Fabulous Machinery for the Curious

The Garden of Urdu Classical Literature

Musharraf Ali Farooqi

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Paperback

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English

University of California Press
18 May 2023

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945); Asian history; Middle Eastern history; Ethnic studies

Series: World Literature in Translation

An absorbing, joyous, and colorful collection of stories from the qissa genre.

Fabulous Machinery for the Curious presents the first English translation of some of the finest texts from the qissa genre. In this book, acclaimed translator Musharraf Ali Farooqi gathers the greatest of these tales, written or transcribed in the Urdu language by master storytellers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Spreading from Persia to Arabia to South Asia over 1,500 years, the qissa appropriated verse and prose narratives to become the preeminent storytelling genre. The combined traditions of the many cultures of Indo-Islamic civilization resulted in a flowering of qissas in Urdu. This collection distills a vast body of oral and written literature, from resplendent sagas of romantic love and thrilling adventures in fairyland to picaresque stories of deception and haunting tales of nobility and viciousness. Fabulous Machinery for the Curious brings these forgotten gems to a new generation of readers and reminds us of the abiding power that great stories and ancient genres have for engaging the contemporary world.

By: Musharraf Ali Farooqi
Imprint: University of California Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 197mm, Width: 127mm, Spine: 38mm
Weight: 363g
ISBN: 9780520388239
ISBN 10: 0520388232
Series: World Literature in Translation
Pages: 408
Publication Date: 18 May 2023
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Qissa 1: The Ingenious Farkhanda and the Two Conditions Translation of Char Gulshan by Rai Beni Narayan Qissa 2: The Adventures of a Soldier Translation of Qissa Sipahizada by Khushdil Kiratpuri Qissa 3: Chhabili the Innkeeper Translation of Qissa Chhabili Bhattiyari by unknown author Qissa 4: Azar Shah and Saman Rukh Bano Translation of Nau Aaeen-e Hindi by Mehr Chand Khatri Mehr Qissa 5: The Victim of Malice Translation of Qissa-e Maqtool-e Jafa by Amiruddin Khan Maani Qissa 6: A Girl Named King Agar Translation of Qissa Agar o Gul by Saadat Khan Nasir About the Authors and Narrators About the Translator

Musharraf Ali Farooqi (micromaf.com) is an author, novelist, and translator whose most recent fiction is The Merman and the Book of Power: A Qissa. He is the translator, among other works, of The Adventures of Amir Hamza.