Dr. Sara Kazmi

Biography

Sara Kazmi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the University of Pennsylvania. Her work is characterized by an interdisciplinary approach, focusing on the study of anticolonial, left, and oppositional literary production in the Global South, particularly in the Panjab region and South Asia. She engages critically with themes of marginal vernacular writing, contributing significantly to discussions on decolonization, Marxism, and revolutionary transformation. Currently, she is working on a book titled 'Anti-Border Poetics: Literary Dissent in the Popular Tradition of India/Pakistan,' which examines the critiques and resistances offered by left-wing oppositional Punjabi writers in the 1960s and 1970s against the internal exclusions and external borders governing South Asia. Her research employs a blend of close reading, archival research, interviews, ethnography, and translation to trace genealogical links across historical periods, religious communities, and national contexts. In addition to her scholarly work, Sara is a performer of Indian classical music, blending folk tunes and protest music to enrich her research and teaching. Prior to her current position, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at LUMS University in Lahore, Pakistan. Sara holds a PhD in Criticism and Culture from the University of Cambridge and has degrees in South Asian History from SOAS, London, and Humanities from LUMS University.

Research Interests

Experience

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