 "Photo: Jordan Gomez")
Two Pakistani literary figures explored the colorful history of their country Tuesday in a lecture hosted by the South Asia Institute.
"Pakistan at Sixty (1947-2007): The Trials and Tribulations of a New Nation" featured highly-regarded authors Asif Aslam Furrukhi and Ahmad Saleem. The two presented personal research and experiences, as well as speaking on ways in which literature depicts the history of Pakistan.
The lecture was part of a national circuit both speakers were giving at universities throughout the U.S., said anthropology associate professor Kamran Ali, whose Contemporary Pakistan anthropology class attended the lecture.
Furrukhi is a public health physician for UNICEF in Pakistan, an Urdu short story writer, literary critic, translator of world literature into Urdu and editor of the Dunyazad literary journal. He also runs a publishing house in Pakistan called Scheherazade. The names of the literary journal and the publishing house are characters from the famous stories titles "One Thousand and One Nights," commonly known as "Arabian Nights."
Saleem, who recently led the section for Urdu Publications and Research at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Islamabad, is well known for his sociological research on conflicts and on underrepresented groups in Pakistan, and manages one of the most important archives on progressive literature in Pakistan with the International Institute of Social History. The archives feature progressive literature in several languages and are considered invaluable by many.
After a brief introduction of both men, Saleem opened the discussion by saying that problems in Pakistan today are largely rooted in the first decade of its existence between 1947 and 1958.
He continued by mentioning the inner conflict present in Pakistan during this time, which created states that displaced the Sindhi people.
During this time there was an unfortunate decline in culture throughout Pakistan, especially in present-day Bangladesh, Saleem said.
Furrukhi followed by speaking of the difficulties in classifying Pakistani writers. He mentioned the classification of authors who came before the state, living in the territory or being part of the community that later formed the state.
The informal discussion between Saleem and Furrukhi also analyzed the transformation of Pakistani literature over time and its influence and reflection of the state.
This evolution of literature continues to the modern day where many can find the situation in Pakistan confusing, Saleem said.
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