Abstract:
Title: Post-Independence / Post-Colonial Pakistani Fiction in
English: A Socio-Political Study with Focus on Twilight in Delhi,
The Murder of Aziz Khan, Ice-Candy-Man and Moth Smoke
Since Independence in 1947, Pakistan, as a nation and state, has been grappling with
socio-political and economic problems, the issue of national identity and even an
existential dilemma. Its postcolonial existence has also been threatened by the failure
of its leadership that lacked imagination and vision. Therefore, questions like “Can
Pakistan survive?” have often been posed by the political pundits. The subject of this
research is how Pakistan’s national texts, particularly creative writings in English,
reflect socio-cultural and political transformations since Independence. Ethnically
and linguistically, Pakistan is a pluralistic society, but the state has pursued centrist
and unitary policies. Islam has been (ab)used to justify the unitary character of the
state. Thus state and ‘ideological state apparatuses’ have been in collision with the
natural pluralism of its society. Therefore, various conflicts have been raging and
boiling over to shake the foundations of the state and the society. The response of
Pakistan’s creative writers, with few exceptions, has been ambivalent towards these
issues, until a new generation of young writers since early 1990s began to respond
more openly and critically. In 1967, Zulfikar Ghose, with the advantage of
geographical distance, gave a powerful critique of Pakistan’s new ruling elite in his
novel The Murder of Aziz Khan. The same sentiments are expressed by Mohsin
Hamid in his 2000 novel Moth Smoke. By analyzing these texts I have tried to show
how Pakistan is frozen in time: its socio-political problems still persist with the same
frequency and intensity. While analyzing Pakistan’s texts in English, I have tried to
make use of the theoretical frameworks expounded by such social theorists as
Michael Foucault, Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser as well as the theoretical
underpinnings of larger postcolonial theory. The study has a topical significance as
Pakistani writers in English, in my view, after a long period of marginalization, are
registering a strong presence in the global academia. This dissertation aims at
contributing to the growing field of Pakistani literary studies and the wider English
Studies.
