Literatures in English in a Microcosm: A Discursive Review of Works by Pakistani-English Writers

Abstract

The article offers a critical inquiry into Pakistani English Writing over a period of more than half a century; beginning with writers who had published works before Partition and later became Pakistani writers in the wake of independence in 1947. How the writers born in Pakistan reclaim their historical ties is further contrasted against authors writing after political upheavals such as session in 1971 and 9/11. The diaspora writers along with these categories of Pakistani writers writing in English have enriched the literary tradition and rendered Pakistani English writing as a canon. The article looks into the artistic consciousness being shaped as a result of the socio-political milieu of the times. The regional and topographical landscapes of the writer’s locale have been subjected to critical consideration against the backdrop of a more of ephemeral and fluid ‘inscapes’ sought on the postcolonial frame. The article seeks to fill in the gaps on the spatial-temporal level by bringing together Pakistani writers works in a microcosm.