Postcolonial literature is the literature of resistance, especially, with reference to the representations of the orient by the west. Postcolonial writers are the indigenous voices as representation of the indigenous, and they are, therefore, the voices of the subalterns, significantly because they are being heard. Pakistani fiction is significant in this context because the voices of resistance come from the Pakistani writers, either residing in the west or who have divided their time between Pakistan and western centers of power. Though, so far, these voices exist only in the third space, yet with the passage of time, the forces of globalization and market have brought such voices at the forefront with a manifold rise in their audience. The writers such as, Mumtaz Shahnawaz, Tallat Abbasi, Zulifkar Ghose, Zaibunissa Hameedullah, Bapsi Sidhwa, Kamila Shamsie, Mohammad Hanif, Mohsin Hamid, and many others, have played a significant part in creating and highlighting such voices of resistance.
The first voice comes from Mumtaz Shahnawaz in one of her characters Zohra, in her socio-political narrative The Heart Divided. Zohra is a most powerful voice against the long-established traditions established by the patriarchal set up in the Indo-Pak subcontinent. Zohra was not ready to follow the norms set for young girls by the social set up specially at a time when nobody could think of challenging the social set up. For Zohra, marrying and bearing children was of secondary matter and serving the country and community and for its independence was of the first priority. Her powerful voice of resistance could not maintain its vigor in the contemporary literature, but was very mildly repeated by Zaibunisa Hameedullah in her writings such as Young Wife and the Bull and the She Devil. This was followed by Talat Abbasi in her short stories titled ‘Bitter Gourd’ and other short stories.
Such voices of resistance again gained momentum and speed in the writings of Bapsi Sidhwa. Zaitoon, in her The Pakistani Bride proved the most powerful voice of resistance when she was forced in a marriage that she could not bear mentally and physically. Same attitude of resistance was witnessed in Sidhwa’s novel An American Bride where Feroza refused to follow the dictates of traditions of the family and followed the dictates of her mind and became the symbol of resistance to the established authority of her community. The similar challenging voice can be heard in the writings of Qaisra Shahraz in The Holy Woman’ and ‘A Pair of Jeans. Zari Bano, is the powerful tale of successful struggle and survival. Zari proved that even in the religious garb, she could fight for change and emerge successful. Her rebellion is echoes a positive voice and achievement of victory.
Zari is not the only voice of resistance, Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid asserts this voice of resistance even more powerfully. Mumtaz refuses to give up her creative talent for the emotional services she was supposed to provide at her home and to her husband. She decided to carry on her creative work even at the cost of her family life. A similar assertive voice appears in another text by Mohsin Hamid when the wife of the protagonist refused to carry on her relationship with her husband after finding him involved in improprieties, in the novel ‘How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia’. The same novel portrays ‘pretty Girl’ who followed the dictates of her mind even in a hostile environment.
The post 9/11 narratives by these writers reach the final spaces achieved through voices of resistance. Nadia in ‘Exit West’ makes a global journey but never budges from her chosen way of life and very powerfully announces her decision to Saeed that she would love to live with a woman. Mohammad Hanif also turns to similar pattern of resistance in the characters of women in the Novel Red Birds by portraying three women who would do what they think is best for them, and would not follow the dictates of their husbands. Mother dear succeeds in her passion of fighting and bringing her son back. Lady Flower Body is engaged in the compiling of data and description of people of the war-torn areas and Cath, the wife of the protagonist has been shown with the capability of woman who could survive on her won. Kamila Shamsie’s post 9/11 fiction, Home Fire, voices another type of resistance among the diaspora. Isma proves to be a woman who would deal with the difficulties of life alone as a woman at every cost. Her sister Aneeka utilizes each and every power in herself to achieve her aims and refuses to accept the way of life thrust on her and in her struggles she loses her life.
Theses voices of resistance have flourished day by day and, historically speaking, have become stronger, bolder and challenging with the passage of time. The interaction of Pakistani diaspora with the developed world and its communities, the forces of globalization, the internet revolution, access to information, readily available social media, access to education in universities, and western Feminism have been contributory in raising consciousness among the writers of Pakistani postcolonial fiction and, as a result, it has impacted the overall structures, men and women of Pakistan.
The writer is working as Principal, Emerson University, Multan, Pakistan. He is the author of many research papers and teaches postcolonial feminist fiction, Pakistani fiction and postmodernist fiction