A conversation onLahore’s histories, the role of itinerancy, memory and violence, and the questions of state control and nationalism in Pakistan.

https://www.himalmag.com/podcast/manan-ahmed-asif-lahore-pakistan-writing-history

Welcome to the Southasia Review of Books Podcast from Himal Southasian, where we speak to celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia. In this episode, Shwetha Srikanthan speaks to the historian Manan Ahmed Asif about his new book Disrupted City: Walking the Pathways of Memory and History in Lahore(The New Press, October 2024). 

In Disrupted City, Asif parses Lahore’s centuries-old literary, social and cultural history and the ways in which these resonate today. From the role of memory and violence, as well the city’s people, their survival and questions of nationalism, he explores the impact of imperial and state power, dislocation and erasure on this Southasian city. 

Inviting readers to walk with him across Lahore, Asif evokes a rich cast of figures and contemplates how the city has been made and unmade over the years, while challenging the narratives and erasures of the Pakistani nation-state and its larger project of re-writing history.

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