[Reader-list] Sa'adat Hasan Manto Birth Centenary Events - NYC

[debashree mukherjee]

If you're in New York in May, please do join us for these exciting
conversations. You can check for updates and RSVP at
http://www.facebook.com/events/324856224245733/
http://www.facebook.com/MantoCentenaryInNyc
 <http://www.facebook.com/MantoCentenaryInNyc>

*MANTO CENTENARY IN NYC*

*Sa’adat Hasan Manto (b. **May 11, 1912** d. **January 18, 1955**)*

This year, 2012, marks the birth centenary of Sa'adat Hasan Manto,
popularly recognized as one of the greatest Urdu short story writers of the
twentieth century. Manto is also a deeply contradictory figure who has
evoked strong reactions ranging from cult following to outright hostility.
His bald sketches on the trauma, violence, and dehumanization of the
Partition are justly celebrated today. At the same time, he has had an
outsider status in the established literary histories of South Asia as he
does not easily fit into conventional categories. His critiques of
imperialism, his unabashed discussion of sexuality, his focus on the
fringes of urban modernity, and his harsh exposés of the most celebrated
film personalities of the 1930s and 40s, are not as widely discussed or
circulated as they ought to be.* *


The Hindi and Urdu Programs at NYU, in conjunction with the Department of
Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, the Kevorkian Center, and the Institute
for Public Knowledge are organizing an event to both celebrate and
complicate these radical and polarizing aspects of Manto's work and legacy.
See below for event details.

 *Session I***

*“Main Chalta-Phirta Bambai Hoon”: Conversations on Manto’s **Bombay**Writing
*

* *

 Join our speakers on Manto’s birthday as they digressively take up the
provocations offered by *Chughad *(1948), a collection of his
semi-autobiographical Bombay stories.  We will explore questions of
alternative urban histories, the fraught work of translation, the literary
radicalism of the Progressives, and mythic narratives around Bombay city,
Manto, and the film industry.



*Date:* May 11, 2012 (Friday)

*Time*: 6pm – 9pm

*Venue*: Hagop Kevorkian Center, New York University (50 Washington Square
South, entrance on Sullivan Str.)

* *

*Keynote*

Gyan Prakash, Dayton-Stockton Professor of History, Princeton University

*Panelists*

Bilal Hashmi, New York University

Ali Mir, William Paterson University

Matt Reeck,  New York-based translator and writer

Debashree Mukherjee, New York University

Richard Somers Delacy, Harvard University



*Session II*

*"Rereading Manto's 'Letters to Uncle Sam' in Perilous Times"*


A discussion of the contemporary relevance of Manto's pithy and irreverent
"Letters to UncleSam" (1951-1954), with Pakistani activist Saadia Toor
(College of Staten Island, CUNY) and New York-based translator Matt Reeck.

* *

*Date*: May 15, 2012 (Tuesday)

*Time*: 6pm-8pm

*Venue*: Alwan for the Arts, 16 Beaver Street,  Manhattan



*Open to the Public*




-- 
Debashree Mukherjee
Doctoral Candidate (ABD)
Dept of Cinema Studies
Tisch School of the Arts
New York University




-- 
Debashree Mukherjee
Phd Candidate (ABD) - Dept of Cinema Studies
Tisch School of the Arts
New York University
dm1948 at nyu.edu




-- 
Debashree Mukherjee
Phd Candidate (ABD) - Dept of Cinema Studies
Tisch School of the Arts
New York University
dm1948 at nyu.edu




-- 
Debashree Mukherjee
Phd Candidate (ABD) - Dept of Cinema Studies
Tisch School of the Arts
New York University
dm1948 at nyu.edu