Gendered-Trajectories, Dissentient-Dreams: Re-reading “Lihāf” and Kāg̲haẓī hai Pairahan in the Postcolonial Context
Mohd. Aleem Qureshi
DOI https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.13292438
Abstract
Prima facie, the feminist resistance is to be seen in all the disciplines and discourses today, yet a deeper analysis unfolds layers of antithesis within it, whatsoever. The tussle between the Oriental and the Occidental ideological stands affect the feminist issues invariably, and more so in the Third World countries. This article demonstrates the grit of an unconventional Muslim female voice of Indian subcontinent- Ismat Chughtai (1911-91) as recorded in her autobiography, A Life in Words: Memoirs (2013), a translated work to English, originally written in Urdu under the title Kāġhaẓī hai Pairahan (1988) and magnum opus “Lihāf” (1942). Along with drawing parallels on Spivak’s and Connell’s ideas of “subaltern” and “hegemonic masculinity” respectively, this research attempts to analyze and contextualize the feminist issues in the Third World vis-à-vis Indian sub-continent.
Keywords
Homoeroticism, hegemonic masculinity, emphasized femininity, patriarchy, resistance, subaltern
Works Cited
Cixous, Helene. “The Laugh of the Medusa.” Translated by Keith Cohen, Paula Cohen. Signs: The University of Chicago Press Journals (1976): Vol 1(4) pp.39-54.
___________. “Castration of Decapitation?” Translated by Anette Kuhn. Signs The University of Chicago Press Journals (1981): Vol 7(1): 41-55.
Chughtai, Ismat. A Life in Words: Memoirs. Translated byM. Asaduddin. New Delhi, Penguin: 2013.
______. The Quilt and other Stories. Translated by Tahira Naqvi and Sayeda S. Hameed. New Delhi, Kali for Women: 2004.
Connell, Robert. W. Masculinities. Berkley and Loss Angeles, University of California Press: 2005.
De Kock, Leon. “Interview with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak: New Nation Writers Conference in South Africa.” ARIEL: A Review of International English Literature Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine. 23(3) 1992: 29-47
Eagleton, Mary. “The Laugh of Medusa” (ed.) Feminist Literary Theory. Oxford, Blackwell: 2011.
Manto, Sa’adat Hasan. “Ismat Chugtai”. Translated by M. Asaduddin. Annual of Urdu Studies (2001): Vol.16 pp.201-215.
Morton, S. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. London and New York, Routledge: 2003.
Naqvi, Tahira. Ismat Chughtai: A Tribute. Annual of Urdu Studies. (1993): Vol. 8 pp.37-42.
Paul Kumar, Sukrita. Ismat: Her Life, Her Times. New Delhi, Katha: 2011.
Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. “Can the subaltern speak?” Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture Eds. C. Nelson, & L. Grossberg. University of Illinois Press: 1988 pp. 271–313.
_____. A critique of postcolonial reason. Harvard University Press:1999.
Mohd. Aleem Qureshi is currently pursuing PhD in English from the Sikkim University, Gangtok. His previous qualification includes an M.Phil. degree in English from the University of Delhi and, graduation and postgraduation in English from Jamia Millia Islamia. He has completed a 120 hours TEFL certificate and two online TESOL certificates based in Canada and UK respectively. He has two certificates on ‘Mixed Ability Classroom’ and ‘Social and Emotional Learning’ conducted by Oxford University Press. He has taught as an Assistant Professor at the Bisha College of Technology and Madina respectively, in Saudi Arabia. Prior joining in Saudi Arabia as a teaching faculty, he worked for Jamboree Institute and Study Point in Delhi. He has five publications and has participated in various national and international conferences and seminars.
qureshialeem338@gmail.com
Gendered-Trajectories, Dissentient-Dreams: Re-reading “Lihāf” and Kāg̲haẓī hai Pairahan in the Postcolonial Context by Mohd. Aleem Qureshi is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 
