Reading Rokeya through the lens of 1857-58 and July 2024

• Main Author: Hasan, Md. Mahmudul
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: The Daily Star 2024
• Subjects: HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform; PI Oriental languages and literatures
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/116723/2/Reading%20Rokeya_TheDailyStar_13.12.2024.jpg; http://irep.iium.edu.my/116723/12/116723_%20Reading%20Rokeya%20through%20the%20lens.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/116723/; https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/views/news/reading-rokeya-through-the-lens-1857-58-and-july-2024-3775276

Roquiah Sakhawat Hossein (1880-1932), more popularly known as Rokeya, was born about two decades after the Great Rebellion and wrote in the first few decades of the 20th century. In her work, the Great Rebellion is conspicuous by its absence. Given the lethality of the British response to the uprising, Rokeya had to be sensitive to the political-cultural context in which she operated. This explains the omission of any prominent mention of the uprising in her oeuvre. However, a thematic analysis of her work shows that the spectre of the event was always there at the back of her mind.