Arshilata: Women’s Fiction from India and Bangladesh

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Give a woman a comb and a mirror – and a little leisure – and she will arrange her hair, perhaps put kajal in her eyes, a tip on her forehead, or a touch of read on her lips. Whom is she beautifying herself for? Her lover or her husband? Or is she looking at the woman she sees in the mirror? And is she pleased with what she sees? The twenty stories in this collection from Indian and Bangladeshi writers show women their own faces. Separated by language, by food, by religious rituals, by experience, by social status, these women still have something in common. They share the political and social consciousness common to the subaltern or third world writer, but, in addition, they bring to their stories a feminist sensibility that questions gender-based discriminations and deprivations. While some stories show a society in translation, many of the stories seem almost timeless. Using striking details or humour, deeply felt emotions or metaphysical questionings, this small sample of contemporary stories in English or translated from Bangla, Urdu, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam, and Oriya provide a glimpse into the mirrors of women’s multifaceted experiences.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Niaz Zaman

Niaz Zaman is Professor of English, University of Dhaka. She was Consulting Editor, Arts and Humanities, for the National Encyclopedia Project of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Her venture into translation began in 1983, with her translation of Bangla folk tales, subsequently revised and published as Princess Kalabati and Other Tales. She has edited Selected Short Stories from Bangladesh, The Escape and Other Stories, and 1971 and After. Her other publications include A Divided Legacy, a study of novels on the Partition of India, which won literary awards from the National Archives and the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Her articles and stories have also been published in books and journals at home and abroad. Her short story "The Dance," which is the title story of her anthology The Dance and Other Stories, won a Asiaweek short story award. She was also editor of the Bangladesh Journal of American Studies.

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Bibliographic information

Title
Arshilata: Women’s Fiction from India and Bangladesh
Author
Edition
1st ed.
Publisher
ISBN
9848715142
Length
vi+186p.
Subjects

tags

#Bangladesh