ATTIA HOSSAIN’S S UN L I GH T O N A BR OKE N COLUMN
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ATTIA HOSSAIN’S
SUNLIGHT ON A BROKEN
COLUMN
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About the Author
born into a feudal family in Lucknow,
north India in 1913
She became the first women from
a Taluqdar family to graduate from theUniversity of Lucknow in 1933
One of the first Muslim writers to write
about partition from the perspective ofa Muslim household.
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Major works
• Phoenix Fled , Chatto & Windus, 1953
• Sunlight on a Broken Column, Chatto
& Windus,
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Novel – a short summary
A novel in the genre of ‘bildungroman’
divided into four parts traces the
journey of Laila, from adoloscence to
adulthood against the backdrop ofpartition.(1930-1950).
Laila,an orphan is thrust into the
hands of patriachial family where dutyand convention is EVERYTHING.
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Her education creates in her aninquisitive outlook which questions thedouble standards of morality and dutypracticed in her society.
also portrays the feudal outlook and theclass differences between variousmembers of the society.
As the nation breaks away from a foreignrule, the protagonist too struggles tobreak away from her claustrophobicfamily.
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Themes explored in the novel
Patriarchal family system with its notionson conventions and conduct.
Restrictions and freedom imposed onwomen
Class difference
Inter and intra religious tensions
Partition politics where personal spills
over to political and vice versa Nationalism
Quest for identity