A Rebel and Her Cause

The Life and Work of Rashid Jahan

Rakhshanda Jalil

9788188965861

Women Unlimited, 2014

240 pages

Price INR 395.00
Book Club Price INR 296.00
INR 395.00
In stock
SKU
pro_31

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Despite a brief and slender literary career, Rashid Jahan blazed like a meteor in the progressive firmament of pre-and post-Independence India. Doctor, writer, political activist, crusading member of the Communist Party of India, Rashid Jahan was radical in a way that defied all expectations — from her social class, her comrades, her peers and colleagues.

In a remarkably perceptive, richly detailed account of this pioneering woman, Rakhshanda Jalil offers readers an unusual document: a warm and informed biography —  based on archival material, extensive interviews and critical commentaries —  together with fine translations of Rashid Jahan's best known stories and plays.

Through a subtle counterpointing of Rashid Jahan's political purpose with her literary and professional skills and sensibility, Jalil paints an arresting portrait of a woman deeply and passionately engaged with the great debates of her time: fascism, imperialism, nationalism, socialism and feminism. This intense engagement is reflected in every facet of her life and literature, as they unfold here in vivid and compelling prose. Rakhshanda Jalil is a writer, critic and literary historian. Her published work comprises edited anthologies, among them a selection of Pakistani women writers entitled Neither Night Nor Day; and a collection of esssays on Delhi, Invisible City;  she is co-author of Partners in Freedom: Jamia Millia Islamia and Journey to a Holy Land: A Pilgrim ’s Diary. She is also a well-known translator, with eight published translations of Premchand, Asghar Wajahat, Saadat Hasan Manto, Shahryar, Intezar Hussain and Phanishwarnath Renu.   This book is published by Women Unlimited.

Rakhshanda Jalil

Dr Rakhshanda Jalil (born 21 July 1963) is a well known Indian writer, critic and literary historian. She is best known for the much-acclaimed book on Delhi's lesser-known monuments called Invisible City: The Hidden Monuments of India and a well-received collection of short stories, called Release & Other Stories (Harper Collins, 2011). Her Ph.D. on the Progressive Writers' Movement as reflected in Urdu Literature has been published by Oxford University Press as Liking Progress, Loving Change (2014). Rakhshanda Jalil runs an organization called Hindustani Awaaz, devoted to the popularization of Hindi-Urdu literature and culture.