Description
Book SynopsisThe contributors to
Speaking of the Self interrogate the varied ways in which a diverse group of mostly female writers from South Asia—from a seventeenth-century Mughal princess to twentieth century Pakistani novelists—construct and articulate their subjectivity through their autobiographical memoirs, poetry, novels, and diaries.
Trade Review"The authors . . . present a significant corpus of scholarship relating to autobiography and gender which can apply broadly not only in South Asia but beyond. By carefully exploring important theoretical aspects and alternative examples of autobiography, the authors open new grounds and sources to critique autobiographical writing and methods." -- Niroshini Somasundaram * IIAS Newsletter *
"
Speaking of the Self is a significant contribution to understanding the complexities of representing the self by women . . . in South Asian cultures across regions and ages. It sensitizes the reader to the importance of the social, cultural, political, regional, and historical milieu in which the autobiographical narratives are played out." -- Monika Browarczyk * Biography *
“These ten essays, along with a helpful introduction, come together to form an interesting and excellent collection. . . . All of these essays should be of interest to scholars and graduate students working on gender and women’s history in South Asia. Many would be useable within an undergraduate class on a wide range of related subjects." -- Judith Walsh * Journal of Asian Studies *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
Introduction. Gender, Performance, and Autobiography in South Asia / Anshu Malhotra and Siobhan Lambert-Hurley 1
Part I. Negotiating Autobiography: Between Assertion and Subversion
1. A Passion for Reading: The Role of Early Twentieth-Century Urdu Novels in the Construction of an Individual Female Identity in 1930s Hyderabad / Sylvia Vatuk 33
2. Pentimento: The Self beneath the Surface / Ritu Menon 56
3. Interrupted Stories: The Self-Narratives of Nazr Sajjad Hyder / Asiya Alam 72
4. Kailashabashini Debi's Janaika Grihabadhur Diary: A Women "Constructing" Her "Self" in Nineteenth-Century Bengal? / Shudhra Ray 95
Part II. Forms and Modes of Self-Fashioning
5. Betrayal, Anger, and Loss: Women Write the Partition in Pakistan / Uma Chakravarti 121
6. Tawa'if as Poet and Patron: Rethinking Women's Self-Representation / Shweta Sachdeva Jha 141
7. Masculine Modes of Female Subjectivity: The Case of Jahanara Begam / Afshan Bokhari 165
Part III. Destabilizing the Normative: The Heterogeneous Self
8. Performing a Persona: Reading Piro's
Kafis / Anshu Malhotra 205
9. The Heart of a Gopi: Raihana Tyabji's Bhakti Devotionalism as Self-Representation / Siobhan Lambert-Hurley 230
10. Performing Gender and Faith in Indian Theater Autobiographies / Kathryn Hansen 255
Select Bibliography 281
Contributors 301
Index 305
