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I want to read more about women in the past: Dr Samina Amin Qadir

I want to read more about women in the past: Dr Samina Amin Qadir

The Vice Chancellor of Fatima Jinnah Women University talks about what's on her bookshelf these days
Updated 14 Jun, 2017

Professor Dr Samina Amin Qadir is the Vice Chancellor of Fatima Jinnah Women University. She is also a professor in the English department of the institute and has been researching on studies in media and gender.

We ask her what's on her bookshelf these days.

Q: What are you currently reading?

A: I am reading Raja Gidh by Bano Qudsia, and enjoying that a lot. Although I have read the book before, I started it again because I was translating it to English.

Bano’s work has inspired me a lot. I got permission from Bano Qudsia and we planned to give it the same name. I have read English translations of Urdu work by Pakistani authors by Indian writers, but the translations did not represent the writers’ thoughts accurately, so I decided to translate some Urdu work by writers I knew well.

Bano Qudsia’s style is very unique and she captured the reader’s attention so s/he would finish a book in one sitting. Bano’s narration of situations forced readers to visualise the movements and facial expressions of the characters.

Q: Is there any book or author you read recently that you particularly enjoyed?

A: George Eliot and Oscar Wilde are my favourites in English literature. George Eliot is the best to learn about Victorian society, as she explained the daily life of the common man, how they lived and the thoughts of people in that age. I often read Oscar Wilde’s work out of love for the language.

Q: Is there anything you want to read about that you feel is underrepresented?

A: I want to know more about the lifestyles of women in the past. We have the history of kings and queens, but not common women, what she did in her house and her role in society and her thoughts about that era.

In English classics, one can see this in works such as Pride and Prejudice, but we cannot find such things for the women of South Asia.

We hear about Chand Bibi, Razia Sultan, Noor Jehan, but they are all queens. Umrao Jan is there in Urdu literature to tell us about the culture of the kotha but the housewife and young girl are missing.

Q: Are there any classics you couldn’t get through?

A: I have read classics in Urdu and in English, but I wanted to read the work of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Nietzsche. As a working woman, I did not have as much time to read books that require one’s full attention. I have read some of these philosophers’ works, but now I am developing the urge to read them carefully.

Fiction and poetry can be enjoyed in a car or on a plane, but philosophy cannot be read without attention and concentration; you have to read it carefully to understand what the writer wanted to say.

Q: Do you think there is a great Pakistani novel?

A: In Urdu, Qudratullah Shahab’s Shahab Nama – especially the chapters ‘Chota Moon Bari Baat’, ‘Maan Ji’ and ‘Aifat Mar Gi’ are my favourites, and I wanted to translate these to English so the new generation will understand it completely, as most do not read Urdu literature because they cannot understand it.

Khateeja Mastoor’s Aangan is also one of the best, in which she described the society of the Indian subcontinent, as are Mumtaz Mufti’s novels and short stories and Mukhtar Masood’s Loh-i-Ayyam­.

Q: What are you planning to read next?

A: I wanted to read the Holy Quran and understand it. Allama Iqbal’s poetry and philosophy are also on the list.

I am planning to read those with concentration; Iqbal’s poetry is not simple poetry, as he wanted to educate people about their rights and duties assigned by God.


Originally published in Dawn, March 29th, 2017

Comments

Alba Mar 29, 2017 02:30pm
WILD SWANS by Jung Chang and A DAUGHTER OF HAN are often found in Woman's Studies departments at university. Wild Swans became popular but A Daughter of Han can only be found in American universities because it is a university publication. Both books are about China.
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ayza Mar 29, 2017 06:56pm
I agree with Dr Samina Qadir view, that Pakistan needs more historical narratives re everyday Muslim women. As for historical literature about Muslim females in India 1800-1940, a couple of works stand out which my grandmother loves sharing with us. One is "Mirat ul Uroos" an Urdu novel by Muslim writer, Nazir Ahmad Dehlvi (1830–1912). His masterful work advances the importance of educating Muslim females in Indian society. Dehlvi's writings inspired many middle and upper echelon families (including my own) in advocating female literacy pre-1900. In addition to Allama Iqbal, another Indian Muslim literary giant is Altaf Hussain Hali (1837-1914) whose deeply reflective historical writings are an amazing window into egregious injustice and great upheaval during Indian Muslim's revolutionary battles for independence from the British Raj during the 1800's. If one needs to understand the soul of Pakistan, these writings are essential reading.
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Expat Mar 30, 2017 09:14am
The interview makes one think as if Pakistani acadamia are stuck in the past. What about the present and future?
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