Mirza Ghalib in India’s Long 19th Century: The Poet in his Labyrinth
The Talk
Mirza Ghalib was born in Mughal India, and died in colonial India. We remember him as a paragon of Urdu poetry, but his life can also be seen as an exemplar of India’s uncertain engagement with modernity, which was characterized by technological advancement and institutional change but also included bloody confrontations such as the Great Revolt of 1857. In this talk, Raza will use incidents from Ghalib’s life to chart the upheaval experienced by India in the mid 19th century. Fair warning: poetry will be recited!
Raza Mir is a professor of management at William Paterson University, USA. He is the author of a novel titled “Murder at the Mushaira”, and four other books on Urdu literature, including biographies of Mirza Ghalib and Allama Iqbal. He prides himself on being a pukka Hyderabadi, and is an aficionado of Progressive Urdu Poetry.