Nawab Faizunnesa's Rupjalal

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BRILL, 2009 - 224 pages
Nawab Faizunnesa (1834-1903) challenged established notions regarding womena (TM)s position in a Muslim society in colonial Bengal. Her "RupJalal " was the first literary text written by a Bengali Muslim woman. The translated text is placed in the historical context of colonialism and the nationalist movement of colonial Bengal. An analysis of the text is also included in order to invite readers to explore the woman question in context of Islam and/in imperial society. With the translated text, along with a critical overview and textual analysis, this book traces in Faizunnesaa (TM)s life and works the emergence of a self-conscious female voice by addressing the issues of social, political, and economic marginality of women in an Islamic, nationalist, and imperialist culture of colonial Bengal.
 

Contents

Introduction
1
Translation of Rupjalal
41
Book One
48
Part Two Merchant Omar and King Zamzam
68
Part Three The Ordeal of Rupbanu
88
Part Four The Correspondence and Courting
96
Part Five Searching for the Enemy
105
Part Six The Change of Fate
118
Part Seven The Journey Back
130
Book Two
138
Book Three
165
Rereading the text
185
Bibliography
217
Index
221
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