It is rare for a translated work to survive the legacy and celebration of the original work. Yet in the case of the twentieth century Indian subcontinent, such is the case with a celebrated novel, namely Abdullah Hussein’s Udas Naslein, published in 1963. The novel, perhaps for reasons of enhancing the international reputation of the author, was self-translated into English, in 1999. The English version, translated by the writer himself, thirty-three years later can and should be treated as an independent work of fiction in English; and if indeed this treatment is successful then The Weary Generations arguably becomes the most significant Pakistani work in English in the immediate post-partition period since the publication of Zulfikar Ghose’s The Murder of Aziz Khan in 1967.

The novel maybe read on three levels: as an account of events revolving around the partition of India in 1947; as a description of the politics and sociology of undivided Punjab, with its attendant system of feudalism and patriarchy; and a love story which begins, thrives and eventually falls with the fate of British colonialism in India itself.

Book Presentation
On the occasion of the 70^th anniversary of Pakistan’s independence and Hussein’s 86^th birthday (both incidentally falling on August 14), the talk not only revisits Hussein’s iconic translation, which has unjustifiably received far less critical attention than its Urdu variant, but researches the backstory that went into its writing, as well as the poetics and politics of subcontinental history, the Punjabi milieu and the plight of the women protagonists rampant throughout the The Weary Generations. It will also be interspersed with readings from the work itself.
3 PM, Friday, 27 April 2017, IVS Gallery
Copies of the novel will be available for sale and signing

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