Women Writing in India (Volume I The Twentieth Century)

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Item Code: IDH062
Publisher: Oxford India Paperbacks
Author: Susie Tharuand K. Lalita
Language: English
Edition: 2021
ISBN: 0195631951
Pages: 537
Cover: Paperback
Other Details 8.3" X 5.4"
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Book Description
About the Book

This groundbreaking volume offers a selection of writing in ten languages which have never before been available either as a collection or in English. Providing an extraordinary body of literature and an important documentary resource, these writings illuminate the lives of Indian women over a period of great social and political change. The ciritical introductions and biographical headnotes map women's shifting roles and varying responses to the social, political, and cultural.

upheavals of the time

Excerpts from reviews

'….as engrossing and intellectually stimulating a piece of argument as anyone has read, its strong beam illuminating the texts that follow.'

-The Times of India

'… the introductory essays and headnotes are themselves stellar pieces.'

-The New York Times Book Review

'The selection also demonstrate the need to question one's assumptions about what is literature and what is great literature.'-Studies in History.

'…asks for a revaluation of how history is recorded… and of whose stories may be told.'

'A book that is revolutionary.. Which it will be impossible ever again to ignore.'

'…Remarkable for [its] extensive research…the sensitive and rigorous…translations of each piece, and the impressive introductions to each section….'

-Meenakshi Mukherjee

CONTENTS
Prefacexv
Acknowledgementsxxv
Introduction1
LITERATURE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
39
Therigatha (Songs of the Nuns, 6th century B. C.) Pali65
Mutta: [So free am I so gloriously free]68
Ubbiri: ["O Ubbiri, who wails in the wood"]68
Sumangalamata: [A woman well set free! How free I am]69
Mettika: [Though I am weak and tired now]69
The Sangam Poets (ca. 100 B.C.-250 A.D.).Tamil70
Venmanipputi: [What she said to her girlfriend]73
Velli Vitiyar: [He will not dig up the earth and enter it]74
Veli Vitiyar: [You tell me I am wrong, my friend]74
Auvaiyar: What She Said 75
Auvaiyar: [You cannot compare them with a lute]75
Kavar Pentu: [You stand and hold the post of my small house]75
Kakkaipainiyar Naccellayar: [His armies love massacre]76
Okkur Macattiyar: [Her purpose is frighterning, her spirit cruel]77
Akkamahadevi (12th century) Kannada77
[Don't despise me]79
[Brother, you 'he come]79
[Not one, not two, not three or four]80
[Would a circling surface vulture]80
Sule Sankavva (12th century) Kannada81
[In my harlot's trade]81
Janabai (Ca. 1298-1350) Marathi82
[Cast off all shame]83
[Jani sweeps the floor]83
Rami (ca. 1440) Bengali84
[Where have you gone?]85
[What can I say, Firend?]86
Gangasati (12th -14th century) Gujarati87
[Oh, the Meru mountain may be swayed]88
Ratanbai (12th -14th century) Gujjrati89
[My spinning wheel is dear to me, my sister]89
Mirabai (ca. 1498-1565) Gujarati and Hindi90
[I am pale with longing for my beloved]92
[Having taken up this bundle of suffering]92
[I am true to my Lord]93
[The Bhil woman tasted them, plum after plum]93
Atukuri Molla (early 16th century) Telugu94
Molla Ramayanam96
[My father Kesava]96
[I am no scholar]96
[As honey sweetens]97
[Telugu wiriting]97
[The sun moved in the sky]97
[Are they lotuses]98
Gul-Badan Begum (1523-1603) Persian99
Humayun Nama (The History of Humayun)100
Chandrabati (ca. 1550-1600) Bengali102
Sundari Malua105
Section 15 [After the Black Night comes the Bright Night]105
Section 27 [Back to life she'd brought her husband]106
Bahinabai (1628-1700) Marathi107
Atmanivedana 109
Abanga 14109
Abanga 15112
Abanga 16113
Abanga 17113
Abanga 32114
Abanga 33114
Abanga 34114
Abanga 35114
Sanciya Honnamma (Late 17th century) Kannada115
Hadibadeya Dharma (Duties of a Devoted Wife)116
[Wasn't it woman who bore them]116
Muddupalani (ca. 1730-1790) Telugu116
Radhika Santwanam (Apeasing Radhika)118
[Move on her lips]118
[Honey, / why do you think /I stamped on kali?]119
[If I ask her not to kiss me]120
Mahlaqa Bai Chanda (1767-1824) Urdu120
[Hoping to blossom (one day) into a flower]122
Tarigonda Venkamamba (ca. 1800-1866) Talugu122
Vishnuparijatamu (The Divine Flower of Vishnu)125
[Gently he lifts me up]125
Folk Songs126
[The ladies are giving the groom a bath]127
[In the backyard seedlings I sowed]128
[I am being robbed of my colorfully striped sari]129
[Daughter-in law, dear]130
[Kamakshi, married / into a prosperous family]131
[Brother-in-law, my dearest friend]133
[O Boatman, brother from the upstream country]134
[Ten months and ten days]134
[You nurtured me to be a carefree bird, O Mother]135
[Come to my arms, Uma, come]135
[Father sat in the inner room, O Mother]136
[If you keep away from your husband's elder brother]136
[Don't go away]137
[Elder sister, elder sister]137
[Tell me, bird, if you see my friend]138
[Jee Jee Ho Re Ho Re]138
[My courtyard has been cleaned and plastered]140
[With a piece of broken earthenware rubbing herself Bright]140
[In the forest Seethamma gives birth]141
[I'm at the grindingstone, the child on my lap]142
LITERATURE OF THE REFORM AND NATIONALIST
MOVEMENTS
143
Jogeswari (Early 19th century) Bengali187
[If fortune has brought you my way at last]188
Bhabani (early 19th century) Bengali188
[Knock knock knock]189
Rassundari Devi (1810-?) Bengali190
Amar Jiban (My Life)192
Tripio Rachona (The Third Composition)192
Chaturto Rachona (The Fourth Composition)193
Panchan Rachona (The Fifth Composition)194
Sashto Rachona (The Sixth Composition)199
Hannah Catherine Mullens (1826-1861) Bengali203
Phulmani OI Karunar Bibaran (The Story of Phulamani and Karuna)205
Chapter 4205
Chapter 10208
Savithribai Phule (1831-1897) Marathi211
Letter to Jotiba Phule213
Muktabai (1841-?) Marathi214
Mang Maharachya Dukhavisayi (About the Griefs of the Mangs and Mahars215
Mokshodayani Mukhopadhyay (ca. 1848-?) Bengali216
Bangalir Babu (The Bengali Babu)219
Tarabai Shinde (ca. 1850-ca. 1910) Marathi221
Stri Purush Tulana (A Comparison of Men and Women)223
Swarnakumari Devi (1856-1932) Bengali235
Kahake (To Whom?)239
Chapter 1239
Chapter 8241
Pandita Ramabai Saraswati (1858-1922) English243
The High Caste Hindu Woman247
Chapter 3. Married Life247
Letter to Miss Dorothea Beale, Cheltenham253
Kashibai Kanitkar (1861-1948) Marathi256
Palkicha Gonda (The Silk Tassel in the Palanquin)258
Chapter 30258
Sarat Kumari Chaudhurani (1861-1920) Bengali262
Adorer Na Anadorer? (Beloved, or Unloved?)263
Krupa Sattianadan (1862-1924) English275
Saguna277
Ramabai Ranade (1862-1924) Marathi281
Amachya Ayushyatil Kahi Athawani (Memoirs of Our Life Together)283
Part III, Chapter 4. Maza Shikshanas (My Studies Are Initiated)283
Part III, Chapter 7. Ingrejis Suruvant (I Begin on English)284
Part XIV, Chapter 1. Anasuyabainche Purana (Anasuyabai's Purana)286
Binodini Dasi (1863-1941) Bengali 290
Amar Katha (My Story)292
Star Theatre Sambandhye Nama Katha (The Story of the Star Theater)292
Cornelia Sorabji (1866-1954) English296
India Calling 299
Part II (1894-1902), Chapter 4. The Imprisoned Rani299
Lakshmibai Tilak (1868-1936) Marathi309
Smriti Chtre (Memory Sketches)311
Part II, Chapter 1. Devagharatha Basavile (I Am Led to the Shrine)311
Part II, Chapter 2. Kortat Bhet (Divorce Indeed)315
Part II, Chapter 3. Masteranchi Katpat (The Headmaster's Help)318
Part IV, Chapter 2. Mumbai (Bombay) 319
Bandaru Acchamamba (1874-1904) Telugu323
Khana325
Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949) English329
Bangle-Sellers331
The Temple, a Pilgrimage of Love332
I [Were beauty mine, Beloved, I would bring it]332
II [Bring no fragrant sandal paste]332
V [If you call me I will come]333
VI [Forgive me the sin of mine eyes]333
VII [O, could I brew my Soul like Wine]334
Presidential Address at the Ahmedabad Students' Conference, 1922335
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1982) English340
Sultana's Dream342
Bahinabai Chaudhari (ca. 1880-1951) Marathi352
Ata Maza Male Jeeva (Now I Remain for Myself)353
Mum (The Human Spirit)354
Anonymous (1881, 1889) Marathi356
Mumbaitil Prarthanasamajsambandi Striyanchya Sabheta Eka Baine Vachlela Nibandha (A Speech Made by a Woman at a Women's Meeting Organized by the Prarthana Samaj, Bombay) 357
Hindi Vidwanchi Dukhit stithi: Eka Vidhwa Baine Varnileli (The Plight of Hindu Widows as Described by a Widow Herself)358
Nirupama Devi (1883-1951) Bengali363
Didi (Elder Sister)366
Chapter 2366
Chapter 4370
Chapter 17372
Sughra Humayun Mirza (1884-1954) Urdu378
[Who will care to visit my grave when I am gone]379
Nanjajagudu Tirumalamba (1887-1982) Kannada380
Nabha 381
Chapter 3381
Janaki Bai (1889-?) Urdu384
[I remember the days of love's first flowering]384
Indira Sahasrabuddhe (ca. 1890-?) Marathi385
Balutai Dhada Ghe (Learn a Lesson, Balutai)386
Chapter 14. Sonucha Punarvivaha (Sonu's Remarriage)386
Chapter 24. Khara Parapurush Kona? (Who Is the Real " Other" Man?)388
Nazar Sajjad hyder (1894-1967) Urdu391
Purdah392
Kalyanamma (1894-1965) Kannada394
Suryasthamana (Sunset)395
Tallapragada Viswasundaramma (1899-1949) Telugu400
Jailu Gadiyaramu (Jailhouse clock)401
Mary John Thottam (Sr. Mary Benigna, 1901-1985)
Malayalam
402
Lokame Yatra (Farewell to the world)403
Sudha Chauhan (b. 1924) Hindi 409
Mila Tej Se Tej (As Strength Met Strength)410
Subhadra Kumari Chauhan (1904-1948) Hindi 419
Ekadasi (A Women's Fast)421
Vibhavari Shirurkar (Malatibai Bedekar, b. 1905) Marathi424
Virlele Swapna (The Dream That Has Faded)426
Rohini426
Vaishakh428
Rohini430
Vaishakh430
Rohini433
Homvati Devi (1906-1951) Hindi437
Apna Ghar (Our Home)438
Geeta Sane (b. 1907) Marathi444
Hirvalikhali (Under the Grass of the Green Lawn)446
Chapter 4. The Chains of Slavery446
Darisi Annapurnamma (1907-1931) Telugu451
Gnanamba452
Mahadevi Varma (1907-1987) Hindi459
Lachhma 461
Kuntala Kumari Sabat (1908-1938) Oriya470
Shefali Prati (Verses to the Shefali Flower)471
Kamla Chaudhry (b. 1908) Hindi472
Kartavya (Duty)473
Ashapurna Debi (b. 1909) Bengali 476
Ja Noy Tai (On with the show)478
Lalithambika Antherjanam (1909-1987) Malayalam487
Praticaradevatha (The Goddess of Revenge)490
Shyamala Devi (1910-1943) Kannada501
Neeleya Samsara (Neela's Family) 502
Sarawwati Bai Rajwade (b. 1913) Kannada506
Pravaha Patite (Broken Heart)507
Appendix: Guide to Pronunciation of authors' Names and titles of Works513
Bibliography522
Permission Acknowledgements530
Index533
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