University of Huddersfield Repository Chaudary, Fariha Hiding and Seeking Identity: The Female Figure in the Novels of Pakistani Female Writers in English: A Feminist Approach Original Citation Chaudary, Fariha (2013) Hiding and Seeking Identity: The Female Figure in the Novels of Pakistani Female Writers in English: A Feminist Approach. Doctoral thesis, University of Huddersfield. This version is available at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/17563/ The University Repository is a digital collection of the research output of the University, available on Open Access. Copyright and Moral Rights for the items on this site are retained by the individual author and/or other copyright owners. 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For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/ Hiding and Seeking Identity: The Female Figure in the Novels of Pakistani Female Writers in English: A Feminist Approach Fariha Chaudhary A thesis submitted to the University of Huddersfield in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Huddersfield March 2013 Abstract Pakistani female writers in English continue to highlight the struggles of women within patriarchal Pakistani society. The emphasis of my research project has been to explore and analyse the struggle and resistance of female figures against patriarchal structures as presented through the fiction of my chosen female writers. I have analysed the works of Pakistani Anglophone women writers, Bapsi Sidhwa and Qaisra Shahraz. The thesis concludes with the analysis of a novel by a contemporary Urdu Pakistani female writer, Umera Ahmad. Analysing an Urdu feminist writing along with feminist writing in English has allowed my thesis a broader scope as Urdu feminist writings are an indispensible part of the Pakistani literary canvas in general and feminist literary canvas in particular. Through sexual awakening, sexual victimisation (rape, forced marriage) and sexual discrimination Sidhwa, Shahraz and Ahmad’s women learn of the gendered oppression that works through their bodies. Grappling with a range of victimisations, the female figures, from across the chosen works, expose how female sexuality and bodies are defined, controlled and exploited by men under the guise of socio-cultural and religious traditions. My research explores both the violent and subtle ways in which patriarchy represses female sexuality to control and restrict women in Pakistani society. A further underlying motive of my research has been to stress the importance of writing in allowing the female figures a ‘voice’ to aid their struggle against patriarchal structures. I believe feminist writings, specifically by female authors, both in English and Urdu, are a much needed contribution to the already existing Pakistani literary canon. Therefore, the works of chosen female writers are critically examined in order to understand their role and importance towards addressing, exploring and devising solutions, through a literary medium, to the issues women face in patriarchal society. i This thesis is dedicated to my mother Shahnaz Beagum “Meri payari maan kay naam” “Yeh kamyabian, izaat yeh naam tum say hai Khuda nay jo diya hai maqaam tum say hai Tumhary dam day say hai khilay mery lahu main ghulaab Mery wajood ka sara nizaam tum say hai Kahan besarat-e-jahan aur main kamsin-o-nadan Yeh meri jeet ka sab ihtemaam tum say hai” ii Acknowledgements All praises to Allah Almighty who blessed me with the courage, strength and the opportunity to bring my PhD to completion. No doubt he responds to those who seek his guidance, both in desperation and contentment. This project has been shaped by the crucial contributions of many wonderful people to whom I am greatly indebted. First of all I would like to thank the person, who contributed the most and helped me in so many ways, my supervisor, Dr. Jessica L. Malay. Her wisdom, thoughtful insights and valuable suggestions guided me at every step in my research. Her confidence and faith in me kept me going at times when I felt completely lost. I would also like to thank Prof. Lesley Jeffries who always kept an eye on my progress and provided help whenever I approached her. A special thanks to my University Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan for the scholarship that allowed me to fulfil my dream of PhD Research and the University of Huddersfield, UK for the full fee waiver scholarship. I must also thank our IT staff at the University of Huddersfield, especially Alex and Farah who promptly responded to all IT issues. Thanks to Prof. Krishna from Kolkata, India who helped me find an important book and parcelled it to the UK. I would also like to thank Jean York and her husband Ivan who have been very helpful to International students. Jean always had a solution to all of my problems and the occasional home visits, she always invited me to, were keenly looked forward to as a break from the monotonous routine of study. Thank you Jean for proof reading my thesis, you have been a great moral support. The much needed emotional support always came from the most important people in my life, my parents, my mother, Shahnaz Beagum, my father, Prof. Dr. Zafar Iqbal Zafar, my husband Muhammad Abbas, my sisters Madiha, Iqra, Aqsa and Ansa and my little angel, my daughter Abeeha Chaudhary, who never failed to cheer me up. Their prayers and emotional support kept me going through the most difficult of the times. A special thank- you to mum and dad who believed in me and inspired me to purse higher education and my husband who agreed to my travel abroad for PhD with an open heart. I would also like to thank Uncle Razzaq and his family, whom I stayed with for the first year in the UK. Their company, hospitality and kindness will always be remembered. I can never forget the invaluable contributions of very close friends, Razia Parveen, Ayesha Jilani, Piyanoot Mook and Sadaf Shabbir who were always ready to offer me a shoulder to cry on and encouraged me to carry on. They have been my companions of good and bad days. A heartfelt thanks to many lovely people in the research room, Irfan Raja, Dawn Mathews, Amir Hesari, Chunyao and Duncan Stone who made the research room a lively place. iii Contents Page no. Abstract Acknowledgements Introduction 1 Chapter 1 A Feminist Awakening: Bodies, Identity and Female Sexuality in 33 Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice Candy Man Chapter 2 Veil Unveiled: Purdah, Female Sexuality and Identity in 67 Bapsi Sidhwa’s The Pakistani Bride Chapter 3 Honour, Female Body and Sexuality in 96 Qaisra Shahraz’s The Holy Woman Chapter4 Shame, Female Body and the Patriarch in 125 Qaisra Shahraz’s Typhoon Chapter 5 The Self Discovered and Lost in Umera Ahmad’s 150 Meri Zaat Zara-e-Benishan (My Self: A Speck Undefined) Conclusion 170 References 194 iv Introduction I am the one you needed to bury alive... to feel fearless as the wind again For you never knew... that stones can never suppress a voice. I am the one you hid beneath...the weight of your traditions For you never knew...that light can never fear pitch darkness. In the name of modesty...you bought and sold me I am the one you gave away in marriage...So you could be rid of me For you never knew...that a nation cannot emerge if the mind is enslaved. For a long time you have profited by my shyness and modesty Traded so well on my motherhood and fidelity, Now the season for flowers to bloom in our laps and minds is here. (Naheed, 1991, p.43) The above poem by a Pakistani female feminist poet, Kishwar Naheed 1, speaks of the plight of being a woman in Pakistani society. It is a woman’s voice raised in awareness of her exploitations at the hands of men. It is a cry against a society where women are allowed little recognition as individuals, where they exist and are defined in relation to men to whom they belong. Pakistani society can be called patriarchal due to the elevation of male privilege and its harsh treatment of women, justified in the name of cultural traditions and religion. In this society men are born with respect, dignity and worth whereas women have to strive to earn these qualities. Men are considered as individuals and women are thought of as bodies. Therefore, it is next to impossible for a woman to walk out into the public without being made conscious of her body by the looks she receives from total strangers. Throughout her life a woman’s body is subjected to scrutiny, at home by the father and brother(s) and outside by a range of men who feel 1 Kishwar Naheed was born in 1940 and currently lives in Lahore, Pakistan. Naheed has been one of the most vocal feminists of Pakistan who chose poetry as her medium of resistance against the oppression of women. She is mostly known for her poem ‘We Sinful Women’. Naheed is widely known for her bold critique of the political exploitation of female bodies and sexuality.