Altaf Fatima

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Altaf Fatima
Native name
الطاف فاطمہ
Born10 June 1927
Academic, novelist

Altaf Fatima (

University of Punjab.[2][non-primary source needed] Her novel Dastak Na Do ("Don't Knock!") is regarded as one of the defining works in the Urdu language. An adaptation was presented on Pakistan Television and an abridged translation was serialised by the Karachi monthly, The Herald. In 2018, Fatima received the KLF Urdu Literature award at the 9th Karachi Literature Festival for her book, Deed Wadeed.[3] She died on 29 November 2018.[1]

Family Background

Altaf Fatima was of Hadhrami descent, her ancestors settled in Delhi in the 19th century.[4]

Career

Dastak Na Do, her second novel, was published in 1965 becoming her most celebrated work.[5] Set against the partition of India, the novel explores themes of identity, culture, and migration through the perspectives of Geeti, the protagonist, with Liu, a Chinese immigrant.[6] A television adaptation of the novel was broadcast by Pakistan Television Corporation in 1986, starring Roohi Bano.[7] The novel was translated into English by Rukhsana Ahmad as The One Who Did Not Ask, and published in 1993.[5] In Pakistan?, co-authored by Ziauddin Sardar, it was found that Fatima "skilfully combines elements of literary modernism with the tropes of popular domestic fiction" but faulted her as "discards the harsh realism and bare prose".[6]

Following Dastak Na Do, she wrote Chalta Musafir against the backdrop of independence of Bangladesh.[8] The novel received poor reviews due to one-sided narrative, with a contemporary reviewer critiqued the novel for oversimplifying the 1971 East Pakistan conflict, neglecting key aspects like the Bengali language movement and Pakistani army's actions.[9]

Works

Novels

Collection of short stories

  • Woh Jissay chaha gaya(1969)
  • Jab Deewarein Girya Karti Hain (1988)
  • Taar-i-Ankaboot (1990)
  • Deed Wadeed (2017)
  • Gawahi Akhir e Shab Ki (2018)

Translations

Tanqeed

  • Urdu Adab Mein Fann e Sawaneh Nigari ka Irtiqa (1961)

General

  • Rozmarra Aadaab (1963)

See also

Sources

  • Yassin-Kassab, Robin; Sardar, Ziauddin (2012). Pakistan?. p. 126.
    ISBN 9781849042239
    .

References

  1. ^ a b Reporter, The Newspaper's Staff (30 November 2018). "Writer Altaf Fatima passes away". Archived from the original on 3 December 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Contributor Altaf Fatima". Words Without Borders. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  3. ^ "Live Updates from Karachi Literature Festival". Samaa TV. 9 February 2018. Archived from the original on 2 December 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  4. ^ Khalidi, Omar. “Sayyids of Hadhramaut in Early Modern India.” Asian Journal of Social Science, vol. 32, no. 3, 2004, pp. 329–52. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23654528. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
  5. ^ a b Asif Farrukhi (9 December 2018). "In Memoriam: The One Who Did Not Ask". Dawn.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023.
  6. ^ a b Yassin-Kassab & Sardar 2012, p. 126.
  7. ^ "Third World International". '. 10: 50. 1986.
  8. ^ a b "Jumhoori Publications - Literature". Archived from the original on 11 June 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  9. ^ "Re-reading 'Chalta Mussafir': How Pakistani Writers Whitewashed, Diluted History". The India. 17 July 2020. Archived from the original on 4 September 2020.
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