From:Guardian UnlimitedWhile the world continues its love affair with Indian Literature in English, one wonders what happened to its Pakistani counterpart? Why have Pakistani novelists failed to achieve the same high profile? With the inclusion of The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid in this year’s long list for the Man Booker Prize, there is hope that this might change.
Apart from Sadat Hasan Manto's Mottled Dawn: Fifty Sketches and Stories of Partition (which is translated from Urdu) the only Pakistani writer I have read is Hanif Kureishi (and I don't think he qualifies because he was born in Kent). I have had Aamer Hussein's The Other Salt on the shelves for a while, but have not got round to reading it. Of course, I have read Bapsi Sidhwa's Ice Candy Man. And how about Nadeem Aslan's Map for Lost Lovers (which I have not read yet)? Come to think of it I have probably read more than a few but I have not seen them as such. Pakistani writers probably face the same problem Canadian artists (especially musicians) face: being lumped
together with their larger neighbour.
But I suppose it should not come as a big surprise (considering our own experience in Malaysia) that Anglophone writers in Pakistan should be marginalised by 'majority' nationalist sentiment. English is the official language, that is language preferred by the officials, while Urdu is the national language, the one preferred by everyone else. And then let us not forget censorship.
Which is all a shame. With one associating Pakistan primarily with 'bombs and mullahs', one would have thought a little more written in English might help the world see that another side exists. Fortunately for them, I believe Pakistanis probably have somewhat more testicular fortitude than Malaysians. Things can still change.
No comments:
Post a Comment