Manan Ahmed Asif on Lahore as a city exiled from its pasts: Southasia Review of Books podcast #18
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, Manan Ahmed 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.
This episode is now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Youtube.
Episode notes:
Disrupted City: Walking the Pathways of Memory and History in Lahore by Manan Ahmed Asif (The New Press, October 2024)
The Loss of Hindustan: The Invention of India by Manan Ahmed Asif (Harvard University Press, November 2020)
A Book of Conquest: The Chachnama and Muslim Origins in South Asia by Manan Ahmed Asif (Harvard University Press, September 2016)
Ways of Seeing: Pakistan’s paradox of knowledge and denial - by Manan Ahmed Asif (The Caravan, June 2011)
Saving history: Pakistan’s public archives are failing the country’s people and history, and private archives can only do so much - Haroon Khalid (Himal Southasian, January 2014)
How should we define a Southasian 20th century? - Amanda Lanzillo (Himal Southasian, March 2024)