2. INTRODUCTION
As with any nation, but particularly a new one, the story of Pakistani
literature in English (also in Urdu) cannot be told without the backdrop of
history. In 1947, the English language itself was a vexed and contradictory
space: on one hand the language of cruel colonists; on the other hand the
language in which undivided Sub-continent’s politicians (Jinnah, Nehru,
Ghandi and Liaquat Ali Khan) presented their demands for freedom and fair
governance to the British. Thus, the pre-partition and early post-partition
literature both in English and Urdu has weaved the fabric of tragic tale
highlighting untold and unbearable atrocities inflicted by the ruthless rulers
of British Raj on the pitiable people of subcontinent. The literature, thus
made its appearance during the freedom movement, highlights the saga of
Pakistan, the germs of extreme nationalism based on religious norms & social
set-up, quest for freedom, protection of cultural & traditional heritage
narrated with rigorous reasoning. However, the post-partition literature deals
with the socio-political, ideological and ethnic problems of Pakistani society.
3. PRE-PARTITION FICTION
The pre-partition fiction in the background of British held Subcontinent mirrors that
barbarianism and brutal behaviour know no boundaries and barriers. The prominent writers
of this period sketched and painted a dark picture of incessant strife, unceasing warfare,
themes of extreme nationalism, paramount cause of conflict between Hinduism and Islam,
caste system, untouchability, taboos in food, idol worship, incarnation, polytheism and even
metempsychosis. PROMINENT WRITERS –TRENDS & THEMES The first and most prominent
Muslim writer, who recorded the atrocities of British Raj in subcontinent with a particular
sense of despair and dejection, is AHMED ALI, who, in 1940, wrote the gem Twilight in Delhi,
which is set in 1911, in a Muslim Neighbourhood in Delhi, where despair over the downfall of
the Mughals and the rise of the British is strong. Ali was bilingual but chose to write the novel
in English to provide both Anglicized Indians and the English themselves with an alternative to
the “Official Narrative” of the Raj. And so alongside tragedy, the Pakistani Novel started with
the use of English to illustrate another side of the story i.e. portraying the theme of lost
freedom and nationalism. However, within Pakistan there remains much bickering about, who
exactly should qualify as a Pakistani Writer, on the other hand the prominent Muslim
contemporaries of Ahmed Ali were Feroze Khan Noon, Mumtaz Shahnawaz and Khwaja Ahmed
Abbas, who also painted the pathetic picture of Pre-partitioned Sub-continent. FEROZ KHAN
is well known for his autobiography, “From Memory” (1966) and the only novel “Scented
Dust” highlighting the sociological aspects
4. of life in
sub-continent i.e. the laws of social and religious life in both Muslim and Hindu
Community. KHWAJA AHMAD ABBAS, who was a socialist and nationalist, wrote two
novels, a novelette, a drama, two collections of short stories, two travelogues and
one account of journalism. His famous literary works are “Tomorrow is ours
(novel), Blood and Stones (novelette), The Umbrella, Flowers for Her Feet, Twelve
Hours, Saffron Blossom and Reflection in Mirror (Short Stories). The major themes
in his works pertain to socialist and secular nationalistic movements, theme of
courtesan and prostitution, Hindu-Muslim controversies and atrocities in sub-
continent. MUMTAZ Shahnawaz, who was a political activist, got her poem
published under the title “The Spectator”. The famous political novel “The Heart
Divided” which she wrote between 1943 and 1948 sketches the creation of
Pakistan in Indian Muslims’ point of view. The novel deals with the theme of
renunciation of the idea of Hindu-Muslim Unity and the acceptance of the idea of
creating a separate state for the Muslims called Pakistan. This theme is expressed
through the plot which consists of the changing relationship of a Hindu and a
Muslim Family. It is also a realistic and honest treatment of the politics of India
and the lack of distortion of the truth redeems this novel from the charge of being
boring at places.
5. THE NINETEEN FIFTIES
The early post-partition literature obviously succeeded in capturing the sense of
disillusionment, which started to spread during 1950’s. It created quite a stir at the time of
its publication and is considered to be one of the important literary works in Pakistan’s early
history. At the other end of the spectrum, we come across subtle artistically refined modes of
dealing with reality in Pakistan, which usually focus on individual experience, views of liberal
democratic elite, who regarded democracy, freedom and egalitarianism as desirable political
traditions, which were being threatened by Russian version of totalitarian socialism on the
one side and on the other by Maulana Maudoodi’s Jammat-e-Islami. However, the English
writers during this period didn’t support the Fundamentalists’ dogma and the above
mentioned themes and issues are better represented in the English translations of poetry and
prose. PROMINENT WRITERS –TRENDS & THEMES The prominent publication in the year 1950
was “Pakistan P.E.N Miscellany” edited by Ahmed Ali having a prefatory note by Shahid
Suhrawardy. It was the time, when most of the Indian Writer’s credo was the democratic
ideals and liberalism. Thus on the whole, theory of social realism was stressed. The editor of
P.E.N has included a story by Saadat Hassan Manto (1912-1955), a renowned short stories
writer of South Asia, who produced great literature out of the events relating to the India-
Pakistan Independence. His story “The New Constitution-1935” and Syed Waliullah’s story
“The Escape” can be referred to in this context.
6. In 1952, Elsa
Kazi, Vice Chancellor of Sindh University published a novel called “Old
English Garden Symphony” having a musical structure. During this decade, the
short stories were getting popular and were used as a tool to express the
social problems prevailing in the contemporary society.
7. ZAIB-UN-NISA HAMIDULLAH
Among the Short story writers Zaib-un-Nisa Hamidullah, the writer of “The
Young Wife and other Stories” was the prominent figure. During this era, some
writers had started agreeing with the prescriptive dictum that their work has
lofty purpose namely to “Serve the Society”. This propagandist and
progressive view of literature became popular in 1950’s with special emphasis
on didactic literature. Mrs. Hamidullah collection comprising of 15 short
stories, which can be divided according to their theme, two stories “The
Peepul Trees” and “Fame” are ironical and are written on the style of
Maupassant and O’ Henry; two “The Young Wife” and “The First Born”, show
the conflict between the traditional values of the rural areas of Pakistan and
individualism; two “Motia Flower” and “Wonder Bloom” are related to
preternatural; and the rest are about old age
8. THEMES IN MRS. HAMIDULLAH’s WORKS
/STORIES
Zaib-un-Nisa Hamidullah’s claim to literary significance lies in those short
stories, which have a social theme especially authoritarian social norms of the
male-dominating society, personal desire and religious Puritanism. In some of
her works, Mrs. Hamidullah expresses the liberal view of Pakistani
Westernized intellectuals in the language of religion rather than that of
secular way of thinking. However, the fact is that Mrs. Hamidullah has not
transcended the prejudices of her society and this tends to come between her
and her perception of the truth about Pakistani Society.
9. ZAHIR H. FAROOQI
The second most prominent figure in the literary circles of 1950’s is ZAHIR H.
FAROOQI, who being a young diplomat stayed in Italy, China and Australia in
the 1950’s. His first novel “Love in Ruins” (1960) is based upon his Italian stay,
but it lacks inane moralism and sentimentality. One important feature of the
novel is the local colour, which also reflects Farooqi’s love with Rome,
Florence and Venice and these cities are made to live through his pages.
These cities are symbolic representation of sexual freedom in Italy and
Victorian homosexual trends. In a nutshell there was no mile stone and
masterpiece in the filed of English creative writings during 1950’s, whatever
was written during 1950’s was of mediocre nature.
10. THE NINETEEN SIXTIES
The 1960’s in Pakistan History are marked with great political, sociological
and geographical upheavals. The literature produced during this decade
summed up the theme pertaining to the socio-political problems of Pakistan,
its history, its self image, its religious and cultural policies especially the
horrors of war set against an ideology, which glorifies war, the corruption and
selfishness of Pakistani Politicians, the neglect of the cultural heritage, ethnic
discrimination & discrimination against women and social, political and
ideological conflicts rising in East Pakistan and the quest for liberalism.
11. PROMINENT WRITERS –TRENDS & THEMES
NASIR AHMED FAROOQI
The shining star in literary circle of 1960’s is Nasir Ahmed Farooqi –a typical
representative of Pakistani Society, which tolerated and even promoted a
certain frivolous type of liberalism; the type which confined itself to
pretentious talk about European intellectual ideas, drinking alcohol in the
clubs and not segregating men and women in parties. His first novel appeared
in 1961 under the title “Faces of Love and Death”, which is based upon the
lives of upper middle class people in Pakistan during the late fifties; however,
the life during 1960’s is the subject matter of Farooqi’s major works. His
other works are Snakes and Ladders (novel), Sadness at Dawn (Novelette) in
1967, his short stories include Younger than Spring Love”, ‘Ah! No My Love’,
and “Money in Bank”.
12. THEMES/ISSUES IN FAROOQI’S
WORKS /STORIES In Farooqi’s novels and short stories, we find the realistic
elements but there is also an attempt to create an allegory through
symbolism. His novels present a myth of high society rather than the high
society itself. One aspect of high society –its snobbery and pretentiousness—
does, however, come through. During the fifties and sixties Islam, democracy
and socialism were discussed at different levels in Pakistani society. Most of
these discussions were ill –informed, pretentious and vague. Farooqi writes
about such a discussion about Islam in politics in the novel “Faces of Love and
Death”. The civil servants, pretending to be intellectual aristocracy of the
country, write articles in a fashionable magazine, however, it also exposes the
nature and intentions of power-hungry bureaucrats, their calculated
selfishness and ruthless opportunism.
13. ZULFIKAR GHOSE
Zulfikar Ghose, the Novelist, Poet, Story Writer, Autobiographer, Journalist,
Educationalist, Essayist and Literary Critic was born in 1935 at Sialkot. In
1967, the expatriate Zulfikar Ghose published the riveting The Murder of Aziz
Khan. This was the first cohesive, modern English novel written by a writer of
Pakistani origin. The plot is about a poor Punjab Farmer destroyed by a group
of industrialists, though fiction, was so close to the bone, that the chattering
classes were abuzz, speculating “who-was-who.” Ghose’s remaining novels
were set in South America, his wife’s country and few reached Pakistan.
14. The story involves the wealthy and powerful Shah brothers who conspire to
destroy a land holder named Aziz Khan who has refused to sell his property to
them. The novel works on many levels, but certainly it is the story of a
culture in transition, a new way eclipsing an old way. Resplendent with
striking images of Pakistan, the sociological matter is rich: modernization
clashes with tradition, economic progress and industrialism obliterate time-
honored values. The shah brothers represent the new order, avaricious,
devoid of scruples, shrewd manipulators of the economic process. On the
other hand, Aziz Khan symbolizes the tradition, the land, and the stolid
character at the heart of the old culture.
15. Ghose writes: "And these seventy acres, this piece of earth, this world of Aziz
Khan, did not appear to him as land, as a property with a market value. It was
a sufficiency of existence. So that nobody could take the land away from him
without first taking away his existence." Interestingly, it is the youngest Shah
brother, Afaq, whose seemingly random act of violence against a teenage
peasant girl sets the story into motion. Afaq remains one of the most
interesting figures in the novel. Like the bedtime story he tells in the opening
chapters, he is the monkey who is always running away from disaster. Indeed,
this image foreshadows Afaq's actions for the rest of the novel.
16. One of the truly exceptional qualities of this book is the author's style. Ghose
maintains a straightforward narrative in this novel, but in some passages, the
philosophical questions seem beyond the intellectual range of the characters
and this situation gives the author's style some of its unique qualities. Aziz
Khan's story is tragic because though he is a master of his land, he is not a
master of language. Ghose writes the following: Now a monument himself
though no one had come to look; an inscription in a dead language; a
hieroglyph the new literacy did not care to interpret. . . .
Had his tongue been as competent as his hands. . . .
Yet beyond the specific circumstances of a land holder in the Punjab, Ghose
grapples with larger issues of language and meaning. Often interweaving
subtle and complex insights about the philosophical problems of language into
his storytelling, Ghose frequently makes the novel's conventions, that is to
say, its form, serve the needs of his style.
17. OTHER MAJOR WORKS BY ZULFIKAR GHOSE
Ghose was deeply affected by communal tension and the horrific Partition
riots, and he has described the experiencin his poetry collection The Loss of
India (1964) and in his novel The Triple Mirror of The Self . In an interview he
said: “To be living in the country you were born in and to be told one morning
that it is not your country is a devastating experience [….] The partition
coincided with a very serious illness of which I almost died, and so that time
remains in my mind as if I had experienced a symbolic death. One way or
another, I've always been writing about it. “ Ghose’s consciousness of being in
exile is expressed in the light of his autobiography in the light of his
autobiography Confessions of a Native- Alien. His other important novels are
The Incredible Brazilian, The Native, the Beautiful Empire and A Different
World. In 1966, he wrote a novel “Contradictions” and the short story “The
Zoo People”, based on existential nihilism and loneliness.
18. THEMES IN ZULFIKAR GHOSE’S FICTION
There are two prominent themes, which we come across in Zulfikar Ghose’s
fiction namely alienation and deracination. In The Murder of Aziz Khan one of
the key themes has to do with the human consciousness and its relationship to
the past, the present, and the future. Memory serves to order experience and
this order is what we call Time. Yet objects have a way of defying human
ordering. In this novel, objects take on a kind of menace. Like massive
boulders creating rapids and whirlpools in the river of Time, places and
landscapes refuse to be ordered and in fact, distort, divide, and disrupt our
perception of the flow of things giving the novel a resonance and depth that
is not often found in Fiction. His autobiography expresses the theme of the
writer’s consciousness of his having no cultural roots and being an alien in
England as well as in Pakistan and India, which he toured as reporter in the
1960’s.
19. H.K BURKI
H.K. BURKI is another well known story writer and has published only eight
short stories under the title “Saqipur Sacred” (1969). His stories have
generally a protagonist, who struggles against moral or social forces of some
kind while being in a temporarily unstable state of being. The guiding values
are humanitarian and the writer transcends the prejudices of his society e. g.
in his story “Some Men are Brothers” he refutes the Pakistani myth that all
Sikhs are cruel and treacherous. Thus the main themes in his stories pertain
to the struggle against moral or social forces under unstable circumstances
and condemnation of utilitarian values and the people who hold them.
20. MEHDI ALI SELJOUK
Mehdi Ali Seljouk is another writer belonging to the same decade. He
published a long poem entitled My Goodness: A Devotional and a collection of
short stories called Corpses. His tirade reminds one of D.H Lawrence’s similar
tirade as depicted in the novel “Kangaroo”. It is true that Seljouk’s story-
telling follows anecdotal pattern, the conflict is not presented with sufficient
skill and the total effect is, to use a metaphor, one of thinness.
21. THEMES
The major theme in Seljouk’s works is the struggle of one main character against
circumstances. The circumstances always defeat the individual who dies but, in
some ways, the individual sometimes transcends the pettiness of his life. Such
themes are sophistically portrayed in The Jungles, The Father and The Sinner.
OTHER MINOR WORKS DURING 1960’S In 1969, Abdual Qayyum Khan
Arif published his novel “Bewilderment to Sublimity”. It is about a world state,
which opens an academy for the political training of the rulers of the future. But
the language is bureaucratic and the hero is a stereotyped bright young man, who
is too good and colourless to be true, and the plot is rudimentary and
uninteresting. Another such book is Saeed P. Yazdani’s collection of short stories
called The Seduced. The stories in this collection, unlike most Pakistani fiction,
are explicit and even obsessed with sex. The only short story which does
distinguish is “My Date”, which was also awarded the Admaji Valiji Award (1965).
22. The 1960’s proved to be the zenith of Pakistani Literature in English. As the
society was expanding and getting more and more complex, new social,
religious, ethnic and political issues were becoming the subject matter of the
fictions, novels, short stories, poems and other literary forms especially in the
works of Zulfikar Ghose and Nasir Ahmed Farooqi.
23. CONCLUSION
With the declaration of Pakistan and announcement of Urdu as National
Language, English Language and Literature secured a little importance
because it was being considered the language of ruthless rulers i.e. the
English Race in subcontinent. However, with the passage of time English
language was acknowledged as a tool for international communication, the
early writers endeavoured to discover the true bed-lock of national identity
buried under the glaciers of myth and obstruction.
24. The pre-partition literature
mirrors the saga of those loyal lovers, who struggled and strived for the
sacred soul of Pakistan, which is not only a country but an idea which goes
back in history to the days, when the first Muslim set foot in the South Asian
Sub-continent. While the writers of post-partition Pakistani literature in
English have proved that they are endowed with matchless artistic skill as
novelist, historians, essayists, storyteller and playwright, thus they are
deservedly admired for their stark realism, remarkable insight into human
psyche, convincing portraits of human beings made of flesh and blood, vivid
observation and attention to details. They are also renowned for his daring
truthfulness, candour, and a unique style characterized by surprisingly original
images, subtle irony and sarcasm.
25. BIBLIOGRAPHY
A History of Pakistani Literature in English by Tariq Rehman.
Pakistani Fiction in English (Source Wikipedia –Internet).
Pakistani Writers in English by Muneeza Shamsie.
Interviews of Bapsi Sidhwa.
