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In this book, the author critically interrogates the construction of gender, community and nation in the work of progressive women poets. The book combines the study of nation and community through a close engagement with Urdu literary culture in the twentieth century and particularly the work of pioneering literary women. It argues that gender and sexuality become fixed signifiers in the trauma of partition and the formation of the post-partition Islamic nation. The story of literary women in Pakistan taking up the mantle of public poets thus has to be understood in relation to the history of reform, anti-colonial resistance and a transnational Islamicate culture. The book examines the presence of feminist thought in the work of progressive women poets charting their interrogation of the clash between secular and sacred values and the increasing split between liberal and Islamic nationalism. The book suggests that through their writing and experiences, women have negotiated sacred and secular spaces to move beyond a community that is subservient to nationalist ideology.
‘This is an important, incisive book with great depth and range, which provides new insights into equality, gender and self in the pioneering work of Pakistani women poets including Ada Jafri, Zehra Nigah, Fahmida Riaz, Kishwar Naheed and Sara Shagufta, also placing them within the history of Urdu women's poetry and progressive literature.’— Muneeza Shamsie, Independent scholar
Essential reading for anyone interested in South Asian literature, gender studies, and postcolonial politics, Gender, Sexuality and Feminism in Pakistani Urdu Writing is a profound reminder of the power of literature to transcend boundaries and give voice to the marginalized. It illuminates the ways in which these poets used their craft to challenge dominant narratives and advocate for social justice, making it a significant contribution to both literary scholarship and feminist discourse. —Ananke Magazine
Yaqin’s book is remarkable in the sheer clarity of its overall scope.[...] It is an important academic contribution to Urdu literary studies, as well as to the South Asian Studies discipline.—Dawn
Amina Yaqin’s textured discussion of female sexuality in Urdu poetry by women poets in post-Partition Pakistan is a welcome addition to the scholarly study of women’s poetry in Pakistan, a subject that has, for reasons beyond comprehension, earned much less attention in the Anglophone world than it deserves. —Critical Pakistan Studies
This book is an important contribution for researchers exploring South Asian feminist voices as an alternative and rarely explored resource. —Southeast Asian Review of English
For scholars of literature and feminism, this book is a landmark contribution. But for poets – especially budding female poets – this book is proof that language can be reclaimed, that voices can carve out their own spaces even in the most hostile of terrains. It is a reminder that poetry, at its best, does not just describe the world. It changes it. —Wasafiri
Amina Yaqin is Professor in World and Postcolonial Literatures in the English and Creative Writing Department at the University of Exeter. Her research interests lie at the intersection of the Humanities and Social Sciences. She has published on selected topics related to twentieth century Urdu and English literature, gender, sexuality, feminism and Muslim communities. Currently, she is co-investigator of an Arts and Humanities funded project, Empathy, Narrative and Cultural Values. Prior to joining Exeter, she worked at SOAS, University of London.
Acknowledgements; A Note on Transliteration; 1. Introduction: Poetry, Politics, Women; 2. Form, Education and Women: Rekhti, Reform and the Zenana; 3. Progressive Aspirations: Sexual Politics and Women’s Writing; 4. Fahmida Riaz: A Woman Impure; 5. Kishwar Naheed: Dreamer, Storyteller, Changemaker; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.