Urdu Literary Culture: Vernacular Modernity in the Writing of Muhammad Hasan Askari (Literatures and Cultures of the Islamic World)

Urdu Literary Culture examines the impact of political circumstances on vernacular (Urdu) literary culture through an in-depth study of the writings of Muhammad Hasan Askari, who lived during the Partition of India. Cover 1 Half-Title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 7 Note from the Editor 8 Note on Transliteration 9 Preface 14 Introduction 18 1 Quot Rami Tot Arbores: As Many Branches as Many Trees— The University of Allahabad and Beyond 31 2 Askari and Firaq: Personal Relations in Life and Letters 62 3 Fiction, Theory of Fiction, and the Critical View 90 4 “Jhalkiyan”: World Literature, Partition, and Rupture 118 5 The Illusion of Form and the Power of Tradition 161 6 Revisiting the Indo-Muslim Cultural Consciousness: Askari and Iqbal 185 7 Resuming the Past: Bright Morning and Foggy Night 216 Notes 236 Works Cited 285 Index 293 Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Introduction....Pages 1-13 Quot Rami Tot Arbores: As Many Branches as Many Trees—The University of Allahabad and Beyond....Pages 15-45 Askari and Firaq: Personal Relations in Life and Letters....Pages 47-74 Fiction, Theory of Fiction, and the Critical View....Pages 75-102 “Jhalkiyan”: World Literature, Partition, and Rupture....Pages 103-145 The Illusion of Form and the Power of Tradition....Pages 147-170 Revisiting the Indo-Muslim Cultural Consciousness: Askari and Iqbal....Pages 171-201 Resuming the Past: Bright Morning and Foggy Night....Pages 203-222 Back Matter....Pages 223-287 Urdu Literary Culture examines the impact of political circumstances on vernacular (Urdu) literary culture through an in-depth study of the writings of Muhammad Hasan Askari (1919-78), Urdu's first and finest literary critic. Askari's life was lived at the crossroads of early nation formation in South Asia-this study provides a detailed treatment of the intellectual world that Askari inhabited and complicates previously held notions about his life and work by looking at some of his writing through the lens of sexuality. Mehr Afshan Farooqi argues that Askari's work challenges the assumptions o