Overview

This book examines facets of North Indian Muslim identity c. 1850-1950. It focuses specifically on the role of literature and poetry as the medium through which certain Muslim 'voices' articulated, negotiated, configured and expressed their understandings of what it meant to be Muslim and Indian, given the socio-political exigencies of the time. Specifically, a history of the public space of poetry will be presented and half of the book will chart a history of the mushairah (poetic symposium) over this period. In doing so it will analyse the multiple ways in which this space adapted to the changing economic, social, political and technological contexts of the time. The second half of the book will present a history of the ideas that were often articulated in the space of the mushairah and changing notions of the watan (homeland) amongst various Muslim individuals will be analysed. In particular the book will seek to locate changing ideas of hubb-e watan? (patriotism) in order to offer new perspectives on how Muslim intellectuals, poets, political leaders and journalists conceived of and expressed their relationship to India and to the trans-national Muslim community.

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9780190121013

Table of Contents

Reviews

"Poetry of Belonging interlaces, in a scholarly and readable fashion,many critical conversations spanning various disciplines, including history, religious studies and literary studies, to tell complicated stories of Muslims' conceptions of being and belonging in South Asia between 1850-1950....Mahmudabad ends his book not in his own words but with Mahbub's couplet : ""I will gather twigs once again from this garden to build my nest/ For my home was set ablaze and I have all the time in the world."" This endearing choice—to give the last word to a poet—captures well the genuine love for poetry that radiates throughout the book. * Abdul Manan Bhat, University of Pennsylvania, The Marginalia Review of Books *"

Poetry of Belonging interlaces, in a scholarly and readable fashion,many critical conversations spanning various disciplines, including history, religious studies and literary studies, to tell complicated stories of Muslims' conceptions of being and belonging in South Asia between 1850-1950....Mahmudabad ends his book not in his own words but with Mahbub's couplet : I will gather twigs once again from this garden to build my nest/ For my home was set ablaze and I have all the time in the world. This endearing choice-to give the last word to a poet-captures well the genuine love for poetry that radiates throughout the book. * Abdul Manan Bhat, University of Pennsylvania, The Marginalia Review of Books *

Author Information

Ali Khan Mahmudabad teaches history and political science at Ashoka University, india. He is a historian, political scientist, writer, columnist, and an occasional poet.He completed his MPhil and PhD from the University of Cambridge (UK).He has traveled extensively in the Middle East and he writes a fortnightly column for the Urdu national daily, Inqilab and as well as writing for a number of English language magazines and newspapers.

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