag of the 21st century...american propaganda (especially fox news) has many parallels with hitleristic propaganda...hitler blew up the reichstag, bush blew up the twin towers...the similarities are astounding...

You and I know that Gitmo is nothing compared with concentration camps where people were gassed to death ...

 

[Schiller]

sir syed or iqbal were only influential in subcontinet or in pak. i dont y ppl r mixing influential wirters of pak (or muslim writers) with the influential writers of the whole world.

a sort of a flaw with us perhaps. can't discuss art.. in general without bringing in some obscure pak/indian guy.

NO sir syed/allama were not influential. not as literary figures.

 

[Schiller]

And why not ? Lives of millions in the sub continent were changed by their thinking - this is a thread about influence of certain writers and not about who can name as many exotic names as possible !

as robo said and I concurred, we are viewing influential as influential amongst the kind, the intellegentsia, not the riff raff, which is a criteria for nothing at all.
If you look at western literature for the most part (english being this and that and a lot of people tend to follow that stream), the following would be the highest:

1. Joyce (hate him and Camus but... )

3. T.S Eliot

5. Wittgesntein

7. Freud

9. Hemingway (maybe?)

Russians were nowhere to be seen in the last one, same goes for Germans. A shame really because these guys were creme de la creme of prose.

 

[robosapien]

And why not ? Lives of millions in the sub continent were changed by their thinking - this is a thread about influence of certain writers and not about who can name as many exotic names as possible !

i think u r confused with the notions of most influential person and writer. of these two, the real writer was iqbal and "millions" even couldnt understand his work. outside the subcontinent, iqbal's work has influenced many ppl at academic level but not as much as many other names mentioned in this thread.

 

[Schiller]

Don't know where the hell sir syed came from wasay

 

[Schiller]

Perhaps its a bias but english writers or those that get translated in it, still what make the influence that others fall for.

 

[z10]

would be interesting to see how AB is defining influence here

 

[robosapien]

a sort of a flaw with us perhaps. can't discuss art.. in general without bringing in some obscure pak/indian guy.

NO sir syed/allama were not influential. not as literary figures.

this is very sad. i would like to name someone from pak but i cant. most of them r influenced by others. dont see a lot of originality in them.

 

[robosapien]

Don't know where the hell sir syed came from wasay

i dont know either. waisay i do think that he influenced pakistan movement more than anyone else. the guy was so sincere that he used to visit prostitutes to gather donations for his college. mullahs were after him but he never cared for anyone.
but being a writer is a very different thing (my apologies to mig!!)

 

[robosapien]

as robo said and I concurred, we are viewing influential as influential amongst the kind, the intellegentsia, not the riff raff, which is a criteria for nothing at all.
If you look at western literature for the most part (english being this and that and a lot of people tend to follow that stream), the following would be the highest:

1. Joyce (hate him and Camus but... )

3. T.S Eliot

5. Wittgesntein

7. Freud

9. Hemingway (maybe?)

Russians were nowhere to be seen in the last one, same goes for Germans. A shame really because these guys were creme de la creme of prose.

true indeed. this stream of english followers have created a lot of misconception. i think spanish (south american) literature during the last 50 yrs or so had been very much in the top ranks.

i remember an article by marquez where he talked abt his favourite authors. he said that when he first read metamorphosis by kafka, he came to know that story could be written like that. about hemingway he remarked that 'he' can tell u how a cat can turn around a street corner. he said about neruda that wtever word he utters, becomes poetry. about tolstoy he believed that a novel bigger than "war and peace" has never been written.

 

[Aurangzeb]

You and I know that Gitmo is nothing compared with concentration camps where people were gassed to death ...

*sigh* i bet they wish they were gassed to death so it would end the torture these bicharay go through at the hands of US forces...anyways this is kind of off topic, so i would advise you read "chain of command" by seymour hersh...a good part of the book is a total expose of gitmo and what goes on behind the scenes...

 

[Schiller]

true indeed. this stream of english followers have created a lot of misconception. i think spanish (south american) literature during the last 50 yrs or so had been very much in the top ranks.

i remember an article by marquez where he talked abt his favourite authors. he said that when he first read metamorphosis by kafka, he came to know that story could be written like that. about hemingway he remarked that 'he' can tell u how a cat can turn around a street corner. he said about neruda that wtever word he utters, becomes poetry. about tolstoy he believed that a novel bigger than "war and peace" has never been written.

Oh war and peace is it! Once that book is mentioned, every other book must be discarded away from consciousness.

Speaking of influence and tolstoy, his Anna and death and cossacks were far more influential than that great book.

As for Chomsky, well hes supposed to be good, as was Said and Ahmed but they're not influential within their art.

 

[Aurangzeb]

As for Chomsky, well hes supposed to be good, as was Said and Ahmed but they're not influential within their art.

"Avram Noam Chomsky (b. December 7, 1928) is the Institute Professor Emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Chomsky is credited with the creation of the theory of generative grammar, often considered to be the most significant contribution to the field of theoretical linguistics in the 20th century. He also helped spark the cognitive revolution in psychology through his review of B.F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior, in which he challenged the behaviorist approach to the study of mind and language dominant in the 1950s. His naturalistic approach to the study of language has also affected the philosophy of language and mind (see Harman, Fodor). He is also credited with the establishment of the so-called Chomsky hierarchy, a classification of formal languages in terms of their generative power." - wikipedia

if this is not considered as influential in his field, i don't know what is...

 

[zaf1986]

I reckon Chomsky would do well to stick to linguistics and not dabble with politics.

 

[zaf1986]

sir syed or iqbal were only influential in subcontinet or in pak. i dont y ppl r mixing influential wirters of pak (or muslim writers) with the influential writers of the whole world.

Sir Syed maybe, but Iqbal is influential all over the world, at least as far as his poetry is concerned...

 

[Schiller]

again, aurangzeb, robo and I are looking at influence within the art.

 

[Schiller]

Sir Syed maybe, but Iqbal is influential all over the world, at least as far as his poetry is concerned...

not really zaf

 

[Schiller]

on re-thinking it a bit, perhaps chomsky's work on universal language could be considered influential if we can somehow determine its influence

 

[Aurangzeb]

I reckon Chomsky would do well to stick to linguistics and not dabble with politics.

umm...have you even read any of his books or are you just making a statement for the sake of getting a reaction? he is the preeminent voice on left-wing thought in the 21st century...

 

[zaf1986]

umm...have you even read any of his books or are you just making a statement for the sake of getting a reaction? he is the preeminent voice on left-wing thought in the 21st century...

I've read enough to know who he is, and what he is. I do know he is the voice of "left wing thought" in the US, but I still reckon he would do better sticking to what he does best (Linguistics).

Just my opinion.

 

[MIG]

as robo said and I concurred, we are viewing influential as influential amongst the kind, the intellegentsia, not the riff raff, which is a criteria for nothing at all.
If you look at western literature for the most part (english being this and that and a lot of people tend to follow that stream), the following would be the highest:

1. Joyce (hate him and Camus but... )

3. T.S Eliot

5. Wittgesntein

7. Freud

9. Hemingway (maybe?)

Russians were nowhere to be seen in the last one, same goes for Germans. A shame really because these guys were creme de la creme of prose.

Looks to me that Easterners have some kind of inferiority complex so that we wouldnt be seen "dead" praising an Eastern writer! It doesnt mean that the East has not produced influential writers - We dont have people who have written 10000 page books on how beautiful the sunset looks or admiring the female form, but people through their articles and essays ( which btw, does make them writers ) have "influenced" the lives of millions - and continue to influence them today !

As a Muslim, we should be proud of what Sir Syed did for Muslims in India - and yes he did write essays ( Sir Syed Kay Mazameen - remember those ? ).

Just because the West did not have time nor the inclination to admire Allama or Sir Syed doesnt mean that they were not influential.

And Robo, demeaning one of our greats by mentioning stuff from their private lives ( for which they will answer to ALLAH alone) is pretty poor indeed. This thread is about their influence, not on their habits.

 

[MIG]

a sort of a flaw with us perhaps. can't discuss art.. in general without bringing in some obscure pak/indian guy.

NO sir syed/allama were not influential. not as literary figures.

So should we label this thread " A Special thread to discuss Comma and Robos special influential writers " ? Can we participate, oh please sir ?

 

[robosapien]

Looks to me that Easterners have some kind of inferiority complex so that we wouldnt be seen "dead" praising an Eastern writer! It doesnt mean that the East has not produced influential writers - We dont have people who have written 10000 page books on how beautiful the sunset looks or admiring the female form, but people through their articles and essays ( which btw, does make them writers ) have "influenced" the lives of millions - and continue to influence them today !

As a Muslim, we should be proud of what Sir Syed did for Muslims in India - and yes he did write essays ( Sir Syed Kay Mazameen - remember those ? ).

Just because the West did not have time nor the inclination to admire Allama or Sir Syed doesnt mean that they were not influential.

And Robo, demeaning one of our greats by mentioning stuff from their private lives ( for which they will answer to ALLAH alone) is pretty poor indeed. This thread is about their influence, not on their habits.

mig bhai jaan! i never meant to demean sir syed at all. i was trying to point out his efforts and dedication he had for his college in particular and education for muslims in general. see how hard it would be for a person like him to collect funds and he never cared wt ppl would think of him. personally, i think he didnt do anything less than jinnah for pak. islamic wiings, at that time were not very happy with some of his ideas so they built a school of their own, named nidwa-tul-ulama. after his death, his son became the all in all of aligarh project and couldnt do half of wt his father has done.
anyways, i'm a person who is brought up on eastern culture and i think i have read major portion of urdu literature if not all. i've always defended iqbal and i remember that during my bachelor degree, i had iqbal's protrait in my room. i agree that urdu, in general has been treated badly but that's true about most languages in the thirld world. but u'll still see g8 writers in african and south american countries. i think we should be rational in evaluating things (atleast at academic level).
i believe that in urdu we have some very good (short) story writers, and urdu ghazal is a g8 form of poetry and can be compared with other languages. but when someone asks for the most influential wirter in the world, it's a different story.