The Ambivalent Aesthetics of Muhammad Hasan Askari
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23575612 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Zain R Mian (0009-0009-9010-8069, Comparative Literature, University of Pennsylvania, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Pages | 222-235 |
| Publication date | 2023-10-23 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Oxford Handbook of Modern Indian Literatures (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197647912.013.21 |
| OpenAlex | W4387871882 |
| ISBN | 9780197647912 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 3 |
This chapter reads Jazīre, a notable short-story collection by the canonical Urdu modernist Hasan Askari, against the grain to reveal the conflicting commitments of his oeuvre. Askari’s stories reveal a consistent engagement with the category of ordinary Indians, or the ‘avām, who inspire both progressive and modernist tendencies in his work. Where Askari initially deploys a self-reflexive progressivism to advocate for a more capacious representation of the ‘avām in literature, his later stories stress his inability to pursue just such a depiction in positive terms. The internal development of Jazīre, the chapter suggests, necessitates a rethinking of the assumed oppositions between progressivism and modernism in Urdu literature, especially as they inhibit our interpretation of authors such as Askari.
Aesthetics · Ambivalence · Art · Political science · Politics · Progressivism · History · Law · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology · South Asian Cinema and Culture · South Asian Studies and Diaspora
| Highly cited | No |
|---|