Ahmed Ali, The Prison House

Carlo Coppola (Oakland University)

Ed. by Muneeza Shamsie, Independent Scholar - Asia
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 10.3.2: Pakistani and Bangladeshi Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Claire Gallien (Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3), Pavan Kumar Malreddy (J W Goethe University of Frankfurt), Delphine Munos (Université de Liège), Muneeza Shamsie (Independent Scholar - Asia), Niaz Zaman (Independent University Bangladesh)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1985

Places

India, Capital Territory Delhi (Country of Origin)
Pakistan (Country of Origin; Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Story Collection
Translation

Resources

The Prison-House (1985) contains short stories by the Pakistani literary polymath Ahmed Ali, a pioneer in establishing the short story as a Modernist Urdu literary genre. His first works in this medium were two stories in the highly provocative anthology Angaray [Embers] (Zahir et al., Lucknow, 1932), authored by the “enfants terribles of Urdu literature” (Coppola, Karachi, 2017), four young writers who drew widespread negative attention from the literary, religious, and political establishments. Ali’s contributions were “Badal Nahin Aate” [Clouds Do Not Come], 68-79, and “Mahavaton Ki Ek Raat” [A Night of Winter Rains], 80-93. The collection was quickly proscribed due …

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2056 words

Citation: Coppola, Carlo. "The Prison House". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 April 2021 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=9626, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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