Course Code: ENG 618Course Title: Pakistani LiteratureCredit Hours: 03Email: najia.asrar@comsats.edu.pk

Days Available:Monday 3:30-5:30Wednesday: 4:00-5:30

Course Instructor: Dr. Najia Asrar Zaidi

Pakistani Literature written in English dates back to the struggle for freedom movement in the Indian Subcontinent for the creation of Pakistan. Factors like Partition, political chaos, complex class system, cultural heritage, social set-up, ethnicity, identity, relations with the West and the super power, ideology, gender matters etc helped shape today’s Pakistani Literature. Interest in this field as a genre is increasing with each passing day and the Pakistani writers living in the country or in diaspora are winning acclaim on the international literary scene. This has ignited a fresh interest into the subject within and outside the country inspiring researchers and readers to enjoy the plurality it offers.

Course Objectives:

Study and respond to this literary heritage

Appreciate the Pakistani literary experience and the impact of cultural exchange towards its enrichment

Develop critical thinking in students which is necessary for analyzing themes and issues depicted by Pakistani writers and poets

Build student’s awareness of universal human concern which forms the basis of all literary work Carry out the comparative analysis of writers and their works

Course Outline:Week no. DetailWeek 1 Introduction to Pakistani Literature Written in English

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Pre-Independence Literature of Pakistan Partition and Literature Factors impacting Pakistani Literature History of Pakistani Fiction

Suggested Readings:

Minutes on Education By Thomas Macaulay

Signs Taken for Wonders By Homhi k. Bhabha Orientalism By Edward Said

Week 2-3 Colonialism and Postcolonialism

Orientalism: By Edward Said

DefinitionGeneral Introduction.Debates and ThemesQuestion of RepresentationWoman Pre-Partition, Post-Partition and Postcolonialism

DiscussionRepresentation Writing in Colonial Space?

Suggested ReadingNation and Narration By Homi BhabhaGauri Viswanathan-Arun P.MukherjeeColonialism-Postcolonialism By Ania Loomba(1998)Postcolonial Theory:A Critical Introduction (1998)Leela Gandhi.Feminism and the colonial Rule( Kadiatu Kanneh)Colonialist Citicism (Chinua Achebe)Can Subaltern Speak by SpivakThe Empire Writes Back By Ashcroft, Griffiths, Tiffin

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Week 4 Femisim and the Pakistani Novel Feminism in three WavesAnglo- American and FrenchFeminism in PakistanFeminism and Post-ModernismIntroduction to The Holy Woman By Qaisra Shahraz

Discussion:Feminism and Pakistani Novel

Recommended Readings:Sexual Textual Politics By Toril Moi (1998)Colonial Fantasies By Meyda Yegenoglu (1998)Towards Feminist Poetics. By Elaine Showalter(1979)Between Orientalism and Fundamentalism By Jasmine Zine www.bepress.com

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Week 5&6 Background and Introduction

Critical Works on Qaisra ShahrazIssues GeneratedTheoretical Applications

Readings:Under Western Eyes:By Chandra MohantyCan Subaltern Speak: By Chakrovorty Spivak The Holy and the UnHoly in Qaisra Shahraz By Raheem Kidwai, Mohammad Asim SiddiquiShaping Women’s Lives: Laws, Practices and Strategies in PakistanBy Farida ShaheedCultural Articulation of Patriarchy. By Farida ShaheedBeyong Honour: By Tahira Khan b (2008)Zina and Transnational Feminism By Tahira Khan (2008).

Week 7&8 Novel: Home BoyPost 9/11 Fiction in Pakistan: An Introduction.Resistance and LiteratureIdentity Politics: Hybridity

DiscussionIdentity Crisis, Neo-Imperialism, War on Terror, GlobalizationLiterary Representation of Muslims and the Novel, Mimicry.Muslim in Western Imagination. Post-modernity and the Hero

Readings:

Covering IslamCulture and Imperialism By Edward SaidWretched of the Earth By Frantz Fanon Location of Culture By Homhi BhabhaSelections from the Prison Notebooks. Antonio Gramsci,

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Week 9-10 Pakistani Poetry:History of Pakistani Poetry Themes and StyleDiscussionCritical Views

Week 11-12 Autobiography:Historical Survey of the genreAutobiograhy and Women EmpowermentAutobiography and the Eastern TraditionAutobiography, Imagination and FictionReadingsThe Culture of Autobiography By Robert FolkenflikFeminism Skin Deep By Sara Suleri

Week 13-1 4 Short Story:Reflection of Pakistani SocietyContribution of Short Story WritersThemes and IssuesVarious Approaches and Short Story Writing

Week 15-16 Presentation

Presentations and Research Proposal Report Due

Learning Outcomes:

Students will be able to understand the importance and diversity of Pakistani Literature

Will help students to foster relevant work on literary studies, gender issues, cultural studies creating an interdisciplinary forum to analyze intellectual currents in all the discourses under study

Equip the students with the ability to explore connections judiciously between literary text and the theory

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Develop in students the ability to critically read the text and interpret in ways that may help in the growth of Pakistani Literature written in English

Course Expectations:

Each week students will be required to generate a set of questions. They will be asked to choose one question from the list and to write up a 1-2 page response on weekly basis.

Students are responsible to submit assignments on time.

Each student is responsible for one proposal seminar report to be presented orally. The report should where appropriate, analyze the intersection between the theory and the work under consideration. A written version is due a week right after the presentation. One term paper on any topic of interest .The written proposal should be 6-8 typed pages.

Students are also required to write a term paper on any topic of their choice and submit it on 23rd of December 2014.

Plagiarism:

Each student is expected to do weekly reading, complete assignments and constructively participate in Class. All written assignments will undergo turnitin to exclude the possibilities of plagiarism. If the student is found guilty of plagiarism then she/he will be terminated immediately.

Assessment Scheme:

Mid term Paper 25%

Four Stages: Test, Assignment, Proposal Presentation and written version 25% Final Examination 50%.

All the Best

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Develop in students the ability to critically read the text and interpret in ways that may help in the growth of Pakistani Literature written in English

Course Expectations:

Each week students will be required to generate a set of questions. They will be asked to choose one question from the list and to write up a 1-2 page response on weekly basis.

Students are responsible to submit assignments on time.

Each student is responsible for one proposal seminar report to be presented orally. The report should where appropriate, analyze the intersection between the theory and the work under consideration. A written version is due a week right after the presentation. One term paper on any topic of interest .The written proposal should be 6-8 typed pages.

Students are also required to write a term paper on any topic of their choice and submit it on 23rd of December 2014.

Plagiarism:

Each student is expected to do weekly reading, complete assignments and constructively participate in Class. All written assignments will undergo turnitin to exclude the possibilities of plagiarism. If the student is found guilty of plagiarism then she/he will be terminated immediately.

Assessment Scheme:

Mid term Paper 25%

Four Stages: Test, Assignment, Proposal Presentation and written version 25% Final Examination 50%.

All the Best

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