Gender and Nationalism: Perspectives on Partition Fiction and Cinema

This book studies negotiations of gender politics in the process of nation formation in the aftermath of the Partition. One of the most traumatic events in South Asian history, the Partition forms the basis of numerous literary and cinematic interpretations. Drawing on Hindi, English, Urdu, and Punjabi fiction, it shows how gender is irrevocably woven into the idea of the nation and the politics of it. It focuses on the works of Saadat Hasan Manto, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Ismat Chughtai, Yashpal, Khushwant Singh, Abdullah Hussain, Mumtaz Shah Nawaz and Attia Hussain to delve into the horrors of the Partition, towards women in particular, and their representations in literary and cinematic imaginations.

An important contribution to the study of the Partition of India, the volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of literature, culture studies, film studies, politics, gender studies, and South Asian studies.