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GENDER AND NATIONALISM This book studies negotiations of gender politics in the process of nation forma- tion in the aftermath of the Partition. One of the most traumatic events in South Asian history, the Partition forms the basis of numerous literary and cinematic interpretations. Drawing on Hindi, English, Urdu and Punjabi fiction, it shows how gender is irrevocably woven into the idea of the nation and the politics of it. It focuses on the works of Saadat Hasan Manto, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Ismat Chughtai, Yashpal, Khushwant Singh, Abdullah Hussein, Mumtaz Shah Nawaz and Attia Hosain to delve into the horrors of the Partition, toward women in particular, and their representations in literary and cinematic imaginations. As an important contribution to the study of the Partition of India, this vol- ume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of literature, culture studies, film studies, politics, gender studies and South Asian studies. Gauri Mishra is Associate Professor in the Department of English at the Col- lege of Vocational Studies, University of Delhi, India. She has been teaching English for the past three decades. Her research interests include Partition studies, women’s writing and film studies. She is the editor of the anthology Language through Literature (with Ranjana Kaul and Brati Biswas, 2016) and has coauthored (with Anu Satyal and Anuradha Bawa, 2020) Innovating Placements: Challenges and Changing Dynamics with the Industry which was the culmination of her Innovation project under the aegis of the University of Delhi. She has a poetry collection titled Reminiscences to her credit as well. GENDER AND NATIONALISM Perspectives on Partition Fiction and Cinema Gauri Mishra Designed cover image: lakshmiprasad S/Getty Images First published 2023 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Gauri Mishra The right of Gauri Mishra to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Mishra, Gauri, author. Title: Gender and nationalism : perspectives on Partition fiction and cinema / Gauri Mishra. Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge, 2023. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2022036754 (print) | LCCN 2022036755 (ebook) | ISBN 9781032290881 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032349329 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003324522 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: South Asian fiction (English)--20th century--History and criticism. | South Asian fiction--20th century--History and criticism. | Partition, Territorial, in literature. | Gender identity in literature. | Gender identity in motion pictures. | Motion pictures--South Asia--History and criticism. Classification: LCC PR9570.S64 M57 2023 (print) | LCC PR9570.S64 (ebook) | DDC 820.9/954--dc23/eng/20221017 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022036754 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022036755 ISBN: 978-1-032-29088-1 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-34932-9 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-32452-2 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003324522 Typeset in Bembo by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd. BK-TandF-MISHRA_9781032290881-220789-FM.indd 4 21/11/22 3:12 PM To My Father who was my first Mentor CONTENTS Preface by Sukrita Paul Kumar viii Acknowledgments x Introduction 1 1 Historical Perspectives on the Partition 10 2 Gender and Nationalism 23 3 Fractured Vision of the Nation 37 4 Territorial Conceptualization: Woman and Nation in the Short Story of the Partition 49 5 Walk across the Border: Questioning Stereotypes in Partition Cinema 58 Conclusion 72 Postscript 74 Select Bibliography 90 Index 95 PREFACE The dark and dense shadow of Partition 1947 has been looming constantly over the Indian subcontinent all through the last 75 years. This shadow carries within its folds loud and telling silences that call for urgent engagement. A lot remains unsaid and unresolved. The anguished author Bapsi Sidhwa had remarked poign- antly, “I would keep telling the story of Partition till Lahore continues to burn in my head.” Despite a strong surge in the creation of studies on this cataclysmic phenomenon over the last nearly 20 years or so, there is a marked absence of a comprehensive understanding of why and how humanity lost its ground when the division of the country was announced. Sociologists, such as Veena Das, have examined the insane violence that sprouted almost spontaneously among the two communities who were neighbors and friends; historians initiated debates about who was responsible for the Partition, and the files of official records piled up with the cold statistics of millions who were killed and thousands of women who were raped and abducted. Trauma, memory and gender studies have also lately emerged as important areas in Partition studies. The critical body of work that engages with Partition literature created by writers in several languages, such as Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, English and Bengali, adds significantly to the evolving understanding of both, the victims as well as the perpetrators of violence, along- side offering a peep into different cultural orientations and patriarchal notions. In this book, Gauri Mishra undertakes the study of gender and its connection with nation, pertinent in the context of Partition. With her feminist conscious- ness, she chooses to use the gender lens to examine novels and short stories from different languages, written in the backdrop of Partition. As she points out, when the nation is perceived as “Bharat Mata” or “Matrubhumi”(motherland) and the woman is seen as “Janani”(the one to give birth), a deep connection between the woman and the nation gets established. Rape is to be seen as conquest of land, and the woman is the one to uphold the honor of the family, or even Preface ix the community. There are cultural orientations at work here. This study aims at using the gender and nation lens for “transformative change.” Interestingly, Mishra points out how women characters presented by Krishna Sobti, Ismat Chughtai and some other women writers come across as survivors who have the potential to live with autonomy and dignity. By choosing to also critically examine some Partition films, Mishra interrogates patriarchy and questions the stereotypical representation of gender more persuasively. This book explores and adds yet another critical approach in Partition studies. The new window helps enrich the mass of critical works already undertaken by scholars on Partition, if only to comprehend better the absolutely avoidable gruesome violence and deaths that shook the nation in 1947. Sukrita Paul Kumar