Open Book 📚 REVIEW:

Name Muhammad Abbas Khan

Roll no 3072
Section B/Eve
Semester 4th Final
Submitted to mam Sajida Sharif sahiba
Pakistani Literature

Borderline By Hanif Kureishi:

Hanif Kureishi :
Born December 5, 1954 in Bromley, England, to an Indian father and an English mother, Hanif
Kureishi grew up experiencing first-hand the racial and cultural clashes that he addresses in
most of his work. The inspiration for his work has been drawn from his own life’s trials and
tribulations as a culturally hybrid individual of two different races and cultures. Kureishi decided
that he wanted to be a writer from a young age, and began writing novels that were considered
for publication while he was still a teenager.

He studied philosophy at King’s College, University of London, and then supported himself by
writing pornography under the pseudonym Antonia French. After a humble beginning as an
usher for the Royal Theater, Kureishi later became the theater’s writer in residence. His first
play, Soaking Up the Heat, was produced in 1976 at London’s Theater Upstairs. His second play,
The Mother Country, won the Thames Television Playwright Award in 1980. His breakthrough
came with his first play for the Royal Court Theater, Borderline, about immigrants living in
London. This led him to have his work, Outskirts, performed by London’s Royal Shakespeare
Company.

Kureishi’s first efforts with film were successful and gained him a larger audience, especially in
America. His screenplay for My Beautiful Laundrette was written in 1985, and tells the story of a
young Pakistani immigrant who opens a laundromat with his gay, white lover. Critics from both
sides of the Atlantic praised Kureishi. One reviewer, Ian Jack, said, “Here at last is a story about
immigrants which shows them neither as victims nor tradition-bound aliens. They’re
comprehensible, modern people with an eye to the main chance, no better or worse than the
rest of us.” Despite the rave reviews, some Pakistani organizations felt that they were being
portrayed in a negative manner as homosexuals and drug dealers. To them, a character of
Pakistani origin represented the entire Pakistani community, and should display a positive
stereotype to American and British audiences. Kureishi rejects the politics of representation; he
does not assume this role as an ambassador representing a minority, preferring to depict the
harsher realities of racism and class divisions.

After My Beautiful Laundrette won several awards, including the Best Screenplay award from
the New York Film Critics Circle, Kureishi scripted his next film with the controversial title
Sammy and Rosie Get Laid. Exploring the world of a racially mixed couple living in London
during the race riots, it received less critical acclaim than his previous film. Kureishi made a
triumphal return in 1990 with his first semi-autobiographical novel, The Buddha of Suburbia. It
is about the life of a young bisexual man, who is half-Indian and half-English, growing up in
London. It won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award for the first novel category of the
Booksellers Association of Great Britain and Ireland.

In 1991, Kureishi made his directorial debut with London Kills Me, which he also wrote. In this
film, he expanded on his interest in street life by focusing on the world of drugs and gangs. He
also returns to one of his recurring themes by addressing homelessness. As the son of an
immigrant, Kureishi has written a great deal on the concept of home, describing the
complexities involved in finding a place to belong. In another novel, The Black Album, he delves
into the painful, lonely, and confused world of a young man of Pakistani origin, who finds
himself having to choose between his white lover and his Muslim friends. The novel makes
many references to pop culture, especially music and drugs, which feature in a great deal of
Kureishi’s work.
Plays

Kureishi, Hanif. Birds of Passage. Hampstead Theatre, London. September 1983. Performance.
—. Cinders. Adapted. Janusz Glowacki. Royal Court Theatre, London. Winter 1981.
Performance.
—. The King and Me. Soho Poly Theater, London. January 1979. Performance.
—. The Mother Country. Riverside Studios, London, 1980.
—. Mother Courage (1984) Adapted. Bertolt Brecht. Royal Shakespeare Company, London.
Winter 1984. Performance.
—. Soaking the Heat. Royal Theatre Company Upstairs, London. 1976. Performance.
—. Tomorrow-Today! Soho Poly Theatre, London. 1981. Performance.
Screenplays

Kureishi, Hanif. London Kills Me: Three Screenplays and Four Essays. London: Faber, 1991.
—. My Beautiful Laundrette. Contained in My Beautiful Laundrette and The Rainbow Sign,
London: Faber, 1986.
— Sammy and Rosie Get Laid : The Script and the Diary, London: Penguin, 1988.
— My Son The Fanatic. London: Faber and Faber, 1997.
— Hanif Kureishi Plays One. London: Faber and Faber, 1999.
— Sleep With Me. London: Faber and Faber, 1999.
— Collected Screenplays Volume I. London: Faber and Faber, 2002.
— The Mother. London: Faber and Faber, 2003.
— Venus. London: Faber and Faber, 2007.
— The Black Album (adapted from the novel). London: Faber and Faber, 2009.

Themes in Borderline:
Qureishi is no way taking sides in his Representations of existing situation of migrants. He
makes references to the stereotypes of both Westerners and Easterners in order to highlight
both the cultural gap between them and the Prejudices they have against each other.

“Borderline” is one of Qureshi’s plays in which he is concerned with the adaptation problems
of migrants, the underlying causes of these problems, and possible ways to eliminate these
causes. In the play, Qureishi deals with these issues through depicting “The daily experiences of
South Asian immigrants in South all”, a suburban district of London, and focusing especially on
an immigrant Pakistani family, their relationships within the family, with other immigrants and
with the native population.
Parker states:
“A number of Qureshi’s early plays and screenplays reflect the formation of his concern with
the dominant culture’s interest in the exotic”
His observation is truly valid for “Borderline”. As he suggests, the European journalist Susan is
in a way attracted to Orientals as she finds them different. She is curious about their culture,
their mentality, and their relationships. For her, the Oriental is an enigma which she wants to
decipher. She expresses her amazement at their attitudes towards life:
You play a game of tennis and you have an umpire and two ball boys magnetized by your every
move. You ride for miles in a rickshaw dragged by a skinny fifty-year-old father of seven and you
feel so guilty you give him two years’ wages for a tip. If your tea is cold and you complain some
poor boy is kicked out of a job and his grandmother starves to death. It’s difficult not to find
yourself becoming some kind of fatuous aristocrat.

As the above statements make it clear that she is critical of Orientals, yet she is not prejudiced;
she genuinely tries to understand them. She even interviews them in order to make a radio
programme about these Orientals. She claims that she is informing concerned people about
what these Orientals are going through. However, the driving force for her research is the
European passion for the ‘exotic’. She unconsciously regards them as a subject race. Hence,
Anwar is right in his claim that she cannot
Qureshi’s concern for the reciprocal ‘Othering’ is what Parker identifies in his early plays (33).
This assessment is again true for “Borderline”. Both Europeans and Orientals regard each other
as ‘the other’. Europeans ‘Othering’ Orientals is generally depicted through their racist acts
rather than words. For example, Ravi is spat on in the street and Susan talks about a
Bangladeshi woman whose son is attacked by some fascists. The attitude of ‘Othering’ pervades
in Orientals’ mind, as well. Yasmin is prejudiced against Europeans and says
“White people would like an exhibition of my misery”
This discriminatory discourse is also discernible in Amina when she says
“I suppose you want white education.
You called it the white lie before.
You said they’d whitewashed history.
You’ll be playing polo next week”
Although Haroon is the one who seems to be more sensible and modern, he cannot keep
himself from engaging in racist thoughts. He states:
“The English get bad hearts because they have rotten souls and bad consciences”

An American Brat by Bapsi Sidwa:

IntroductionofBapsiSidhwa:
InternationallyacclaimedBapsiSidhwaisanawardwinningPakistaninoveliststrivingabovealltobring
women’sissuesoftheIndiansubcontinentintopublicdiscussion.
BapsiwasraisedinLahore,Pakistan.ShenowlivesinHouston,Texas.Shegraduatedfrom Kinnaird
CollegeforWomen,Lahore.Her5novels:CrackingIndia,ThePakistaniBride,TheCrowEaters,An
AmericanBrat,andWater,havebeentranslatedandpublishedinseverallanguages.HeranthologyCity
ofSinandSplendour:WritingsonLahorewaspublishedin2006.
Sidhwa,who wasontheadvisorycommitteeto PrimeMinisterBenazirBhutto on Women’s
DevelopmenthastaughtatColumbiaU,UniversityofHouston,MountHolyokeCollege,Southampton
UniversityandBrandeis.
ShortintroductionofCharacters:
SidhwabeginshernovelinLahore,Pakistan.FerozaGunwalla,a16-year-oldParsee,ismortifiedbythe
sightofhermotherappearingatherschoolwithherarmsuncovered.ForZareenGunwalla,Feroza's
outspoken40-somethingmother,itisachillingmoment.TheParsees,asmallsectinPakistan,take
greatprideintheirliberalvalues,businessacumen,and—mostimportantly—theeducationoftheir
children.
It's1978inPakistanand16-year-oldFerozaGinwalla,theheroineofthenovel,AnAmericanBrat,is
beginningtoworryherrelativelyliberal,upper-middle-classParseeparents.Shewon'tanswerthe
phone;shetellshermothertodressmoreconservatively;shesulks,sheslamsdoors,sheprefersthe
companyofherold-fashionedgrandmother;sheseemstosympathizewithfundamentalistreligious
thinking.Whattodo?“IthinkFerozamustgetaway,”saysZareen,thegirl'smother,toherhusband,
Cyrus.FerozaispackedofftovisitherUncleManek,astudentatMIT.ButasZareenwavesgoodbyeto
herdaughter,shecannotknowthatinAmericaFerozawillbecomemoreindependentthanZareenever
dreamt,orhoped,waspossible.“Travelwillbroadenheroutlook,getthispuritanicalrubbishoutofher
head.”
Andindeeditdoes—althoughtoadisastrousdegree,fromZareenandCyrus'pointofview,forFeroza's
Zareen:
•Emotional,
•Caresaboutherownreligiousbeleifs.
Feroza:
HasMuslimfriends
•Politicaltrendscaptureshermind,
•Shecaresaboutherfather'semotionbyrefusingtheroleintheplay.
Cyrus:
•Feroza'sfather,
•Cautiousabouthisdaughter.
AshortcriticalsummaryofAmericanBrat-anovelbyBapsi
Sidhwa:
InAnAmericanBrat,Pakistani-bornnovelistBapsiSidhwarevealswithahumorousyetincisiveeyethe
exhilaratingfreedomandprofoundsenseoflossthatmakeuptheimmigrantexperienceinAmerica.

THEMES IN BAPSI SIDHWA'S'AMERICAN BRAT':

InAnAmericanBratSidhwahighlightsthepredicamentofthePaki-stanipeopleingeneralandofthe
Parsicommunityinparticular.Thus,whileinIce-Candy-ManSidhwagrappleswiththerealitiesofthe
pre-Independenceperiod,inAnAmericanBratshehighlightsthephenomenonofneo-colonialism in
Pakistan.Whatismostremarkableaboutherworkisherdualperspective,whichisbasedonboththe
PakistaniandtheParsipointofview.ShespeaksbothforthePakistanisandthemarginalizedParsi
com-munity.ThisthemeisfurtherdevelopedinhernextnovelAnAmeri-canBrat,wheretheParsi
communityisshownactivelypartici-patinginPakistanipolitics.Insteadofkeepinganeutral,de-tached
stance,Ginwallafamilyispassionatelyinvolvedinthecountry'scurrentpoliticalcrisis.Zareenatone
pointvoicesherconcernoverherdaughter'sintenseinvolvementin"Bhutto'strial."Herconcernforher
daughter,however,doesnotstopherfromworkingin
"manywomen'scommitteeswithBegumBhutto."
FerozaevenwhensheisinAmerica,remainsacutelyconcernedaboutthecrisisinhercountry.Sheis
totallyshockedtohearofBhutto'shanging.OncomingbacktoPakistan,shevoicesherdisappointment
atbeinginadequatelyinformedaboutPakistan'scurrentpoliticalscenario:
"Iwanttoknowwhat'sgoingonhere.Afterall,it'smycountry!"
ThusSidhwaexhibitsthattheParsis,bothinthepreandpost-Independenceperiod,insteadofshowing
indiffer-encetothecountry'spolitics,havebeenactivelyinvolvedinit.
InAnAmericanBrat,almosteverywordandphraseofthenativelanguageemployedinthenovelis
translatedbythewriterina"Glossary"attheendofthenovel.Forin-stance:"Badmash:scoundrel,"
"Gora;white,inUrdu,"
"Heejra:eunuchortransvestite."
Whatsuchatranslationofindividualwordsdoes?BillAshcroftetalinTheEmpireWritesBackob-serve
thatsuchtranslationofindividualwordsisthemostobvi-ousandmostcommonauthorialintrusionin
cross-culturaltexts.Juxtaposingthewordsinthiswaysuggeststhatthemeaningofawordisitsreferent.
ButthesimplematchingofwordsfromthenativelanguagewithitstranslatedversioninEnglishreveals
thegeneralinadequacyofsuchanexercise.Themomentawordfromanativelanguageisjuxtaposed
withitsreferentinEnglish,insteadofclarifyingthemeaning,itshowsthegapbetweenthewordandits
referent.InAnAmericanBrat,shevoicesthesocialandpoliticalchaosinPakistangeneratedbythe
forcesofneo-colonialism.Inboththenovels,shehassuccinctlyadaptedtheEnglishlanguagetosuither
purposes.Further,shehasnotjustprovidedthemarginalizedParsicommunitywithavoicebutalsoa
largenumberofPakistanireaders.AnAmericanBrathasbeenextolledbymanyreviewersasa
compellingdelineationofboththecomingofageprocessandtheimmigrantexperienceintheUnited
States.However,severalcriticshavenotedSidhwa'suseofstocksocialandculturalstereotypesinallof
hernovels,particularlyinAnAmericanBrat.
ASAFEMINISMNOVEL:
Feminismisbasicallyamovementthatdemandsequalrightsforwomen.Itbelievesthatwomenareequ
i
valenttomeninallspheresanditaimstoidentifywomenascreativeandequalcontributorsofvalues.T
herearesomeradicalfeministswhothinkthatthewritingofwomencannotbejudgedrightlybymale
criticsandhencethesewomenbelieveingynocriticism.IntheeighteenthcenturytheWestsawthe
appearanceofthefirstfeministtreatise,withthepublicationofthefamousVindicationoftheRightsof

Women.SidhwaisconsideredasthevoiceofmarginalizedwomenandParsicommunity.Herfourth
novel,AnAmericanBratwaspublishedin1994andisbasedonParsisconsciousess.Ittellsthestoryofa
youngPakistanigirl,FerozaGinwallaandheradventureinAmerica.ItisastorybasedonParsis
consciousness.

Conclusion:
Toconclude,wecansaythatbothBapsiSidhwacreatedandconstructedtheirprotagonistsinthe
selectednovelsthroughtheportrayaloftheirsubjectiveperceptioninthecontextofreligionand
politics.Inbothnovelsthecognitivehybridityofthecharactersareshowntoelucidatetherelationship
betweenthecolonizerandthecolonizerwhichleavesindelibleimprintsonthepsycheofthecolonized
Thesubconsciouslongingofthecolonized to writebackto thecolonizersin theirlanguage
demonstratesthedeepseatedpredicamentsofthesubjugatednation'spsyche.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist:

Introduction
Mohsin Hamid was born in 1971 in Lahore, Pakistan, and moved to the US at the age of 18 to
study at Princeton University and Harvard Law School. He then worked as a management
consultant in New York, and later as a freelance journalist back in Lahore.
His first novel was Moth Smoke winner of a Betty Trask Award and shortlisted for the PEN
Hemingway Award. Moth Smoke was made into a television mini-series in Pakistan and an
operetta in Italy and was a New York Times Notable Book of the year in 2000.
In 2007 his second novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, was published and shortlisted for the
2007 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. In 2008, it won the South Bank Show Annual Award for
Literature and was shortlisted for the 2008 Commonwealth Writers Prize Eurasia Region, Best
Book and the 2008 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. A short story based on the novel
was also published in The Paris Review in 2006.
Summary
In the streets of Lahore Pakistan a young man Changez approaches an unnamed man for the
purposes of his summary we will call him the Stranger and asks in an unclear combination of
extreme politeness and menacing familiarity if he can be of assistance. Changez says that the
Stranger looks American, and escorts him to a nearby cafe where they drink tea and eat dinner.
As afternoon turns into evening, Changez tells the Stranger about his time in the United States.
Changez comes from a respected but declining Pakistani family. Nonetheless, he gets into and
attends Princeton University where he makes excellent grades and acts the part of an exotic
foreigner but secretly works multiple jobs to support himself and his family. He comments to
the
Stranger that he now sees that Princeton was indoctrinating him into a pro American mindset
teaching him to use his skills to help American companies but that he didn’t realize this at the
time. Near the end of his senior year, he interviews for a prestigious valuing firm, Underwood
Samson, which does analysis to determine the worth of companies. During his interview, Jim,
an
executive vice president at the firm, learns that Changez is on financial aid, and conceals his
economic status from his classmates; Jim tells Changez that he, too, hid his background at
Princeton, and gives him a job. Between graduating Princeton and beginning his career at
Underwood Samson, Changez goes on a vacation to Greece with Princeton friends and peers. It
is here that he meets Erica, a beautiful and charismatic Princeton graduate, with whom he is
instantly smitten.
In New York, Changez begins his career at Underwood Samson. He makes friends with another
trainee, Wainwright, and wins the admiration of his colleagues and supervisors. Meanwhile, he
continues to spend time with Erica, who lives in New York and invites him to parties and
dinners. Changez notices that Erica seems deeply lonely, even when she's surrounded by
friends,
and learns that her boyfriend and childhood friend, Chris, died last year.
While working in Manila, in the Philippines, Changez witnesses the collapse of the Twin Towers
on September 11, 2001, and finds himself feeling pleasure at the sight of powerful, arrogant
America brought to its knees. Then, on his return flight to New York, he is detained at the
airport. He begins to notice and be the subject of increasing racism and discrimination in New
York City and at Underwood Samson. Erica, traumatized by 9/11, begins to sink into nostalgia
for Chris. One night, Changez and Erica have sex, a “success” Changez achieves partly by telling
Erica to pretend that he is Chris.
where spies keep a gun. The waiter who serves them their food seems angry with the Stranger
but Changez assures the Stranger that there is no danger. Changez then walks the Stranger back
to his hotel. As they stand outside the Stranger notices a group of people including the waiter
who have been following them and reaches under his jacket.
Themes

Patriotism & Post 9/11 United State:

As a Pakistani man in the United States, Changez has a perspective and experiences that give
him insight about aspects of American patriotism that Americans take for granted. Reflecting on
his time at Princeton University, he realizes that there is a hidden patriotic project in his college
education. Young, intelligent students from the United States and the rest of the world are
taught
to love America, live in America after they graduate, and lend their services to American
companies. During his time at Princeton, Changez isn’t conscious of this patriotic indoctrination,
but after September 11, he witnesses an enormous surge in patriotism and a patriotic
obsession
with the United States own past and purity that affects him directly. Although he had thought
that New York City had its own distinct culture, after the attack he sees the city join with the
rest
of the United States in forming a single culture whose most obvious characteristic is its hostility
to non American like Changez himself.
Even though Changez is naturally resistant to this form of patriotism because it excludes him,
he
continues to love his new country, which has provided him with a first-rate education and job.
His relationship to the United States is similar to his love for Erica. America during the War on
Terror, Changez observes, Erica becomes obsessed with her own past, most notably her love for
her dead boyfriend, Chris. It’s unlikely that her relationship with Chris was remotely as strong
while he was alive; she idealizes the past because it’s past; because it’s safe, unchallenging, and
unchanging. Ultimately it is Erica’s failure to escape the past that prevents her from loving
Changez in the present. On the one occasion when they have sex.

: Coming Age.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a good example of a Bildungsroman or coming of age novel. In
the early chapters Changez the protagonist his name clues us in to the character development
he
will undergo is an uncertain, passive young man. He travels all over the world to Princeton
University to Greece to New York City without ever voicing a particularly strong reason for
choosing to go to these places. In reality he does not choose to go to Princeton or New York at
all he obeys what others tell him, or does what he thinks he supposed to do. Because of his
passivity in most of the first half of the book Changez encounters many different models for
how
he should come of age. One important model is Princeton University where he absorbs the
unstated but accepted idea that a valuable life is one in which he uses his intelligence and
knowledge to help a capitalist American company, which in his case is Underwood Samson. It’s
only when he looks back on his life later that Changez realizes that this was the hidden message
of his Princeton education and that he has allowed others to control his own development.

Racism & Fundamentalism:

Throughout the novel beginning on the first page Hamid the author shows how people judge
one
another based on their clothing, their skin color and their mannerisms. These forms of racism
shape Changez and his impressions of the United States. Although Changez’s friends at
Princeton treat him respectfully they are aware that he is an outsider in the United States.
When
they travel to Greece together Changez experiences various forms of soft racism. While not
rude
or disrespectful to him his friends think of him as an exotic pet even Erica is attracted to
Changez
because he is different. Changez accepts and in some ways encourages these feelings partly
because he wants Erica and his other friends to accept him and partly because he himself is
unsure who he is.
After September 11 Changez encounters more overt and hostile forms of racism in America.

CONCLUSION!
In the conclusion we disappointed with Changez because as a young and well educated
Pakistani
who has experienced American life, he is uniquely placed to encourage moderation and engage
critically in the post-9/11 debate. At a time when most in his country saw the conflict as a zero
sum situation, he could have argued for positive-sum solutions fighting for ideals and not simply
the home government. Many indeed, have striven to do so since then. But Changez failed. The
problem with his politics is clear: he fails to hold his homeland, Pakistan, and himself to the
same standards and expectations to which he holds America. A book review by The
Guardian questions Changez the most pointedly. By what higher personal virtue does Changez
presume to judge. one expects Changez’s opposition to America to be founded on some
morally
superior alternative set of values.” But he hardly provides anything by way of a suitable
alternative.

Burnt Shadows By Kumila Shamsie”

About Kumilaila Shamsie:
Kamila Shamsie was born into a well-to-do family of intellectuals in 1973 in Pakistan. She is the
author
of four previous novels: In the City by the Sea, Kartography (both shortlisted for the John
Llewellyn
Rhys Prize), Salt and Saffron & Broken Verses. In 1999 she received the Prime Minister's Award
for
Literature and in 2004 the Patras Bokhari Award – both awarded by the Pakistan Academy of
Letters.
Her mother was a poet and her grandmother was a writer too. A writer between worlds: East
and
West, Pakistan and Britain. Her work can be read as an exploration of the impact of colonialism
and
of postcolonial relations, starting off from the context of Pakistan. She is interested in global
issues with a special focus on Pakistan.

Introduction Of Novel:
Burnt Shadows published in 2009 is an ambitious novel, an epic family saga and a historical
novel, the
first of Shamsie's works to move outside Karachi and Pakistan. it spans more than half a
century, from
World War II to the 2001 World Trade Center attacks and the post- 9/11 world. She was
inspired by
an image of Japanese women with kimono prints of their skin, as the bombing had an indelible
effect
on their skin. This is the main image that she has and it is also the cover image of the book. It
starts
with the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945, moves to the 1947 partition of British India, and
the
creation of the new state of Pakistan and later to Afghanistan and the US. The novel depicts the
shared
histories of two families composed of people of different nationalities and several cross-
generational
and cross-cultural relationships across time and space.

Common themes in Kamila Shamsie's novel:

Feminism:
She has successive in presenting a number of characters of flesh and blood, forcing the reader
to
sympathize, appreciate, and forgive. It is evident that Burnt Shadows has much to say about
feminism
and its role in presenting the themes of the novel. The main character Hiroko is a living example
of
the feminist which is very popular in the late 20 and the beginning of the 21st century. She is
selfreliant, she is self- confident, daring and ready to take any risks including moving from one
culture to
another and easily adapting herself to the requirements of the new environments despite the
catastrophes and impending death, she remains strong and self-willed challenging any
frustrated
circumstances.

Post colonialism:
Seen from another angle Burnt Shadows is a glaring example of post colonialism. This is not
surprising,
given her position, as a novelist writing at a very critical time: The time of Partition, the time of
Colonization and its formidable effect on people and country. However, when she writes about
this
subject she does not address her native readers, she has in mind the Westerners she is living
among.
You find her using a discourse that can be considered as a compromise between what she
inherited
and what she receives in her new culture. Even so, one can easily notice an implicit and
sometimes
explicit criticism of the act of terrorism and effects on people.
Main techniques and stylistic aspects used in her
Fiction:
As far as the narrative techniques and stylistics are concerned we notice that Shamsie's fiction
in
general and her novel Burnt Shadows in particular does represent the principles and devices
and
objectives of the post modernistic novel. Her relationship with other fellow writers especially
her
mentor, Salman Rushdie, has helped in giving her fiction its distinctive touch; her sentences are
graceful sometimes laconic and the dialogues contain vernacular and daily language but the
narrative
tone remains Standard English. Her narration is brilliant and successful. Her style is simple
straightforward, direct and above all impressive. All this can be seen through the different
quotations.

Burnt Shadows As a Feminist Work:

The novelist Kamila Shamsie has emphasized heavily the feminist sides of her work. As a
woman,
Shamsie can give a convincing account of how a female character views life and situations
around her.
Although the novel depicts terrible and even catastrophic situations such as the devastation of
Nagasaki, the reactions and sentiments of woman are present and striking. Moreover, one can
easily
notice the way Shamsie presents her female character so that all sentiments of pity, sympathy
and
horror of those situations are fully represented. The scarcity of women writers in Pakistan
stems
possibly from the '' dismally parochial and in discriminatorily gendered systems of education,
opportunity, modes of acculturation, and general devaluation of the arts'' thus making the work
of
current Pakistani woman writers even more worthwhile and admired.As a woman writer,
Shamsie
speaks on behalf of South Asian women and Pakistani women in particular who have long
suffered
from the suppressions of governmental and patriarchal societies. Shamsie's women characters
are
strong-willed, emancipated, well-enlighted, responsible for their decisions and bold like
Shamsie
herself.The bombing of Nagasaki has left its traumatic effects on Hiroko physically and mentally
which
is described by Shamsie as: '' Diamond cutting open the earth, falling through to hell''
For any human being, the greatest trauma is to lose her/his home where she/he spent the
loveliest
memories of childhood and youth which remind her/him of the past. Nagasaki.

Multiplicity Of Topics:
The multiplicity of Kamila Shamsie's themes, in Burnt Shadows as well as in her other novels is a
prominent element. This novel as well as other novels have covered explicitly and/or implicitly
subjects as diverse as familial relationships, history, war and love, global terrorism, feminism,
crosscultural relationships, foreign policy of America, East- West relationship, and culture of the
subcontinent particularly Karachi as the hub of Pakistan. These multiple themes have been
related to
historical settings to explain more modern issues. For example, the increasing effects 57 of
American
foreign policy in the world have been tackled by many novels like In the City by the Sea, Broken
Verses,
and in Burnt Shadows as will be shown in the present analysis.
The East has always been influenced by the West (especially America) in a direct and/or indirect
way.
Terrorism, wars, divisions of countries, the occupation of the West Bank, wealth exploitation,
nuclear
weapons, conflicts in many areas in the East have often been attributed to the West. This is
what
Shamsie said in one of her articles describing the American intervention in other country's
policy
specially Pakistan.
In her fifth novel, Burnt Shadows.

Conclusion:
Burnt Shadows is a novel where feminism, post colonialism Islamization, East-West
relationship, the
effect of war on people's life are the main issues that the novel tackles. Shamsie emphasizes the
idea
ofmaking the world a place for better life. Having lived between two different worlds Shamsie
can
convey the real way the west look at the easterners. It has become clear that Shamsie's fiction
is
permeated by politics. Her diction and metaphors are often so realistic and the main emphasis
of her
fiction is given to the political world. It is not the world of dreams and fantasy, rather the
present
world where people are oppressed by the past wars which turned into permanent conflicts that
may
result in a third world
war. And Shamsie portrays women as weak and helpless individuals in brutal world. Women
suffer a
lot, face many challenges, especially in love matters, rendered by social norms, but are still
rebellious,
courageous. So Shamsie's fiction is concerned with the sufferings of war victims. Shamsie's
pictures a
world which is becoming very brutal, dangerous everywhere. However, by giving us a real vision
of
the universe by means of loss and endless suffering, she manages to weave a comprehensive
image
of what is local and cosmopolitan, Asian and European. It seems that she wants to warn other
women/people about the imperial politics used by the west towards the east, and their
destructive
effects. It is through the stories that she transmits this important message. She wants the world
to
stop being such a brutal place as reported by Shamsie by her main character Hiroko in Burnt
Shadows.
It is very obvious that Shamsie has made her own image in the contemporary fiction. By tackling
focal
issues in present-day life, her fiction is ''truthful'' expression of a woman faithful to the values
she
believes in. Shamsie is a woman who never tries to minimize her emotions, feelings and
thougts.

The End Allah Allah Hafiz…..

“ EXPLORATORY PROJECT”
Name. Muhammad Abbas Khan
Roll. No 3072
Section. B/Eve
th
Semester. 4
Subject. Pakistani literature
Submitted to. Honourable Mam
Sajidasharif332@gmail.com
M.A English Department
University of Okara

Biography Of Kamila Shamsie And

Introduction Of
Burnt Shadows
About Kamila Shamsie:
Kamila Shamsie was born into a well-to-do family of intellectuals in 1973 in Pakistan. She is the
author
of four previous novels: In the City by the Sea, Kartography (both shortlisted for the John
Llewellyn
Rhys Prize), Salt and Saffron & Broken Verses. In 1999 she received the Prime Minister's Award
for
Literature and in 2004 the Patras Bokhari Award – both awarded by the Pakistan Academy of
Letters.
Her mother was a poet and her grandmother was a writer too. A writer between worlds: East
and
West, Pakistan and Britain. Her work can be read as an exploration of the impact of colonialism
and
of postcolonial relations, starting off from the context of Pakistan. She is interested in global
issues
with a special focus on Pakistan. She is a product of modern transnational globalization. She
was
brought up in Karachi where she attended Karachi Grammar School. She has a BA in Creative
Writing
from Hamilton College, and an MFA from the MFA Program for Poets & Writers at the
University of
Massachusetts Amherst, where she was influenced by the Kashmiri poet Agha Shahid Ali.

Introduction Of Novel:
Burnt Shadows published in 2009 is an ambitious novel, an epic family saga and a historical
novel, the
first of Shamsie's works to move outside Karachi and Pakistan. it spans more than half a
century, from
World War II to the 2001 World Trade Center attacks and the post- 9/11 world. She was
inspired by
an image of Japanese women with kimono prints of their skin, as the bombing had an indelible
effect
on their skin. This is the main image that she has and it is also the cover image of the book. It
starts
with the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945, moves to the 1947 partition of British India, and
the
creation of the new state of Pakistan and later to Afghanistan and the US. The novel depicts the
shared
histories of two families composed of people of different nationalities and several cross-
generational
and cross-cultural relationships across time and space. It is a family epic that crosses with these
historical events, but she focuses on the intimate relationships, that are influenced by these
events.
It is divided into four sections: "The Yet Unknowing World" - Nagasaki (Japan), 1945, end of
WWII, the
attack of the atomic bomb; "Veiled Birds" - Delhi (India), 1947, Independence of India, civil war
between India and Pakistan, religious fights between Muslims and Hindus; "Part-Angel
Warriors" -
Karachi (Pakistan) and Afghanistan, 1980s, theatre of war, Soviet invasion; "The Speed
Necessary to
Replace Loss" - New York (USA), 2002, after 9/11 Twin Towers attack, start of the war of terror.
Main characteristics of Kamila Shamsie's novel (Burnt Shadows)…

Main characteristics of Kamila Shamsie's novel

(Burnt Shadows)
It is marked by multiplicity of ideas; some are local and some universal. For example, she
presents the
theme of colonialism, East-West relationship and its problematics. Love and its manifestations,
politics, global events such as Sep/11 destruction of Hiroshima. It is clear that just a passing
reference
can tell the reader about the great effects of wars, politics and diaspora on the individual and
his life.

Common themes in Kamila Shamsie's novel:

Feminism:
She has successive in presenting a number of characters of flesh and blood, forcing the reader
to
sympathize, appreciate, and forgive. It is evident that Burnt Shadows has much to say about
feminism
and its role in presenting the themes of the novel. The main character Hiroko is a living example
of
the feminist which is very popular in the late 20 and the beginning of the 21st century. She is
selfreliant, she is self- confident, daring and ready to take any risks including moving from one
culture to
another and easily adapting herself to the requirements of the new environments despite the
catastrophes and impending death, she remains strong and self-willed challenging any
frustrated
circumstances.

Post colonialism:
Seen from another angle Burnt Shadows is a glaring example of post colonialism. This is not
surprising,
given her position, as a novelist writing at a very critical time: The time of Partition, the time of
Colonization and its formidable effect on people and country. However, when she writes about
this
subject she does not address her native readers, she has in mind the Westerners she is living
among.
You find her using a discourse that can be considered as a compromise between what she
inherited
and what she receives in her new culture. Even so, one can easily notice an implicit and
sometimes
explicit criticism of the act of terrorism and effects on people.
Main techniques and stylistic aspects used in her

Common themes in Kamila Shamsie's novel:

Feminism.
She has successive in presenting a number of characters of flesh and blood, forcing the reader
to
sympathize, appreciate, and forgive. It is evident that Burnt Shadows has much to say about
feminism
and its role in presenting the themes of the novel. The main character Hiroko is a living example
of
the feminist which is very popular in the late 20 and the beginning of the 21st century. She is
selfreliant, she is self- confident, daring and ready to take any risks including moving from one
culture to
another and easily adapting herself to the requirements of the new environments despite the
catastrophes and impending death, she remains strong and self-willed challenging any
frustrated
circumstances.
Post colonialism:
Seen from another angle Burnt Shadows is a glaring example of post colonialism. This is not
surprising,
given her position, as a novelist writing at a very critical time: The time of Partition, the time of
Colonization and its formidable effect on people and country. However, when she writes about
this
subject she does not address her native readers, she has in mind the Westerners she is living
among.
You find her using a discourse that can be considered as a compromise between what she
inherited
and what she receives in her new culture. Even so, one can easily notice an implicit and
sometimes
explicit criticism of the act of terrorism and effects on people.
Main techniques and stylistic aspects used in her

Fiction:
As far as the narrative techniques and stylistics are concerned we notice that Shamsie's fiction
in
general and her novel Burnt Shadows in particular does represent the principles and devices
and
objectives of the post modernistic novel. Her relationship with other fellow writers especially
her
mentor, Salman Rushdie, has helped in giving her fiction its distinctive touch; her sentences are
graceful sometimes laconic and the dialogues contain vernacular and daily language but the
narrative
tone remains Standard English. Her narration is brilliant and successful. Her style is simple
straightforward, direct and above all impressive. All this can be seen through the different
quotations.

Writer's current status in terms of her novel:

When one reads the huge amount of interviews, reviews, judgments of her fiction, one can
easily
recognize that Kamila Shamsie is a very distinguished writer although she has not reached the
age of
50; that she has come from the Indian sub continent and has found herself in the company of
fellow
writers in the west is a privileged as she succeeded in bringing together two different worlds
and
mixes them successfully and brilliantly. She received prizes which means that she has attracted
the
attention of many types of readers and scholars. In short, Kamila Shamsie represents an
interesting
phenomena in the field of fiction and certainly will be a great name in the years to come.

Burnt Shadows As a Feminist Work:

The novelist Kamila Shamsie has emphasized heavily the feminist sides of her work. As a
woman,
Shamsie can give a convincing account of how a female character views life and situations
around her.
Although the novel depicts terrible and even catastrophic situations such as the devastation of
Nagasaki, the reactions and sentiments of woman are present and striking. Moreover, one can
easily
notice the way Shamsie presents her female character so that all sentiments of pity, sympathy
and
horror of those situations are fully represented. The scarcity of women writers in Pakistan
stems
possibly from the '' dismally parochial and in discriminatorily gendered systems of education,
opportunity, modes of acculturation, and general devaluation of the arts'' thus making the work
of
current Pakistani woman writers even more worthwhile and admired.As a woman writer,
Shamsie
speaks on behalf of South Asian women and Pakistani women in particular who have long
suffered
from the suppressions of governmental and patriarchal societies. Shamsie's women characters
are
strong-willed, emancipated, well-enlighted, responsible for their decisions and bold like
Shamsie
herself.The bombing of Nagasaki has left its traumatic effects on Hiroko physically and mentally
which
is described by Shamsie as: '' Diamond cutting open the earth, falling through to hell''
For any human being, the greatest trauma is to lose her/his home where she/he spent the
loveliest
memories of childhood and youth which remind her/him of the past. Nagasaki, the home of
Hiroko is
displayed in two pictures: a beautiful and charming one before the explosion and a catastrophic
one
which turned Hiroko's life into a terrible hell.
Hiroko arrived at Delhi two years after the bombing of Nagasaki to encounter a new problem
which
was the Partition of the Indian Subcontinent deliberately done by the British to create a
religious
entity rather than a political one where the name Pakistan is immediately linked with the
phrase
'Muslim country'. She and her husband Sajjad came back from Istanbul where they spent their
honeymoon, but they were denied entry to their city, Delhi. Thus Hiroko had to start again in a
new
place. Hiroko's fate takes her from one place to another, adding up to her disasters everywhere
she Burnt Shadows As a Feminist Work
The novelist Kamila Shamsie has emphasized heavily the feminist sides of her work. As a
woman,
Shamsie can give a convincing account of how a female character views life and situations
around her.
Although the novel depicts terrible and even catastrophic situations such as the devastation of
Nagasaki, the reactions and sentiments of woman are present and striking. Moreover, one can
easily
notice the way Shamsie presents her female character so that all sentiments of pity, sympathy
and
horror of those situations are fully represented. The scarcity of women writers in Pakistan
stems
possibly from the '' dismally parochial and in discriminatorily gendered systems of education,
opportunity, modes of acculturation, and general devaluation of the arts'' thus making the work
of
current Pakistani woman writers even more worthwhile and admired.As a woman writer,
Shamsie
speaks on behalf of South Asian women and Pakistani women in particular who have long
suffered
from the suppressions of governmental and patriarchal societies. Shamsie's women characters
are
strong-willed, emancipated, well-enlighted, responsible for their decisions and bold like
Shamsie
herself.The bombing of Nagasaki has left its traumatic effects on Hiroko physically and mentally
which
is described by Shamsie as: '' Diamond cutting open the earth, falling through to hell''
For any human being, the greatest trauma is to lose her/his home where she/he spent the
loveliest
memories of childhood and youth which remind her/him of the past. Nagasaki, the home of
Hiroko is
displayed in two pictures: a beautiful and charming one before the explosion and a catastrophic
one
which turned Hiroko's life into a terrible hell.
Hiroko arrived at Delhi two years after the bombing of Nagasaki to encounter a new problem
which
was the Partition of the Indian Subcontinent deliberately done by the British to create a
religious
entity rather than a political one where the name Pakistan is immediately linked with the
phrase
'Muslim country'. She and her husband Sajjad came back from Istanbul where they spent their
honeymoon, but they were denied entry to their city, Delhi two years after the bombing of
Nagasaki to encounter a new problem which
was the Partition of the Indian Subcontinent deliberately done by the British to create a
religious
entity rather than a political one where the name Pakistan is immediately linked with the
phrase
'Muslim country'. She and her husband Sajjad came back from Istanbul where they spent their
honeymoon, but they were denied entry to their city, Delhi. Thus Hiroko had to start again in a
new
place. Hiroko's fate takes her from one place to another, adding up to her disasters everywhere
she goes and reflecting the traits of her character as a strong willed, kind, patient, and
progressive woman.
Hiroko is viewed as a character coming out of mythology.
Hiroko is pictured as nation less, religion less, and easily able to cross borders, compromise
without
surrendering strength or agency. In addition, Shamsie introduces Hiroko as a fearless woman
warrior
fighting a stubborn enemy. ''She had become, in fact, a figure out of myth. The character who
loses
everything and is born anew in blood.

Multiplicity Of Topics:
The multiplicity of Kamila Shamsie's themes, in Burnt Shadows as well as in her other novels is a
prominent element. This novel as well as other novels have covered explicitly and/or implicitly
subjects as diverse as familial relationships, history, war and love, global terrorism, feminism,
crosscultural relationships, foreign policy of America, East- West relationship, and culture of the
subcontinent particularly Karachi as the hub of Pakistan. These multiple themes have been
related to
historical settings to explain more modern issues. For example, the increasing effects 57 of
American
foreign policy in the world have been tackled by many novels like In the City by the Sea, Broken
Verses,
and in Burnt Shadows as will be shown in the present analysis.
The East has always been influenced by the West (especially America) in a direct and/or indirect
way.
Terrorism, wars, divisions of countries, the occupation of the West Bank, wealth exploitation,
nuclear
weapons, conflicts in many areas in the East have often been attributed to the West. This is
what
Shamsie said in one of her articles describing the American intervention in other country's
policy
specially Pakistan.
In her fifth novel, Burnt Shadows, Shamsie has emphasized history heavily as documental
evidence
on how to present history formed by past events (Duce, 2011:6). Shamsie intended to show
how
individual's lives are influenced by history.

Cities and their Culture Implication:

Technically speaking it is important to say that the presence of two novels i.e Shamsie's novel
and the
earlier work of E' M. Forster within the same work, Burnt Shadows, is a sign that Shamsie makes
use
of the strategy of intersexuality where the past comments on the present and vice versa. Burnt
Shadows, then, is a novel about the meeting or clash between two different cultures. In the
same way
Nagasaki has been described, especially its destruction, Delhi engages an outstanding position
in this
novel, simply because of its oriental glamour. The representation of the city in this way is
expected
since Shamsie is in fact addressing western readers and their preferences and expectations.
Section
two of the novel presents an interesting description of Delhi as viewed by its native, Sajjad Ali
Ashraf.
He sees the city as '' The rhythmically beating heart of cultural India'' (p.33). Some of the details
of his
account bring to mind the Indian novelist, Ahmed Ali, in his novel Twilight in Delhi and his
account of
Delhi as the place of '' by-lanes and alleys, insidious as a game of chess (Shamsie:33). The
division of
E.M-Forster's account of his Indian city in A Passage to India is present here as seen in the
speculations
of Sajjad when he finds it hard ''to locate celestial point at which Dilli became Delhi
In fact Sajjad links the two parts of the present Delhi with the British colonization and its
destructive
effects. In his view, Dilli is his native city associated with the spontaneous and simple life while
Delhi has much to do 66 with the British colonization. Thus he remembers the Old city (Dilli)
and
romanticizes it as follows
The different situations and relations in Burnt Shadows highlight the cultural and psychological
barriers between colonizers and colonized. Hiroko Tanaka's presence in India shows this
particular
side. After arriving from Japan, the words of her dead fiancé remains Konrad warned her
against
trusting anyone in Delhi except Sajjad. Putting Sajjad to test, Hiroko realizes the validity of his
statement. Thus she gets closer to him. However this move raises only the disapproval of
Elizabeth
and her husband James Burton. These unfriendly reactions on the part of Elizabeth and her
husband
carry political and cultural implications about the distance between the colonizer and
colonized.her
guide and inspiration in her environment.
In is clear that Shamsie's depiction of Hiroko's character as a liberal, gentle and kind-hearted
woman
who does not have preconceived views of others irrespective of their religions or races is
entitled to
be the representative of the author's own message in the East-West relation, Hiroko is kind to
all
those she has got to know. If there is a misunderstanding and prejudice in the novel, it is
practiced by
the British rather than the natives. When Hiroko and Sajjad develop their romance affair,
Hiroko
shows Sajjad the scars on her back. Here it is important to notice that Elizabeth immediately
thought
of Sajjad as a rapist in the same 67 way that the British woman in the cave scene accused Dr.
Aziz of
doing the same in E.M. Forester's A Passage to India. Indeed Sajjad has to leave his job for this
mistaken surmise. Later on she discovers that she was wrong. Sajjad's reaction is characteristic.
It is
bitter and sorrowful but not rude. '' I am done with the English'' (Shamsie, p.105) is the
statement he
utters, summarizing all his suffering and frustration at the wrong judgments the British hold
about
him. Shamsie's viewpoint concerning the implicit

Conclusion:
Burnt Shadows is a novel where feminism, post colonialism Islamization, East-West
relationship, the
effect of war on people's life are the main issues that the novel tackles. Shamsie emphasizes the
idea
ofmaking the world a place for better life. Having lived between two different worlds Shamsie
can
convey the real way the west look at the easterners. It has become clear that Shamsie's fiction
is
permeated by politics. Her diction and metaphors are often so realistic and the main emphasis
of her
fiction is given to the political world. It is not the world of dreams and fantasy.
world where people are oppressed by the past wars which turned into permanent conflicts that
may
result in a third world
war. And Shamsie portrays women as weak and helpless individuals in brutal world. Women
suffer a
lot, face many challenges, especially in love matters, rendered by social norms, but are still
rebellious,
courageous. So Shamsie's fiction is concerned with the sufferings of war victims. Shamsie's
pictures a
world which is becoming very brutal, dangerous everywhere. However, by giving us a real vision
of
the universe by means of loss and endless suffering, she manages to weave a comprehensive
image
of what is local and cosmopolitan, Asian and European. It seems that she wants to warn other
women/people about the imperial politics used by the west towards the east, and their
destructive
effects. It is through the stories that she transmits this important message. She wants the world
to
stop being such a brutal place as reported by Shamsie by her main character Hiroko in Burnt
Shadows.
It is very obvious that Shamsie has made her own image in the contemporary fiction. By tackling
focal
issues in present-day life, her fiction is ''truthful'' expression of a woman faithful to the values
she
believes in. Shamsie is a woman who never tries to minimize her emotions, feelings and
thoughts. She
presents the world and man as she sees and feels them. Shamsie is a woman who lives in the
diaspora
and previously she was living in Karachi, the hub of Pakistan and experiences the world in a
double
vision so that she could reveal the world from more than one standpoint

 THE END ALLAH HAFIZ…