Chocolate and Other Writings on Male Homoeroticism

Pandey Bechan Sharma

Published by Duke University Press 2009

Chocolate and Other Writings on Male Homoeroticism

Pandey Bechan Sharma
Translated by: Ruth Vanita

In the series e-Duke books scholarly collection

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822392187

Overview
Contents

About this book

A translation of a 1927 short-story collection that was the first work of Hindi fiction to focus on male same-sex relations; its publication sparked Indias first public debates about homosexuality.

Author / Editor information

Pandey Bechan Sharma (1900–1967) was a nationalist writer who edited and wrote for many Indian newspapers, was the author of several novels and short story collections, and was dubbed a founder of the genre of ghaslet (inflammatory literature). He lived in Benares, Calcutta, Bombay (where he wrote film scripts), and Delhi. Ruth Vanita is Professor of Liberal Studies at the University of Montana. Her books include Gandhi’s Tiger and Sita’s Smile: Essays on Gender, Sexuality, and Culture; Love’s Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West; and (with Saleem Kidwai) Same-Sex Love in India: Readings from Literature and History.

Reviews

“Vanita’s introduction and translated stories will be useful to anyone interested in same-sex love and the intersections of homophobia and nationalism in India. [S]he provides a valuable interpretation of the stories and Ugra’s ambivalent stance on homosexuality. The stories could be read alone, but Vanita’s contextualization is critical for understanding the debate around homosexuality in India and thus the significance of Chocolate.” - Lisa I. Knight, International Journal of Hindu Studies

“A resplendent translation of an underground classic on a subject—homosexual desire – that still remains largely confined to the closet in India. Ruth Vanita has done an admirable service to Indian literature by giving this important work of Hindi fiction another life through her translation and a luminous introduction that brings out the ambiguities of the text and the ambivalences of its path-breaking author. A rare book that will delight and enlighten the common as well as the scholarly reader.”—Krishna Baldev Vaid, Hindi novelist

“This book is an extraordinarily valuable resource on sexuality. Ruth Vanita’s translations of ‘Ugra’ are fluid and comfortable (no small feat when one is translating from colloquial Hindi); her introduction is well researched, thoroughly documented, and written in lovely style; and her arguments are subtle and replete with enough material to introduce South Asia to a novice and to keep the attention of a reader well versed in the region.”—Geeta Patel, author of Lyrical Movements, Historical Hauntings: On Gender, Colonialism, and Desire in Miraji’s Urdu Poetry

“Vanita’s introduction and translated stories will be useful to anyone interested in same-sex love and the intersections of homophobia and nationalism in India. [S]he provides a valuable interpretation of the stories and Ugra’s ambivalent stance on homosexuality. The stories could be read alone, but Vanita’s contextualization is critical for understanding the debate around homosexuality in India and thus the significance of Chocolate.”

-- Lisa I. Knight International Journal of Hindu Studies

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Note on This Translation Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Introduction Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
Original Prefatory Materials Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chocolate Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
Kept Boy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
We Are in Love with Lucknow Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	30
Waist Curved Like a She-Cobra Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
Discussing Chocolate Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
O Beautiful Young Man Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	52
Dissolute Love Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	58
In Prison Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	67
From Letters of Some Beautiful Ones Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	73

Language: English
Publisher: Duke University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 152
Illustrations
- Other: 1 illustration

eBook

Published: February 27, 2009
ISBN: 9780822392187