Ebook287 pages6 hours
The Broken Spell: Indian Storytelling and the Romance Genre in Persian and Urdu
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this ebook
The Broken Spell: Indian Storytelling and the Romance Genre in Persian and Urdu is a monograph on the rise and fall in popularity of "romances" (qissah)—tales of wonder and magic told by storytellers at princely courts and in public spaces in India from the sixteenth century to the twentieth. Using literary genre theory, author Pasha M. Khan points to the worldviews underlying the popularity of Urdu and Persian romances, before pre-existing Islamicate rationalist traditions gained traction and Western colonialism came to prominence in India.
In the introduction, Khan explains that it was around the end of the nineteenth century that these marvelous tales became devalued by Orientalists and intellectually colonized Indian elites, while at the same time a new genre, the novel, gained legitimacy. Khan goes on to narrate the life histories of professional storytellers, many of them émigrés from Iran to Mughal-ruled India, and considers how they raised their own worth and that of the romance in the face of changes in the economics, culture, and patronage of India. Khan shows the methods whereby such storytellers performed and how they promoted themselves and their art. The dividing line between marvelous tales and history is examined, showing how and why the boundary was porous. The study historicizes the Western understanding of the qissah as a local manifestation of a worldwide romance genre, showing that this genre equation had profound ideological effects. The book’s appendix contains a translation of an important text for understanding Iranian and Indian storytelling methods: the unpublished introductory portions to Fakhr al-Zamani’s manual for storytellers.
The Broken Spell will appeal to scholars of folklore and fairy-tale studies, comparative literature, South Asian studies, and any reader with an interest in India and Pakistan.
In the introduction, Khan explains that it was around the end of the nineteenth century that these marvelous tales became devalued by Orientalists and intellectually colonized Indian elites, while at the same time a new genre, the novel, gained legitimacy. Khan goes on to narrate the life histories of professional storytellers, many of them émigrés from Iran to Mughal-ruled India, and considers how they raised their own worth and that of the romance in the face of changes in the economics, culture, and patronage of India. Khan shows the methods whereby such storytellers performed and how they promoted themselves and their art. The dividing line between marvelous tales and history is examined, showing how and why the boundary was porous. The study historicizes the Western understanding of the qissah as a local manifestation of a worldwide romance genre, showing that this genre equation had profound ideological effects. The book’s appendix contains a translation of an important text for understanding Iranian and Indian storytelling methods: the unpublished introductory portions to Fakhr al-Zamani’s manual for storytellers.
The Broken Spell will appeal to scholars of folklore and fairy-tale studies, comparative literature, South Asian studies, and any reader with an interest in India and Pakistan.
Related to The Broken Spell
Related ebooks
The Jewel and the Ember: Love Stories of the Ancient Middle East Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Haféz: Teachings of the Philosopher of Love Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Two-Colored Brocade: The Imagery of Persian Poetry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ghazalnama: Poems from Delhi, Belfast and Urdu Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPoorva: Magic, Miracles and the Mystical Twelve Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFabulous Machinery for the Curious: The Garden of Urdu Classical Literature Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI Too Have Some Dreams: N.M. Rashed and Modernism in Urdu Poetry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSweet Sorrows: Selected Poems of Sheikh Farideddin Attar Neyshaboori Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mirror of Wonders: and Other Tales Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Preeto & Other Storie: The Male Gaze in Urdu Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Modern Poetry of Pakistan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPersian Literature: The Sháh Námeh, The Rubáiyát, The Divan, And The Gulistan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsContemporary Urdu Short Stories from Kolkata Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDevdas and other Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsModern Iraqi Poetry-A Poet for All Seasons Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTales From A Vending Machine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Great War: Indian Writings on the First World War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn the Time of the Others Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlossoms in the Graveyard Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLaila Ke Khutoot: The Letters of Laila Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWomen's Writings from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh: The Worlds of Bangla and Urdu Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlackbird, Bye Bye Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWriting Self, Writing Empire: Chandar Bhan Brahman and the Cultural World of the Indo-Persian State Secretary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFootprints on Zero Line: Writings on the Partition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Temple and The Mosque - The Best Of Premchand Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Praise of Limes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDesi Tales: Indian and Pakistani Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll Night Long: A Collection of Poems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSquare Moon: Supernatural Tales Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Night of the Golden Butterfly: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Asian History For You
The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan's Disaster Zone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unit 731: The Forgotten Asian Auschwitz Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago: The Authorized Abridgement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Art of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pillow Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/577 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Voices from Chernobyl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Shogun: The Life of Tokugawa Ieyasu Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTo Love and Be Loved: A Personal Portrait of Mother Teresa Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unit 731: Testimony Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Yakuza: life and death in the Japanese underworld Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCapitalism: A Ghost Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 3]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Summary of Caste (Oprah's Book Club): by Isabel Wilkerson - The Origins of Our Discontents - A Comprehensive Summary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMyths & Legends of Japan: Study of Japanese Folklore (Illustrated Edition) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of 'brainwashing' in China Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 2]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shinto the Kami Way Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cultural Revolution: A People's History, 1962—1976 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bushido: The Samurai Code of Japan: With an Extensive Introduction and Notes by Alexander Bennett Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Vory: Russia's Super Mafia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Broken Spell
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Broken Spell - Pasha M. Khan
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1