Bodies That Remember: Women's Indigenous Knowledge and Cosmopolitanism in South Asian Poetry (Gender and Globalization)

Bodies That Remember explores the lives and works of four of the most recognized Hindu and Urdu female poets of the twentieth century. In contrast to much of the South Asian literary criticism and postcolonial theory that concentrates on the Indo–English novel, Anantharam highlights the poetry of these vernacular writers, connecting their critical voices with nationalist and religious revitalization movements in India and Pakistan. Focusing on Mahadevi Varma, Kishwar Naheed, Fahmida Riaz, and Gagan Gill, Bodies That Remember offers a powerful meditation on the alternative linguistic traditions found in the writings of these four poets, two from India and two from Pakistan. In doing so, the book illustrates the ways in which poetry locates the places where urban cosmopolitanism meets indigenous knowledge and produces a new understanding of identity, one that crosses traditional boundaries of caste, class, and religion. Going beyond an analysis of women’s creative expression in the Hindu and Urdu languages, Anantharam deftly traces the intersecting veins of nationalism, literary tradition, and religion as she details the complexity of gendered identity in modern South Asia. "This series aims to create a greater awareness of the gendered nature of the economic, political, social, and cultural processes associated with globalization, in particular the increasing flow of capital, labor, and information across national boundaries. Books in the Gender and Globalization series will examine not only formal, state-based mechanisms such as law where injustices associated with globalization processes have been addressed, but also the informal, everyday means deployed by men and women to cope with, accommodate, redress, and resist the changed lifestyles and injustices associated with globalization."--Publisher description Prologue: One day the girl will return Introduction: Intervals in time, interplay of feelings: empowerment as process Through the looking glass of poetry: grounding metaphor and illuminating women's history "Pink in the black border": feminism, nationalism, and islamic revitalization "One day the girl will return": compassion as social praxis Epilogue: visionary activism: religion, metaphor, and feminist history. An engaging and informative exploration of four women poets writing in Hindi and Urdu over the course of the twentieth century in India and Pakistan. Anantharam follows the authors and their works, as both countries undergo profound political and social transformations. The book tells of how these women forge solidarities with women from different, castes, classes, and religions through their poetry. Contents Acknowledgments A Note on Transliterations Prologue Introduction Through the Looking Glass of Poetry “Pink in the Black Border” “One Day the Girl Will Return” Epilogue Works Cited Index