Contemporary Poetics Forum

“Pakistani English Literature: Emergence of a New Voice” by Mr. Harris Khalique

(On 15th November 2018)

Contemporary Poetics Forum of the Department of English organized a lecture titled Pakistani English Literature: Emergence of a New Voice by Mr. Harris Khalique on November 15th, 2018. The speaker is internationally recognized poet in Urdu, English and Punjabi. He has eight collections of verse and a book of creative non-fiction. He was awarded with the UBL Literary Excellence Award in 2013 for his collection of Urdu poems Melay Mein.

Mr. Harris Khalique started his lecture by highlighting the difference in terms of quality and quality among South Asian Literatures. Mr. Khalique said that there was more resentment towards the British invaders from our side that resulted into some kind of communication barrier between Pakistan and the English speaking West. He also mentioned the local lingua franca which India lacked and due to which they focused on English education and were therefore able to produce more literature in English. The third source of India’s better English language education were Maulana AbulKalam Azad’s educational reforms and planning.

Mr. Khalique hailed AttiyaFaizi as the first writer of Pakistani Anglophonic literature with the publication of her The Music of India. Highlighting the distinction between early Pakistani writers and diasporic writers, Mr. Khalique divided his lecture into two parts by discussing the two streams separately. In this regard, he mentioned Ahmad Ali’s Twilight in Delhi and his Quranic translation, ShahidSuhrwardhy’sEssays on Poetry and the fictional works of his daughters Shaista Ikramullah and Attiya Hossain. Among poets, said Mr. Khalique, TaufiqRafat was a leading person who represented the very Pakistani Idiom in English. Daud Kamal was another renowned poet and translator of Ghalib and Faiz’s works into English language. Among short story writers, Daniyal Mueenuddin is the one whose short stories reflect life in the rural Punjab. Mr. Khalique asserted that although Pakistani poetry is mostly unrated and unsung, yet it is the most powerful expression of Pakistani culture and society.

Later, referring to diasporic writers like Muneeza Alvi, Haneef Qureshi, Nadeem Aslam, Kamila Shamsie, and Uzma Aslam Khan, Mr. Khalique turned the attention of the audience to another stream of Pakistani creativity. In his opinion, works produced by these writers are mostly based on their western experiences. Further, he stated, “Their works are based more on their observations than experiences.’ He justified it by saying, ‘sensibilities change with change of experiences’. At the end, he also emphasized to create and improve our relationship with Western norms and language by knowing and keeping our norms and languages intact and alive. Concluding his lecture, he suggested that we can have differences with Western politics, but their art and literature can be helpful in many ways. 

The lecture was attended by the faculty members and students of the English Department. At the end of the session, Dr. Muhammad Sheeraz, Chair, Department of English expressed his deep feelings of gratitude for Mr. Harris Khalique. Later, Dr. Sheeraz along Mr. Farrukh Nadeem, Mr. Mahmood ul Hassan, Mr. Arshad Mahmood Raja and other faculty members presented CPF’s souvenir to Mr. Khalique as a token of gratefulness.