‘I can smell the master’s dream’1 – Pakistani in English Literature elective, Social Sciences, Spring 2021

Course Instructor: Arfa Ezazi

Course description: As Muneeza Shamsie pointed out, ‘ flourished in much earlier than ’. 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 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 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 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 – by Diana Dimitrova Maki Kureishi Chapter 9 ‘Censorship, Social Reform, Prayer Beads – 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 (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 Poetry and Fiction’ by Muneeza Shamsie from Day – Maki Kureishi Interpreting Homes in South edited by Malashri Lal and A Street Revisited – Daud Kamal Sukrita Paul Kumar

Night Music – Kaleem Omar

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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 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

Eid – Alamgir Hashmi

Purdah I & II – Imtiaz Dharker 10 Poems on Landscapes and The Blue Wind – Daud Kamal Article ‘Taufiq Rafat’s Poetry - The Nature Kaleidoscope of Various Isms: A The Leap – Daud Kamal Critical Analysis of Selected Poems from Arrival of the Monsoon’ by Rana To See Fruit Ripen – Taufiq Rafat Kashif and Shumaila Jafar

Summer is Fecund Too – Taufiq Rafat Article ‘Poetry, Pakistani Idiom in Arrival of the Monsoon – Taufiq English, and the Groupies’ by Alamgir Rafat Hashmi

This Blade of Grass – Taufiq Rafat

The Kingfisher – Taufiq Rafat

The Gulls – Taufiq Rafat

A Seldom Bird – Taufiq Rafat

Laburnum Tree – Maki Kureishi

Oyster Rocks – Maki Kureishi

Himalayan Brown – Kaleem Omar

Margalla – Adrian A. Hussain

As If These Clouds – Salman Tarik Kureshi

My Love for Nature – Fatimah Asghar 11 Poems on Womanhood The Colors of the World – Moniza Chapter 10 ‘Why I’m a Poet: Alvi Contemporary South Asian Women’s Poetry in the United States’ from The Cripple – Maki Kureishi English Language Study of South Asians: A Critical Study by Mitali Pati Motherhood and Frustration – Wong and Syed Khwaja Moinul Hina Faisal Imam Hassan

Beyond the Veil – Perveen Pasha Review of Imtiaz Dharker by Arundhati Subramaniam for The Hindu A Woman is Never Still – Afshan Shafi

The Beginning – Meetra Javed

Choice – Imtiaz Dharker 12 Poems on Relationships It Is The End of The World – Article ‘Artistic Adaptation: Ekphrasis and Love Waqas Ahmad Khwaja in Pakistani Poetry in English’ by Amra Raza For my Grandchildren – Maki Kureishi

The Chucky – Tariq Latif

From Symbols to Components – Tariq Latif

Main na Bhoolunga – Fatimah Asghar

An Education on Losing – Momina Mela 13 Poems on Diasporic Presents From My Aunts in Article ‘Homelessness, Restlessness Experience Pakistan – Moniza Alvi and Diasporic Poetry’ by Arie Kizel

The Sea Hides Fish – Meetra Chapter 12 ‘No Nation Woman: The Javed Diasporic Woman’s Quest for Home’ by Bidisha Banerjee from Interpreting Oil – Fatimah Asghar Homes in South Asian Literature edited by Malashri Lal and Sukrita Paul If They Should Come for Us – Kumar Fatimah Asghar Interview of Faisal Mohyuddin by A Ghazal for the Diaspora – Faisal Miscellany of Department of English, Mohyuddin Carleton University

Interview of Fatimah Asghar by Minhal Baig for Issue 22 of Hooligan Magazine

Article ‘Like a Knife: Review of If They Come for Us by Fatimah Asghar’ by Raye Hendrix for The Adroit Journal 14 Poems on Kashmir Kashmir – Parveen Pasha Essay 3 ‘The Witness of Poetry’ from Of Gardens and Graves: Kashmir, Kashmir 1987 – Alamgir Hashmi Poetry, Politics by Suvir Kaul

The Picnic in Jammu – Zulfikar Ghose 15 What does/would ‘great’ Chapter 10 ‘Poetry’ from A History of Pakistani poetry in in English by Tariq English look like? Rahman

The Future of Pakistani Article ‘A Transnational Poetics’ by Poetry in English Jahan Ramazani

Article ‘We are Anglo-clones and yet Indians: A Tale of Two South-Asias’ by Subodh Sarkar

Please note: 1. Poets belonging to Kashmir who do not identify as Pakistani have not been included in this outline; the section ‘poem on Kashmir’ looks only at poems written by poets about Kashmir. 2. The outline includes, for the sake of study, a few poets who may have lived in Pakistan only for a year or two as a child (e.g., Imtiaz Dharkar) or never at all and their works are heavily engaged with the area due to an indirect relationship, such as immigrant guardians (e.g., Faisal Mohyuddin). 3. The outline makes use of literary criticism on India and South Asian in general to help make deductions and conduct comparisons related to Pakistani English poetry due to limited literary criticism conducted in the area.

Other Poets: Below listed are Pakistani poets writing in English not included in the above class plan due to the time limitations of the course. Their works will be referred to and discussed where relevant and possible; students are highly encouraged to read them on their own, and allowed to base their response/reflection papers on them if they are so interested.

1. Shahid Hosain 18. Soofia Ishaque 2. Shahid Suhrawardy 19. Zeba Hasan Hafeez 3. Omer Tarin 20. 4. Pirzada Salman 21. Mahbub Ghani 5. Tehmina Ahmed 22. A Aziz Butt 6. 23. Tariq Yazdani Malik 7. Sadaf Halai 24. Nadir Hussain 8. Farida Faizullah 25. M. K. Hameed 9. Ilona Yusuf 26. Azizul Hakim 10. Akbar Husain 27. Jocelyn Ortt Saeed 11. Abbas Husain 28. G. Allana 12. Gulzar Bano 29. Imran Aslam 13. Masood Amjad Ali 30. Nazir Kamal 14. Mona Hassan 31. Mahmud Jamal 15. Nishat Wasim 32. Mehdi Ali Seljouk 16. Shahbano Bilgrami 33. R. Tabassum 17. Sheryar Singha 34. Akhter Ahsen

Assessment plan: 1. Response papers (30%): 6 brief papers based on weekly readings and class discussions; 2. Midterm paper (25%): 6 – 8 paged analysis essay on a selection of three or more poems by a single poet of the student’s choice; 3. Comparative paper (10%): 1 paper comparing two or more poets on either language, style, theme(s) of choice, etc; 4. Final paper (25%): a detailed response analysis to a previously unseen poem, that displays a comprehensive understanding of and engagement with the discussions of the course; 5. Class participation (10%): students will be assessed on their involvement in class discussions, and the quality of their observations; please see below for further details on this.

Reference Books:

On Poetry & Literary Criticism

1. Abbs, P. and Richardson, J. (1995). The Forms of Poetry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2. Boulton, M. (2010). The Anatomy of Poetry (3rdEd.). London: Routledge. 3. Kennedy, X.J. (1994). An Introduction to Poetry (8thed.). New York: Harper Collins College Publishers. 4. Yanni, R. D. (2007).Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama and the Essay (2nded.).New Jersey: McGraw-Hill. 5. Mays, Kelly J. (2015). The Norton Introduction to Literature (Shorter 12th Edition). New York: W.W. Norton Company. 6. Eagleton, Terry. How to Read Literature, Yale University Press: New Haven, 2013 7. Bloom, Harold (ed). JD Salinger: Modern Critical Interpretations. New York: Chelsea House, 1994 8. Gioia, Dana. (2015). Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing. New York: Pearson. 9. Montgomery, M.A., & Furniss, T. (2014). Ways of Reading: Advanced Reading Skills for Students of Literature. London: Routledge. 10. Brooks, Cleanth. The Well Wrought Urn: Studies in the Structure of Poetry. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1947. 11. Brooks, Cleanth, and Robert P. Warren. Understanding Poetry. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1960. 12. Frye, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1971.

On Writing Papers in Literary Studies

13. Calvo, Clara & Weber, J.J. (1998). The Literature Work Book. Londond: Routledge. 14. Fabb, Nigel &Durant.A. (1999).How to Write Essays, Dissertations and Thesis in Literary Studies. New York: Longman. 15. Griffith, K. (2011).Writing Essays About Literature: A Guide and Style Sheet, Harcourt Brace College Publishers, New York. 16. Axelord, R. B. (1987). Reading Critically, Writing Well. New York: St Martin’s Press. 17. Barnet, S. (2011). A Short guide to Writing About Literature. Batsford: Batsford UP.

On Postcolonial Literary Study and Theories

18. Barry P. (1995). Beginning Theory. Manchester: Manchester University Press. 19. Bhabha, H. (2004). The Location of Culture. London: Routledge. 20. Gunning, Dave. . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2013 21. Kachru, B.B. (1982). The Other Tongue. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 22. Lazarus, Neil, ed. (2004). The Cambridge Companion to Postcolonial Literary Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 23. Peck ,J. (ed.). (1995). New Casebook on Post Colonial Literatures.London: Macmillan. 24. Radhika, M. and Rajan, G. (2010). English Post Colonality: Literatures from Around the World. London: Routledge. 25. Rajan, Rajeswari. (1992). The Lie of the Land: English Literary Studies in India. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 26. Said, E. (1978). Orientalism. London: Vintage. 27. Said, E. (1994). Culture and Imperialism. New York: Vintage. 28. Goulimari, Palagia. (2014). Literary Criticism and Theory: From Plato to . London: Routledge.

Class Participation: Your participation in class will be assessed on the quality of observations you offer your peers, your commitment to the weekly readings, your regularity and punctuality, and overall attitude and seriousness towards the course. If you don’t like speaking in public, or are congenitally shy, please see the instructor immediately.

Plagiarism: A zero-tolerance policy towards plagiarism applies in my classes. Plagiarism may cause you to earn a zero. Academic honesty is imperative if you want to pass this course. I can appreciate a speech/answer/etc. that you struggled writing more than perfect work that is plagiarized. Please approach me without hesitation if you find yourself struggling.

If you are unclear about what counts as plagiarism, please book a session with the Writing Center, and for more information on institutional policy regarding plagiarism, please read the section on plagiarism in the Academic Policy Manual or consult IBA’s handbook for plagiarism.

Resources: I highly encourage students to visit The Ardeshir Cowasjee Centre for Writing, especially with the papers they submit in the course. The Writing Centre caters to the needs of undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students, as well as the staff and support members, working towards improving their communication skills. The Centre employs faculty members as well as tutors from the undergraduate and graduate program of study to help and guide students and boost their creativity and confidence levels.

The Centre is located at the first floor in the Alumni and Students’ Centre, Main Campus. Phone 9221- 38104700 Ext. 2034. Email address: [email protected].

Contact: I encourage my students to contact me as often and about as small a thing as they wish. You are welcome to email me, or for swifter correspondence, get in touch through the CR or TA. However, I prefer most to meet on campus during my counseling hours. Email: [email protected]; Counseling hours: Mondays and Wednesdays, 5.15 – 6.00 pm.