International Seminar on Contemporary Pakistani Fiction in English (Date: 25-27 February, 2016)
The Department of English, Gauhati University, in its series International Seminars on Contemporary South Asian Fictions in English is happy to announce the second conference of the series. This time the focus is on Pakistan: an attempt at mapping its culture, literature, people, politics and conflicts—in short, ensuring comprehensibility from our varied locations and positions. One of the many themes in this seminar will be to consider the issues that concern writers of/from Pakistan and writers from North-Eastern parts of India.
Pakistani English literature refers to English literature that has developed and evolved in Pakistan and abroad, written by Pakistani writers as well as by members of the Pakistani diaspora who write in English. Dr. Alamgir Hashmi introduced the term "Pakistani Literature [originally written] in English" in his "Preface" to his pioneering book Pakistani Literature: The Contemporary English Writers (New York, 1978; Islamabad, 1987) as well as through his other scholarly work and the seminars and courses taught by him in many universities since 1970's. As one of the academic disciplines in the world today, it is now a widely popular field of study.
However, fiction from Pakistan began to receive recognition in the latter part of the 20th century. The early success of Pakistani English poets was followed in fiction by the prose works written by Ahmed Ali and Zulfikar Ghose, and by such figures as Bapsi Sidhwa; in the diaspora, Hanif Kureshi commenced a prolific career with the novel The Buddha of Suburbia (1990), which won the Whitbread Award. In the early years of the 21st century, a number of Pakistani novelists writing in English won or were shortlisted for International awards. Mohsin Hamid's first novel Moth Smoke (2000) won the Betty Trask Award and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award. The first novel of Mohammed Hanif, A Case of Exploding Mangoes (2008) was shortlisted for the 2008 Guardian First Book Award.
A reading of Pakistani writing in English foregrounds the experience of Partition and the violence in its aftermath. Many states in Northeast did not necessarily agree to the boundary demarcations in the event of the creation of states within the Indian union. In fact many states refused to be a part of the Indian union. This has led to rising discontent among the people leading to violent movements rendering the region strife torn. How do writers articulate violence and angst creatively in their works will be interesting to explore.
Since its inception, following the two nation theory by the then Muslim league led by Jinnah, Pakistan has never emerged clear from the confluence of state, power, nation, democracy and religion. For the writers from Pakistan and those who identify with the country, these issues become blurred in their quest for identity and belongingness as they continue to question the myth of Pakistan's national discourse on the origins of the nation and Jinnah's contribution. These writers are also sensitive to the internal diversities - linguistic, cultural or social in Pakistan. While some like Kamila Shamsie and Mohsin Hamid draw the strength of Pakistan's national democracy from its diversity, others like Bapsi Sidhwa look at the periphery. Some like Moni Mohsin relates in his work to characters from pre-Pakistan land and its community by engaging in a different image of a nation. Others have explored the functions of the nation in everyday life. From Mumtaj Shah Nawaz's early novel The Heart Divided to the post 9/11 Mohsin Hamid's book The Reluctant Fundamentalist there has been a continuous quest for the human element and 'self' in terms of geopolitics, history, culture and language. Now, there are emerging writers like Tehmina Durrani and Fatima Bhutto from elite families like the Durranis and the famous Bhutto Family respectively who have come out with novels like My Feudal Lord and The Shadow of the Crescent Moon expanding the horizons of Pakistani fiction in English.
In the words of Dr Nukhbah Langah, non-fiction, life writing, poetry and drama, the trajectory of Pakistani writing follows similar trajectories as those we see in India. While Urdu theatre, especially activist theatre, has made its mark in the work of groups like Ajoka and Punjab Lok Rehas that drew inspiration from the work of Badal Sircar in India, there have been significant developments in terms of English theatre in the urban centres of the country. Similarly, there has been a spurt in recent years of memoirs, biographies and other writings. However, our seminar would like to focus more on fiction, being the dominant genre in South Asian Literature.
Papers are invited on the following sub-themes but not limited to these:
• Question of Identities
• Violence and the Nation
• Partition and Literature
• Gender, Sexuality and the Body
• Literature, Culture and Religion
• Home and Homelessness
• Sufism
• Postcolonial Feminism
• Post 9/11 writings
• Cityscapes
• Films/Documentaries
Paper presenters are requested to write their papers keeping in mind that they will be allocated a maximum reading time of 20 minutes each followed by 5 minutes of interaction. They must follow the MLA handbook format and are to submit a soft copy of the paper at the time of registration.
A 300-word abstract should be sent to:
anjalidaimari@yahoo.com;
fardina1@yahoo.co.in
Registration
The registration fee for the participants is Rs 2000/- which will take care of Seminar kit and hospitality. Accommodation will be made available on request. The accommodation charge including food would be Rs. 2000/-.
Important Dates:
Last date of submitting abstract (300 words) 30 November 2015
Acceptance to be notified by 15 December 2015
Completed papers to reach the organizers by 30 January 2016
For further details contact:
Anjali Daimari (+91 9678328588)
Farddina Hussain ( +91 7086523744)
Convenors
Department of English
Gauhati University
Guwahati-14
Mobile: +91 94 94 24 26 45
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