Saadat Hassan Manto
| Saadat Hasan Manto | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | Saadat Hasan Manto May 11, 1912 Samrala, Ludhiana, Punjab, British India |
| Died | 18 January 1955 (aged 42) Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan |
| Occupation | Novelist, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, short story writer |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Period | 1934–1955 |
| Genre | Drama, nonfiction, satire, screenplays, personal correspondence |
| Notable works | Toba Tek Singh; Thanda Gosht; Bu; Khol Do; Kaali Shalwar; Hattak |
| Notable awards | Nishan-e-Imtiaz Award (Order of Excellence) in 2012 (posthumous) |
| Spouse | Safiyah |
| Children | Arif (died a few days before his first birthday) Nusrat Jalal Nuzhat Arshaf Nighat Patel |
| Relatives | Ayesha Jalal |
Saadat Hasan Manto (/mɑːn, -tɒ/; Urdu: سعادت حسن منٹو, pronounced [sa'ādat 'hasan 'maṅṭō]; 11 May 1912 – 18 January 1955) was an Indo-Pakistani writer, playwright and author considered among the greatest writers of short stories in South Asian history. He produced 22 collections of short stories, 1 novel, 5 series of radio plays, 3 collections of essays, 2 collections of personal sketches and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics.. Manto was known to write about the atrocious truths that no one dared to talk about. Manto is best known for his stories about the partition of the subcontinent immediately following independence in 1947.
Manto was tried for obscenity six times; thrice before 1947 in British India, and thrice after independence in 1947 in Pakistan, but never convicted.
Manto chronicled the chaos that prevailed, during and after the Partition of India in 1947. He started his literary career translating work of literary giants, such as Victor Hugo, Oscar Wilde and Russian writers such as Chekhov and Gorky. His first story was "Tamasha", based on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre at Amritsar. Though his earlier works, influenced by the progressive writers of his times, showed a marked leftist and socialist leanings, his later work progressively became stark in portraying the darkness of the human psyche, as humanist values progressively declined around the Partition. His final works, which grew from the social climate and his own financial struggles, reflected an innate sense of human impotency towards darkness and contained a satirism that verged on dark comedy, as seen in his final work, Toba Tek Singh. It not only showed the influence of his own demons, but also that of the collective madness that he saw in the ensuing decade of his life. To add to it, his numerous court cases and societal rebukes deepened his cynical view of society, from which he felt isolated. No part of human existence remained untouched or taboo for him, he sincerely brought out stories of prostitutes and pimps alike, just as he highlighted the subversive sexual slavery of the women of his times. To many contemporary women writers, his language portrayed reality and provided them with the dignity they long deserved. He is still known for his scathing insight into human behaviour as well as revelation of the macabre animalistic nature of an enraged people, that stands out amidst the brevity of his prose.
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