The emergence of PWA and resurgence of nationalism

Abstract

The publication of ‘Angarey’ in 1932 marked the beginning of upsurge of the ‘Progressive Writers’ Association’. It is a collection of nine stories and a one-act play written by Sajjad Zaheer, Ahmed Ali, Mahmuduzzafar and Rashid Jahan. The stories and the play proved to be a critical punch on the orthodoxy of muslim community. Although ‘Angarey’ was banned after four months of its publication and fatwa was raised against these four contributors of the book but it had a deep impact upon the contemporary writers of the age which led to the formation of PWA. PWA was a Progressive Literary Movement during Pre-Partition in British India. The members of the movement were left-oriented and advocated their writing against social injustice, orthodoxy and backwardness in the society. The paper analyses the formation of PWA and its influence on Indian literary scene.