Words to Win: The Making of Amar Jiban: A Modern AutobiographyThe first autobiography in Bengali was written by an upper-caste rural housewife called Rashundari Debi (1809–1899). Published when she was 88 years old, Amar Jiban (My Life) is a fascinating first-hand account of life for women in Bengal at that time. Mother to eleven children, Debi reflects on her experiences and her spiritual development across almost an entire century. Words to Win incorporates translations of major sections of this remarkable autobiography. Tanika Sarkar studies the making of an early modern subject – the woman who wants to compose a life of her own, who wishes to present it in the public sphere and eventually accomplishes her goal: for it is her words that win out in the end. Published by Zubaan. |
Contents
The Changing World of Religion | |
Strishiksha or Education for Women | |
Womens Writings | |
On Rereading the Text | |
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Words to Win: The Making of Amar Jiban : a Modern Autobiography Tanika Sarkar No preview available - 2014 |
Common terms and phrases
19th century age of consent autobiography Bamabodhini Bangla began Bengali bhakti Bharatbarsha blessed body Brahman Calcutta Chaitanya child lifter childhood colonial cooking crying daughter Dayamadhav Debi describe devotional divine domestic dream early educated woman entirely Faridpur father fears female Gaudiya Vaishnav gender girls God’s hagiographies heart Hindu household human husband India Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar Jyotirindranath Tagore Kailashbashini Kali Karta knowledge Krishna learning leela letters lives look Lord low castes male manuscripts marriage married meal mercy mind mode modern mother motherinlaw Nabadwip Namasudra narrated narrative needed never orthodox Pabna pain play prose Rashsundari reformers reformist relationship religious ritual sacred Sambad Prabhakar sansar schools sect seems sense Shakta social strishiksha suffer Sumit Sarkar talk Tanika Sarkar traditional twentyfive uppercaste Vaishnav vernacular Vidyasagar village Vrindaban widow wife women women’s education women’s writings words