'I Can Smell the Master's Dream'1 – Pakistani Poetry in English

‘I can smell the master’s dream’1 – Pakistani Poetry in English Literature elective, Social Sciences, Spring 2021 Course Instructor: Arfa Ezazi Course description: As Muneeza Shamsie pointed out, ‘English poetry flourished in Pakistan much earlier than prose’. Given the penchant of the people of the subcontinent to find expression in verse more than in prose, this does not come as a surprise, despite Pakistan being born in a century that has come to be known as the ‘age of the novel’. Even though audience conversant with literature in English has remained relatively small, Pakistan has produced in its mere seven decades many a poems worthy of note. These poems belong to poets writing locally, to those scattered in diasporas, to men and women, and academics and non-academics alike. The present course aims to introduce students to this rich body of poetry, familiarizing them with the evolution of anglophone poetry in Pakistan since independence, in quest of capturing what has been called by poet Taufiq Rafat as ‘the Pakistani idiom’. While discussing poetic works produced by multiple generations of Pakistani poets, the course will also touch upon, alongside issues of form, style, content and experimentation, themes of cultural exchange and the lingering influence of the colonial encounter. At the end of the term, students would be able to analyze and comment upon the representative works of major Pakistani anglophone poets. Please note that this course includes only poems written originally in English; translations into English are outside the parameters of this course. Course methodology: The course will start by briefly looking at the literary history and contexts attached with the term ‘Pakistani’. It will then open to poetry, in a chronological study, accounting for the various provinces, and later diasporas, the poets were/are writing from. While the study of poetry may not be done sincerely if not in a manner that is alive and respectful of geographical and identity-related politics, the key questions (listed below) of the course must be met and engaged with through a primarily literary lens. This shall allow students to reach a critical understanding of the language, stylistics, themes, and subjects of Pakistani poets over the decades and at present. Course aims: 1. Learn to read Pakistani poetry with an ear sensitive to its contents and language; 2. Garner a literary approach and response to the preoccupations of Pakistani poetry; 3. Develop a sound critical understanding of the language and subject of Pakistani poetry. Learning outcomes: At the end of the semester, students will: 1. Understand the literary and sociopolitical relevance of the categorization ‘Pakistani poetry in English’; 1 This title is taken from Moeen Faruqi’s poem, Partition. 2. Analyze effectively the ‘Pakistani’ element in poetic works of the region via studying their tone, language and imagery; 3. Conduct comparative analyses of poets and their works, while keeping an eye out for thematic parallels and linguistic and cultural differences; 4. Broaden their reading and understanding of Pakistani poetry in English and become sensitive to contemporary and upcoming trends. Key questions: 1. What are the geographical and literary politics of the phrase ‘Pakistani poetry’? What classifies a poet as Pakistani? How do we classify poets who lived in the region now called Pakistan, but before we named or knew the land as so? 2. Why does a Pakistani poet choose to write in English as opposed to a native language? What is it about the Pakistani experience that urges her/him to express herself in English? 3. Who is the audience of the Pakistani poem? Is it ‘the Pakistani’ or is it the Western reader? How is the audience different from that of Pakistani fiction? 4. What is the significance and worth of categorizations such as ‘Pakistani poetry’ today where identity has become a concept carrying intense political and emotional charge? 5. What are the predominant themes of Pakistani poetry? How have the themes evolved historically and culturally, and how are they unique geographically (across provinces and diasporas)? 6. How are poems from different diasporas (the largest three being Europe, the Middle East and North America) distinct from those writing locally? How are they distinct from each other? How does the diaspora play into the psyche of overall contemporary Pakistani poetry? 7. What kind of relationship has existed between the contents of Pakistani poetry and the forms (freeverse, sonnet, etc.) poets have chosen to write in? Can influences by forms of poetry in other languages of the region (such as the ghazal) be traced? 8. What, if any, are the shared metaphors of the poets? What is ‘the Pakistani idiom’ and how has writing evolved since the term’s coinage? 9. What are the metaphors unique to each region? Do these metaphors corroborate with the poets’ respective regional cultures? If not, where, then, are they emerging from? Are there shared metaphors between the insider-outsider poetry of different diasporas? 10. What is ‘great’ Pakistani poetry? Study Plan: Week Class Plan Poems Corresponding Readings 1 Introduction Activity – Talking about Chapter 11 ‘The Heresy of Paraphrase’ previously unread poems without from The Well-Wrought Urn by How Not to Read a Poem talking about what ‘happens’ in Cleanth Brooks them (To be assigned on the spot to avoid pre-reading) 2 How to Read a Poem Activity – Talking about Chapter VIII ‘How Poems Come previously unread poems by About: Intentions and Meaning’ from Reading Poetry for talking about technique (To be Understanding Poetry by Cleanth Effective Critical Analysis Brooks and Robert Warren assigned on the spot to avoid pre- reading) Chapter V ‘Blankverse and Freeverse’ from Sounds of Poetry by Robert Pinsky Article ‘Metaphor and Literature’ by Earl R. MacCormac Chapter VIII from Seven Types of Ambiguity by William Epsom 3 What is Pakistani Poetry? Activity – Identify if the given Article ‘English in India and Indian poems are Pakistani, Indian, Literature in English: The Early Is Pakistani poetry in Bangladeshi using cultural, History, 1579-1834’ by Vinay English distinct from language, etc. cues (To be Dharwadker Anglophone poetry of the assigned on the spot to avoid pre- subcontinent? reading) Chapter 2 ‘ The Beginnings of the English-Language Poetry of South What value does the term Asians: The Colonial Era in the Indian ‘Pakistani poetry’ add to Subcontinent’ from The English verse produced in the area Language Study of South Asians: A and its people? Critical Study by Mitali Pati Wong and Syed Khwaja Moinul Hassan Chapter 3 ‘Postcolonial South Asian Poetry’ by Laetitia Zecchini from The Cambridge Companion to Postcolonial Poetry edited by Jahan Ramazani Chapter ‘Poetry of the Indian Subcontinent’ by Vinay Dharwadker from A Companion to Twentieth- Century Poetry edited by Neil Roberts 4 Poems on Partition Buy My Flag – Shahbano Bilgrami Chapter ‘The Poetry of Grief’ from Re Verse: Essays on Poetry and Poets by Partition – Moeen Faruqi David Slavitt Looking Back from the Cold – Moeen Faruqi Jinnah’s Typewriter – Shadab Zeest Hashmi Fatima Jinnah Enters Her Brother’s Study – Shadab Zeest Hashmi The Loss of India – Zulfikar Ghose Pakistan Movement – Alamgir Hashmi Dividing Line – Adeeba Talukder 5 Poems on History Shikargah – Zeba Hasan Hafeez In Search of Truth at the Geological Museum – G. F. Riaz Alexander Comes of Age – G. F. Riaz 6 Poems on Religions Theological Toys – Shahryar Introduction ‘On Myth and Rashed Mythologizing: An Introduction’ from Religion in Literature and Film in Christmas Letter to my Sister – South Asia by Diana Dimitrova Maki Kureishi Chapter 9 ‘Censorship, Social Reform, Prayer Beads – Daud Kamal and The Gift – Daud Kamal Mythological Drama in Colonial India’ by Nandi Bhatia from Religion in The Return – Moeen Faruqi Literature and Film in South Asia edited by Diana Dimitrova Prayer – Imtiaz Dharker Article ‘South Asian Muslims: Fiction prayer is better than sleep – and Poetry in English’ by Muneeza Momina Mela Shamsie 7 Poems on Politics Curfew Summer – Maki Kureishi Chapter 4 ‘Zia’s Islamization’ from Contemporary Pakistani Fiction in Snipers in Karachi (May 1990) – English: Idea, Nation, State’ by Cara N. Maki Kureishi Cilano The Fifteenth Century – Kaleem Omar Calvary Misunderstood – Adrian A. Hussain April ’77 – Waqas Ahmad Khwaja The Retired Old Bureaucrat, Next Door – Harris Khalique 8 Poems on Metropolises Lights (Part XII from Poems for a Chapter 18 ‘Complexities of Home and Younger Brother) – Taufiq Rafat Homeland in Pakistani English Poetry and Fiction’ by Muneeza Shamsie from Day – Maki Kureishi Interpreting Homes in South Asian Literature edited by Malashri Lal and A Street Revisited – Daud Kamal Sukrita Paul Kumar Night Music – Kaleem Omar * Poems on Cities and Mohenjo-Daro, City of the Dead – Landmarks Ghulam Fariduddin Riaz Raja Bazaar – Shuja Nawaz Shalimar – Mansoor Y. Sheikh Faisalabad – Faisal Mohyuddin Karachi 1955 – Taufiq Rafat Karachi 1968 – Taufiq Rafat 9 Poems on Cultures and Wedding in the Flood – Taufiq Chapter 16 ‘Modernity at Home: The Customs Rafat Nationalization of the Indian Drawing Room, 1830–1930’ by Rosinka A Wedding – Nadir Hussein Chaudhuri from Interpreting Homes in South Asian Literature edited by Kittens – Maki Kureishi Malashri Lal and Sukrita Paul Kumar Empty Cribs – Maki Kureishi Brass Objects – M. Athar Tahir Carpet-Weaver – M. Athar Tahir The Water Carrier – Zulfikar Ghose The Sarangi Player – Shuja Nawaz The Initiation – Shuja Nawaz

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