Madison Preconference "Postcolonial Archives: Networks, Objects, Collaborations, Absences"

While there exists a proliferation of work on the reformist writings and women’s periodicals of the late colonial period, this article extends analysis of print periodicals into the postcolonial period through consideration of continuations and ruptures in the genre. The primary archive for this paper is Akhbār-i Khavatīn (Women’s Newspaper), a Karachi magazine edited by a journalist named Mussarat Jabīn, MA from 1966, original copies of which are held in the Asian Studies Reading Room of the US Library of Congress. Claiming an audience of over 140,000 readers each week (see issue 10 September 1966) the magazine followed in the footsteps of its colonial-era namesakes in many ways: the magazine displayed a global outlook, discussing traditional topics such as marriage, education, and the global comparisons between East and West. It also industriously discussed clothing and beauty standards. The magazine departed from colonial period models, however, in its concern to build a modern Pakistan nation. The periodical pays close attention to the topics of university education, the triumphs and challenges of working women, Pakistan’s diverse constituents, and the sacrifices of the wives of fallen Pakistani soldiers. In contrast to some colonial-era women’s magazines, the editors and authors published in Akhbār-i Khavatīn, all women, displayed their photographed faces with both names and graduate degrees proudly on display; at the same time, letters to the editor from contributors betrayed deep anxieties about the risks of higher education to the institution of marriage. The material production of the magazine linked it to global advances in print technologies that allowed for the preservation of elegant calligraphy – the technology of photolithography enabled the inclusion of novel graphic design, photographs, and vibrant colors into the publication, producing a profoundly modern iteration of the women’s magazine for elite Pakistani women. This study helps to fill a crucial gap in studies of print culture in postcolonial Pakistan; heavy dependence on photography and references to radio demonstrated how print periodicals played a role in the media ecosystem of Pakistan in the 1960s.