Taking a walk down memory lane, writer, critic and editor of anthologies on Pakistani English literature, Muneeza Shamsie discussed the evolution of women writers from the daring 1905 sci-fi Sultana’s Dream to Moni Mohsin’s 2008 satirical novel The Diary of a Social Butterfly.
Women Voices: From Colonial Times to Modern Pakistan, making English writing their own, session was moderated by Faiza Sultan Khan, publisher and editor at Random House, India.
Mentioning the Indian poet Toru Dutt (1856-1877) who wrote in English, Shamsie said she was a glaring example of the kind of work produced in those times in English by women. Atiya Fyzee Rahamin who wrote on the classical Indian music, said Shamsie, belonged to a family which was one of the first where women discarded pardah.
Sultana’s Dream by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain about a world where women are the rulers and men are housebound got special mention.
“This was one of the most radical feminist works of the time,” Shamsie said. With the independence movement gaining momentum, Shamsie said, English came to be used in the political spheres.
She mentioned the likes of Jahanara Shahnawaz, author of Husn Ara Begum and Shaista Ikramullah, the author of From Purdah to Parliament. Shamsie said Pakistan’s first female columnist writing for an English paper, Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah, had faced criticism when she decided to write about politics, leading eventually to her resignation from the paper.
Briefly mentioning the works of the activist involved in the Women Action Forum such as Rukhsana Ahmed, She also spoke of translator Tahira Naqvi leading to what She described as ‘a wave of Pakistani women in English writing’ such as Moni Mohsin, Kamila Shamsie and Uzma Aslam Khan. “Women are going to make a mark in modern English literature in Pakistan,” she said. She said women had a different take on several issues. “In a sense we are all defined by [our] narratives in a peculiar way…there is an innate gender spirit in the way stories appeal to us,” she added.
“There is strong, powerful fiction and prose coming out,” she said. Speaking about Urdu poet Fehmida Riaz, Shamsie said, she was extremely surprised by the power in her poetry. “I read Riaz’s poetry and was completely bowled over. I thought here was a traditional woman and she is writing such powerful stuff.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2013.