Women's Lives and Images: Traditional Symbolism in Pakistani Fiction

Abstract

Pakistani women writers‘ intellectual contribution became the main trigger of this study. During exploration of existing research in the field of gender and literature, a truly visible gap emerged as to the neglect of this forceful contribution by Pakistan women writers to the field of literature, giving a voice to the women of this region and highlighting the role and place of women in the context of Pakistani society. This thesis connects lives of Pakistani women with the images created by Pakistani women fiction writers. Fiction by twenty-six women fiction writers, writing in Urdu, Punjabi, Saraiki, Sindhi, Pushto and English was studied. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were conducted with readers of literature who were divided into four categories. The purpose was to find the place where lives and images of women meet and a true picture of Pakistani women and their lives can be seen. Symbols and archetypes were selected from novels and short stories. As regards to the symbols; the origin, nature, pattern, language and form of conflict in symbols were the organizing themes. Firstly it was discovered that the women writers have explored all avenues and their symbols are studded with mythology, religion, classic texts, folk wisdom, rituals and fairytales. Secondly women writers have indulged in writing abstractly. They have written on life, death, time and space, system and movements of thought etc. It is noticed that the general view that women do not contest the human situation, was challenged herein and powerful themes were touched. Women writers wrote extensively on partition of the sub-continent, global issues relating to wars,

exploitations and discriminations of class, race, caste, gender and culture etc., and also on issues of existential and psychological nature. They have talked about world-views and systems. Major movements of Philosophy and literature were traced herein such as Marxism, existentialism, feminism and absurdity. Thirdly, along with presenting the face of society with stereotypical patterns, they have also used symbols that are evolved in nature. Fourthly, it was explored that many writers use narrating pattern of Sufism or mysticism as far as the language is concerned. Also, these writers do not deny their identities as women while writing, but they refrain mostly to indulge in gender-biased or gender-obsessed language. Women writers have also highlighted and explored conflicts in their works including Sexism and conflicts of class, race/ caste, religion etc. As regards to the archetypes, women fiction writers of Pakistan have presented and portrayed the female archetype of this society, and they have also challenged the formation of this archetype; the way an ordinary woman is expected to be seen i.e. as defined by the ‗other‘. This is the feminine consciousness. They have addressed this archetypal representation but have also broken the archetype at places; bringing in the feminist consciousness. Along with these two forms of women consciousness, the third form; female consciousness is also amalgamated in the emerging discourse, as it is traditionally perceived and recognized as part of a woman‘s nature. Some writers are more liberated and have broken the mould. The women in their stories are making choices for themselves, staying single, travelling and exploring the world, running, swimming and dancing without any fear of being seen or judged. This liberty of physical movement also emerged as a major constraint for women of this country and thus these writers used the acts of free bodily movements as symbols of women‘s freedom.The archetypal presence of women was seen with reference to the spaces where women exist. For this purpose, two main spaces, ―Home‖ and ―Outer Space‖, were recognized. Inside the home, women‘s roles in reference to the spaces ―Room‖, ―Behind the stove‖, ―Courtyard‖, ― Balcony‖, ―Windows, doors and roofs‖, and ―Threshold‖, were explored. The ―Outer Space‖ is considered as mainly manly. Women‘s presence in these spaces i.e. ―Streets and Roads‖, ―Educational institutions and workplace‖, Markets, parks and other public spaces‖ were explored. The last outer space was titled as ―She rode away‖, the space of the liberated woman. The respondents were divided in four categories. Six focus group discussions were held in HEC approved public sector universities of Lahore and Islamabad/ Rawalpindi. Twenty-eight participants were chosen for in-depth interviews. Respondents for in-depth interviews in the category of teachers of literature were eight and six teachers from universities of Lahore and Islamabad/ Rawalpindi respectively. In the category of effective minority and emerging writers, eight and six respondents were interviewed. Deconstruction of the female archetype was one basic concern of this research. It was observed that the imprint of the age-old traditions of this region coupled with wrongly interpreted religious norms and customs have made the general attitudes of women of this region crippled to a major extent. It is observed that notions of liberty and freedom are highlighted all along in fiction by women writers but the true liberal self is found in the writings of a selected few. Same was the case with the perceptions of the readers in focus group discussions. It was difficult for a major chunk of readers to imagine stepping out of false boundaries, but the reassuring thing is that this trend was not to the extent of an alarming passivity. It was observed that the younger the students, the more liberated they were in their understanding. Similar perceptions were observed in

in-depth interviews with teachers of literature. However, during in-depth interviews with effective minority and emerging writers of literature, the perceptions were more liberated and there were not concerns at all at the plight of women if they break barriers and prove themselves to be humans with choices, ideals and aims. It was found out during focus group discussions that literary texts by female writers of Pakistan can be effectively used methodologically for the purpose of consciousness-raising. One notion that was a major finding of this research was the effectiveness in the writings in instances particularly focusing on the oppression, suppression, exploitation and degradation of women. These were parts that showed the ways lives of all women touched the writers and which had strength to shake women readers thus becoming a powerful bridge connecting all women together and leading to the greater notion of sisterhood