Crime Masala: Ibne Safi and South Asian Crime Fiction Writing Cover Image

Crime masala. Ibne Safi i południowoazjatycka literatura kryminalna
Crime Masala: Ibne Safi and South Asian Crime Fiction Writing

Author(s): Marcin Ciemniewski
Subject(s): Fiction, Studies of Literature, Recent History (1900 till today)
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: crime fiction; hard-boiled fiction; Ibne Safi; Urdu; popular writing;

Summary/Abstract: Crime fiction written in Urdu language is an example of an extraordinary literary phenomenon. Books written in that genre are extremely popular amongst the readers in both India and Pakistan. Yet, in those countries novels by prolific crime fiction writers are not even included on best-seller lists, even though their selling reaches thousands of copies. Moreover, crime fiction is absent from works of literary critics and scholars dealing with vernacular writing of India and Pakistan. The main aim of this article is to present the crime scene of Urdu literature through the profile of Ibne Safi – the most interesting writer of this genre. The text focuses on the style of the author and inspirations that have shaped his writing. Arguments are based on excerpts from his novels that have not been translated into Polish before.

  • Issue Year: 10/2015
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 317-331
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Polish