The Pity of Partition

Manto's Life, Times, and Work across the India-Pakistan Divide

Nonfiction, History, Modern, 20th Century, Biography & Memoir, Literary
Cover of the book The Pity of Partition by Ayesha Jalal, Princeton University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Ayesha Jalal ISBN: 9781400846689
Publisher: Princeton University Press Publication: February 21, 2013
Imprint: Princeton University Press Language: English
Author: Ayesha Jalal
ISBN: 9781400846689
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication: February 21, 2013
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Language: English

Saadat Hasan Manto (1912-1955) was an established Urdu short story writer and a rising screenwriter in Bombay at the time of India's partition in 1947, and he is perhaps best known for the short stories he wrote following his migration to Lahore in newly formed Pakistan. Today Manto is an acknowledged master of twentieth-century Urdu literature, and his fiction serves as a lens through which the tragedy of partition is brought sharply into focus. In The Pity of Partition, Manto's life and work serve as a prism to capture the human dimension of sectarian conflict in the final decades and immediate aftermath of the British raj.

Ayesha Jalal draws on Manto's stories, sketches, and essays, as well as a trove of his private letters, to present an intimate history of partition and its devastating toll. Probing the creative tension between literature and history, she charts a new way of reconnecting the histories of individuals, families, and communities in the throes of cataclysmic change. Jalal brings to life the people, locales, and events that inspired Manto's fiction, which is characterized by an eye for detail, a measure of wit and irreverence, and elements of suspense and surprise. In turn, she mines these writings for fresh insights into everyday cosmopolitanism in Bombay and Lahore, the experience and causes of partition, the postcolonial transition, and the advent of the Cold War in South Asia.

The first in-depth look in English at this influential literary figure, The Pity of Partition demonstrates the revelatory power of art in times of great historical rupture.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Saadat Hasan Manto (1912-1955) was an established Urdu short story writer and a rising screenwriter in Bombay at the time of India's partition in 1947, and he is perhaps best known for the short stories he wrote following his migration to Lahore in newly formed Pakistan. Today Manto is an acknowledged master of twentieth-century Urdu literature, and his fiction serves as a lens through which the tragedy of partition is brought sharply into focus. In The Pity of Partition, Manto's life and work serve as a prism to capture the human dimension of sectarian conflict in the final decades and immediate aftermath of the British raj.

Ayesha Jalal draws on Manto's stories, sketches, and essays, as well as a trove of his private letters, to present an intimate history of partition and its devastating toll. Probing the creative tension between literature and history, she charts a new way of reconnecting the histories of individuals, families, and communities in the throes of cataclysmic change. Jalal brings to life the people, locales, and events that inspired Manto's fiction, which is characterized by an eye for detail, a measure of wit and irreverence, and elements of suspense and surprise. In turn, she mines these writings for fresh insights into everyday cosmopolitanism in Bombay and Lahore, the experience and causes of partition, the postcolonial transition, and the advent of the Cold War in South Asia.

The first in-depth look in English at this influential literary figure, The Pity of Partition demonstrates the revelatory power of art in times of great historical rupture.

More books from Princeton University Press

Cover of the book High-Frequency Financial Econometrics by Ayesha Jalal
Cover of the book Princeton Readings in Religion and Violence by Ayesha Jalal
Cover of the book Building the Land of Dreams by Ayesha Jalal
Cover of the book Security by Ayesha Jalal
Cover of the book Living Together, Living Apart by Ayesha Jalal
Cover of the book Why Australia Prospered by Ayesha Jalal
Cover of the book Political Turbulence by Ayesha Jalal
Cover of the book Statistical Mechanics in a Nutshell by Ayesha Jalal
Cover of the book Neighbors by Ayesha Jalal
Cover of the book Eye and Brain by Ayesha Jalal
Cover of the book The Religious Left and Church-State Relations by Ayesha Jalal
Cover of the book The Hero's Fight by Ayesha Jalal
Cover of the book The Russian People and Foreign Policy by Ayesha Jalal
Cover of the book The Lives of Bees by Ayesha Jalal
Cover of the book The Imaginative Argument by Ayesha Jalal
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy