Abstracts
Abstract
The article examines the depiction of female Baghdadi Jewish characters in three works: Gay Courter’s English novel Flowers in the Blood (2002), Saadat Hasan Manto’s Urdu short story Mozelle (1951), and Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay’s Bengali story Makorshar Rosh (1933). It explores a murder case from Calcutta Jewry through the eyes of Courter’s protagonist Dinah Sassoon, a prevalent vice among the poorer Baghdadis through the character of a Jewish prostitute, Mozelle, and the role of Baghdadis in drug-trafficking through the character of Rebecca Light. The 21st century novel offers a nuanced understanding of characters, while the earlier short stories reflect their authors’ stereotypical understanding of their contemporary society.
Keywords:
- Bombay,
- Baghdadi Jews,
- Calcutta,
- colonial India,
- opium
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Appendices
Biographical note
Sayan Lodh is a doctoral candidate in History at Presidency University, Kolkata, India. His primary area of interest lies in Indo-Judaic Studies (Jewish Studies in a wider context), besides studies of Antisemitism and Mass Violence with a focus on South Asia.
Bibliography
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