Rough Analysis

--- title: Rough Analysis date: 2021-04-09 tags: analysis, hydlit layout: page geometry: - top=2cm - bottom=2cm - left=2cm - right=2cm linkcolor: blue --- # Rough Analysis ## Hyderabad: A Biography -- Narendra Luther ### Questions to be answered - Critical thinking skills (do not focus on summarising historical/political/social information) - The point of any book review is to evaluate a book, to identify its key features and strengths and weaknesses. - What, how, and why - What is the book about? author info - What is the book about? Chronicles the history of Hyderabad from origin (its building in 1000s) to present (current politics, 2012) - What are the major claims/arguments? Hyderabad is great Polite, clean and green, cosmopolitan, grandiose/majestic, great climate (compared to Madras) (All exerpts he uses in the book, no matter which part it's in, generally praise the beauty and opulence of Hyderabad) Glorious past, Qutb Shahi dynasty -- desire to return to this "perfect" state eg. (He's deluded by traditional depiction monarchic Hyderabad and its grandeur. "I was drinking a toast to two worlds - one that I wished I had seen, and the other which now belonged to me.")pg 339 - What aspects of Hyderabad’s history stand out in this telling? Mysticism, horoscopes and prophecy, rituals and traditions (The death of every prominent figure is preceeded by an ominous prophesy) eg. "My son, you have eaten 7 loaves. Your family will rule for 7 generations. God bless you.." pg 103 "His warning was to prove prophetic" pg 254, regarding Sir Mirza Ismail's prediction of the dangers that hyd would face similar prediction by Qazi abdul ghaffar "His warning proved prophetic." pg 266 Page 30: "The horoscope of the new baby predicted long life and glory for her." Page 61: "No woman, before before or since, has played so dominant a role in Golconda or its successor state. She was the daughter, wife, and mother respectively of three successive Sultans." Salar Jung's death: page 157: 'But Panditji, the house meant for life is empty.' Beauty and prosperity and splendour of Hyderabad Traditional depiction of monarchic Hyderabad Erotic romanticism Materialism Attitude on women -- objectification, etc -- ? -- MOVING THIS TO WRITING Importance of the arts, especially poetry eg. Page 204: "In Islam, traditionally, the ideal ruler should be master of the pen as well as the sword." Page 219: "Then there was the red-light area called Mahboob ki Mehndi. There, for a small amount, beloveds of a night can be had aplenty." Orientalism Anglicization of Nizam and his court in Mahboob's reign. Importance of titles and ranks that have been bestowed eg. Bias in how luxury lifestyle is highlighted: Mohammad shah was named 'merry monarch', yet did nothing about deteriorating administration: pg 100 - What worked well for you? Comprehensive, if not completely reliable Well organised/sectioned, good flow Treats Hyd as a majestic entity rather than a place. Biographers tend to do that for kings hehe - How is it written? Overly masculine perspective. Considered that this was just a result of his sources coming from such a time/era but even in part 4, his own mindset seems to reflect the same. Unreliable narrator -- biased and inconsistent eg. author has a tendency to demean anyone not of the royal family of what came to be hyderabad. Page 63: Abul hasan was a "distant relation of the Sultan", he was a "champion drunkard" and a "parasite". He was "expelled from the palace and told to fend for himself". Later, once he is accepted back into the royal family, it is more kindly said that he "represented the high point of indulgence and love of fun" (pg 69) Epigraph -- haiku about longing for glorious past Cover -- Charminar is iconic to Hyderabad, and specifically its heritage/legacy, patron of knowledge and learning (books and scholar) -- staring at the woman (romantic) -- representative of the tone of the book -- woman is Bhagmati -- romantic -- dancer, devotee -- man is worshiping/in awe -- darkness to enlightenment/birth? talk about how justified the chapter and section names are. Last few paras are usually a tribute/testament to whoever he is talking about in the chapter. Briefly summarizing good deeds, impact etc. lots of tangents, non-linear biography in a true sense -- treated not so much like a place but more like a being descriptions are all standard, typical, agreed-upon imagery, no originality Seems like a collection of short stories interspersed with bland factual narratives. The short stories have an added personal touch that almost seems as if the author is intimately familiar with/present at the scene while it was taking place. Scenes are narrated with great attention to small details and heavily romanticized. eg. "From her lowered eyes she could see the stirrups and the cloth-of-gold shoes worn by the rider" (page 6); "She felt she had known him for years, for ages" (page 9) - How has the author approached the writing of history in this book? (what is his method?) Traditional styles for distant history Factual when non-ruler related Used of direct quotes for human aspects Traveller accounts for justifications - What evidence is he using? Is it convincing? Only single perpective Any portion of the content which is based on opinions in unconvincing -- cherry picked his sources "In praise of Bhagnagar" -- *praise* but true biography would also have criticism, so its only dimensional His personal opinions seem to seep through each chapter whether it is regard to the kind of attention he gives to a certain topic (eg. his attention sexual advances and romantic ideals) or the kind of praise/disgust he uses to describe a certain individual. Prophecy crap without much justification, all circumstantial -- its only mentioned when it succeeds, no failing predictions can be found contradicts himselfs in places he also has a lot of oral sources -- rife with strong, sometimes contradictory, opinions -- most unreliable source - Is this a popular history, with all kinds of sources, or is this an academic history of Hyderabad? Mostly popular (not academic) Caters to popular opinion and hegemonic views -- glorious past Not un-factual, but ridden with author's personal filter, especially in the segment about pre-colonial Hyderabad Still, uses a variety of sources - Why is it the way it is? Author seems convinced about the supremacy of Hyderabad and the loss of its pride and heritage and dignity Some the writing, esp the early history, is based on legends. This has affected the style of narration - Why do you think the author has made the choices he has made? Revivalist style -- feeds to his own opinion? - Can you tell who might be the intended readership of this book from the way it is written? The youth/reader is of romantic inclination - Does it do justice to the history of Hyderabad, based on what you know now at the end of this course? The major personalities have been well covered -- Makhdoom, Sarojini Naidu, Shad, Nizam 7th Major events -- razakars, uprising, police action Does justice to the basic factual content, but in no way unbiased -- emphasis given to each aspect (people, events, etc) is based on his own partiality -- hence justice only to the hegemonic views - General tips - Do not try to be comprehensive. Cover only the most pressing aspects of the book. - Use examples everywhere. Do not use multiple examples, choose one and explain it well. # Outline - Title - Intro to book - Title - Author - What is it about? - Overview of book - Major claims - Standout aspects - Mention the cover and epigraph - What worked well for us - Writing - Comments on the writing style - biography - unreliable narrator -- bias, inconsistency - tangents, non-linear - standard imagery, descriptors -- hegemonic, revivalist - overtly masculine, attitude on women (hayat bakshi mention, objectification mention) - tone for various topics -- vacillating style - pattern of reverent followed by more objective conclusion for early history - for narrating human lives and actions, lots of direct speech and anecdotes - any justifications done using accounts in journals and travelogues -- especially those of europeans (orientalism? western supremacy) - more modern content is less emotionally charged, very factual -- but the conclusion again seems to contrast by depicting blatant favour towards certain perspectives - originally seems like he's imitating the writing styles and perspectives of the respective periods, but later on its becomes evident that those might be his true opinions only cloaked under the style eg. He pays unnecessary amount of attention to women in a state of undress even in his own present day scenario: On enquiring the reason for inadequate sunlight in private chambers, the manager of the mansion in Berar "explained with a mischevious smile, 'it was deliberate. The ladies here were required not to be dressed."(page 337) "That night, I wished I had been a guest here some years earlier - during the 'good old days'." (same page) - appropriate titling of sections -- exceptions, what can be inferred from these exceptions - Comments on evidence - unreliable - single perspective - cherry picking sources and examples - bias of author - also legend used as fact - oral sources -- most biased - but, variety of sources is there - Comments on the depiction of Hyderabad - popular, not academic -- caters to traditional views - not un-factual, but very biased esp for pre-colonial hyderabad - Reason for writing decisions - Why the choices - the writing style doesn't seem to be a conscious decision on his part -- can be confirmed by inconsistency - remainder of content seems to have been chosen in order to portray his personal view of Hyderabad and share his love for it - Intended readership - cater to the general public opinion, people convinced about the greatness of Hyderabad or in order to convince the same - Does it do justice to true Hyderabadi history? - Good coverage of major personalities and events - Basic factual content present, but even opinions presented as fact, and undesirable facts have at times been brushed over or omitted -- so not a holistic depiction - overall cannot be consumed as it