A Brief Introduction to Pakistani English Literature in Context of Post colonialism (original) (raw)

Continuity and Commingling: The Trajectory of Pakistani Literature in English

The Ravi (GC University, Lahore), 2018

This essay draws on the cultural commingling that is central to English language writing by Pakistanis, This ranges from the influences of the east-west encounter which dates back into antiquity and traverses many centuries: the legend of Alexander, the Euro-Arab culture of Andalus, the writings of Kipling and Forster, and the engagement with Afro-American writing, Japanese poetic forms and in particular Urdu literature by Pakistani English writers are all discussed here. The essay covers a wide range of writers from Shahid Suhrawardy, Ahmed Ali, Zulfikar Ghose, Taufiq Rafat, Bapsi Sidhwa, Maki Kureishi, Hanif Kureishi, Ayub Khan Din, Rukhsana Ahmed and Aamer Hussin, to Imtiaz Dharker, Moniza Alvi, Nadeem Aslam, Uzma Aslam Khan, Mohsin Hamid, Mohammed Hanif, Daniyal Mueenuddin, Kamila Shamsie among others.

Pakistani Literature: The Language Barrier

This essay explores the concept of a normative national literature in respect of Pakistan as a political State and (putative) independent country by examining the role that language and literature play in bringing people together or segregating them, in being vehicles for their creative spirit, their powers of invention, and, crucially, their ability to be relevant to the building of a vibrant, just, and equitable society. It challenges the idea of considering any one language as “representative of” a multilingual, multicultural, country in the interest of artificially, and arbitrarily, forging a nation and argues that imposition of a linguistic writ from the center not only replicates British colonial policies and approach but also ends up depriving individual provinces and regions of their linguistic recognition and identity. The discussion is augmented by inviting simultaneous consideration of issues related to deep and pervasive class divisions within the Pakistani society.

Literatures in English in a Microcosm: A Discursive Review of Works by Pakistani-English Writers

PAKISTAN LANGUAGES AND HUMANITIES REVIEW

The article offers a critical inquiry into Pakistani English Writing over a period of more than half a century; beginning with writers who had published works before Partition and later became Pakistani writers in the wake of independence in 1947. How the writers born in Pakistan reclaim their historical ties is further contrasted against authors writing after political upheavals such as session in 1971 and 9/11. The diaspora writers along with these categories of Pakistani writers writing in English have enriched the literary tradition and rendered Pakistani English writing as a canon. The article looks into the artistic consciousness being shaped as a result of the sociopolitical milieu of the times. The regional and topographical landscapes of the writer's locale have been subjected to critical consideration against the backdrop of a more of ephemeral and fluid 'inscapes' sought on the postcolonial frame. The article seeks to fill in the gaps on the spatial-temporal level by bringing together Pakistani writers works in a microcosm.

Investigating the linguistic patterns of Pakistani English in a few selected works

The vocabulary of English in Pakistan as it appears in a few chosen pieces of Anglophone Pakistani literature is examined in this study. Since English has evolved into a national language of Pakistan in a linguistically and culturally diverse country. For this reason, the literary dimension is unquestionably the most crucial components of some argument that English in Pakistan is a unique variety of Englishes across the globe. This study examined the lexical features of four Pakistani Anglophone writers' chosen works using the textual analysis method. The study focuses on the range of creative techniques those English-speaking Pakistani authors that use their writing to express the Pakistani identity in a language that was appropriate for their sociocultural

Impact of Urduised English on Pakistani English Fiction

The present work studies the use of Urduised words in the Pakistani English fiction. The present study is a corpus-based study and investigates the influence created through the Urduised words used in the Pakistani English drawing on the data from Pakistani English Fiction corpus (PEF) consisting of one million words . The influence of Urdu through Code-switching has resulted in a lot of innovations at the lexical level in the Pakistani English. The data analysis reveals that Pakistani English shows distinct impact of its indigenous culture through the usage of dynamic lexis steeped in Pakistani culture. The frequent use of Urduised words in Pakistani English Fiction at the lexical level is the distinct feature of Pakistani English and strengthens the fact that Pakistani English being an independent variety has bridged the process of localization and represents independent linguistic norms of its own.

(Mis)Representation of Native Culture and Pakistani English Fiction

Eliva Press, 2022

Writers are considered the hallmarks of a culture as they speak of and for the culture. At times, they may be credited with accolades. However, at the same time some are gifted notoriety under the garlands of “Enemies of Native Culture"; promoting a negative image of the land to appease the “funders”. Pakistani English literati and authors are not exempted to the infamous title either. The leading reason, among many, is the region's nostalgia with the past values and the fear of being contaminated with apparently foul Western values. Implying, whenever the realistic portrayal is drawn of the social issues actually prevalent in the region; is discarded since it is against the glorified version of the reality. The research explores the issue with a particular concern towards presence of any authorial anxiety in producing the literature.