1.
The Rise of Pakistani Anglophone Fiction Post-9/11
In the aftermath of 9/11, Pakistani English fiction emerged as a critical response to the dominant
Western narratives surrounding terrorism. Shazia Sadaf notes that writers such as Kamila
Shamsie and Jamil Ahmad gained international attention not only because of the political
relevance of their work, but also because of how they challenged monolithic representations of
Pakistan.
“The decade following the events of 11 September 2001 witnessed a surge of fiction writers
from Pakistan, gaining wide international acclaim” (Sadaf, 2018, p. 115).
This literary movement, often called the “Pak Pack,” became influential because the West
turned its gaze towards Pakistan, especially regarding its role in the War on Terror. Writers used
this moment to present counter-narratives grounded in history, cultural specificity, and political
complexity. Sadaf draws on Aroosa Kanwal’s classification of this fiction into post-9/11 fiction
(focused on direct aftermath) and retrospective prologues (highlighting root causes).
“This new wave of Pakistani writing in English has coincided with a renewed interest in the
intersections between literature and human rights” (p. 115).
Thus, Pakistani fiction becomes both a mirror and a critique of international relations, using
narrative to reflect global injustices.
2. Countering Empathy Monopolies in Western 9/11 Fiction
Western fiction often foregrounded American trauma as uniquely devastating, neglecting the
broader global repercussions. Ian McEwan's famous Guardian essay, while sympathetic,
restricts empathy to Americans and frames others—particularly Muslims—as lacking
imagination and humanity.
> “‘Among their crimes was a failure of the imagination’” (McEwan, qtd. in Sadaf, 2018, p. 116).
Sadaf argues that such framing reinforces an "us vs. them" binary that absolves the West from
introspection. Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows critiques this one-sided compassion by
exposing the suffering caused by imperial and military policies across history.
> “Too many people seem to think I’m making a particular comment on America, but really I’m
talking about nations in wartime” (Shamsie, qtd. in Singh, 2012, p. 160).
This shift reveals how Pakistani writers use fiction not merely for emotional appeal but as
political intervention — demanding that empathy extend to the so-called “enemy.”
---
3. Rethinking the 9/11 Literary Genre
Sadaf critiques mainstream Western 9/11 literature for its failure to consider the structural and
historical causes of the attacks. Richard Gray and Georgiana Banita advocate for a broader
contextualization of 9/11 beyond American soil.
> “If the destruction wrought by Hiroshima and Nagasaki ... is compared quantitatively ... the
reaction to \[9/11] might appear extreme” (Gray, 2011, qtd. in Sadaf, p. 117).
Western narratives, Sadaf suggests, use trauma tropes to obscure the realities of foreign policy.
Pakistani fiction, by contrast, urges readers to consider how violence is often exported
elsewhere. This is poignantly captured by Abdullah in Burnt Shadows:
> “Countries like yours always fight wars, but always somewhere else. The disease always
happens somewhere else” (Shamsie, 2010, p. 350).
This metaphor of war as a disease reframes conflict as contagious, spreading destruction
across borders while Western nations remain distant beneficiaries of global violence.
---
4. Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows as ‘Widescreen’ Fiction
Rather than focusing narrowly on the Twin Towers, Burnt Shadows spans several historical
epochs: Hiroshima, Partition, Cold War Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay. This panoramic
narrative situates 9/11 within a continuum of global injustices.
> “There were earlier stories feeding into the story of 9/11 ... I couldn’t possibly see things that
way” (Shamsie, qtd. in Singh, 2012, p. 158).
By linking distinct events, Shamsie refuses the idea that 9/11 was an isolated tragedy. Instead,
she argues it was the logical outcome of past political decisions. The “widescreen” effect
disrupts Western readers’ comfort with selective mourning, forcing them to reckon with
Hiroshima and Afghanistan alongside New York.
Critics have both praised this historical breadth and critiqued it for sacrificing character depth.
Yet Sadaf contends that this breadth is necessary to challenge Western exceptionalism and
highlight the interconnectedness of global suffering.
---
5. Human Dignity and the Concept of Bodily Integrity
Central to Sadaf’s argument is the theme of human dignity—the cornerstone of international
human rights law. In Burnt Shadows, Shamsie dramatizes the erosion of dignity, particularly in
scenes of incarceration and torture.
> “These rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person” (UDHR, quoted in Sadaf,
p. 119).
The novel’s opening scene, set in Guantánamo Bay, shows a naked prisoner asking, “How did it
come to this?” His physical humiliation symbolizes a deeper moral collapse. Raza’s unjust
detention speaks to how national security discourses strip people of their humanity based on
racial and political profiling.
This aligns with Elizabeth Anker’s notion that human rights literature must portray “bodily
integrity” as a universal entitlement (Anker, 2012).
---
6. Nationalism, Stereotypes, and the ‘Othered’ Self
Raza’s ambiguous identity—part Japanese, part Pakistani, multilingual, mistaken for Afghan—is
emblematic of the failure of nationalist categories. He is captured not because of his actions but
because he doesn’t fit into neat racial-national labels.
> “Irreducible to any label based upon race, nationality or religion” (O’Gorman, 2015, p. 137).
In Guantánamo, Raza’s complex identity is flattened into “enemy combatant.” This distortion
exemplifies how war culture reduces human beings to security threats. Shamsie challenges
readers to see the "Other" as a mirror of the self, collapsing binaries of “us” vs. “them.”
---
7. Jamil Ahmad’s The Wandering Falcon and the Dignity of Tribal Life
Ahmad’s stories predate 9/11 but are revived in its aftermath to offer historical insight into the
lives of Pakistan’s tribal people. The novel portrays the tribal code of Pashtunwali as a complex
moral system grounded in honor, justice, and hospitality.
> “There’s probably worse brutality in the cities … But how the tribes deal with it, I thought was
clean and clear” (Ahmad, qtd. in Sadaf, p. 122).
Ahmad neither romanticizes nor demonizes tribal life. Instead, he records its dignity, agency,
and internal coherence, contrasting it with the violent impositions of the modern state. His
protagonist, Tor Baz, becomes a symbol of resilience, navigating loss without abandoning his
culture.
---
8. Drone Warfare and the Destruction of Tribal Autonomy
Ahmad critiques U.S. and Pakistani military policies for eroding the fabric of tribal society. Drone
strikes and foreign-sponsored militancy have devastated the Pashtun way of life.
> “\[Drone attacks] are … destroying a system which was a strong countervailing system to …
terrorism” (Ahmad, qtd. in Sadaf, p. 124).
These regions are misrepresented as terrorist havens, but Ahmad insists they once had their
own systems of justice and governance, which Western powers failed to understand or respect.
The real loss is not just lives, but the annihilation of a way of life rooted in collective dignity.
---
9. Oral Tradition vs. Western Literacy: Reimagining Civilisation
Sadaf challenges the UNESCO-driven assumption that literacy equates to progress. Ahmad’s
work reveals how oral traditions, such as the Jirga system, are sophisticated modes of conflict
resolution.
> “Illiterate tribes with oral traditions are lawless and barbaric” is a myth Ahmad seeks to counter
(Sadaf, p. 124).
Joseph Slaughter critiques how Western human rights discourses have marginalized oral
cultures. Ahmad’s narratives rehabilitate these systems, demonstrating that justice and dignity
can exist outside the written word and within indigenous traditions.
---
10. Literature as a Pedagogical and Ethical Space
In her conclusion, Sadaf argues for the inclusion of Pakistani literature in interdisciplinary
education, not as supplementary texts but as central critiques of Western ideologies.
> “Pakistani fiction … has the potential to identify the challenges faced by a universal vision of
human rights in a post-9/11 world” (Sadaf, 2018, p. 125).
These texts teach students to question dominant histories, extend empathy beyond borders,
and understand human dignity as a shared moral obligation. The classroom becomes a site of
ethical transformation when these voices are centered.
Post-9/11 Pakistani fiction serves as a powerful literary resistance against Western narratives
that monopolize empathy, marginalize the global South, and ignore the long histories of political
violence. Through the works of Kamila Shamsie and Jamil Ahmad, such fiction reclaims the
discourse of human dignity by offering complex characters, alternative histories, and culturally
rooted moral systems that demand to be seen, understood, and respected.
---
1. Introduction: 9/11 as a Literary Epoch
The events of September 11, 2001, mark a watershed moment that shaped global literature.
Rabiya Aamir argues that this moment led to a new genre of English fiction, especially among
diasporic South Asian writers from Pakistan. These writers engage with the aftermath of 9/11
not merely as an event, but as a discursive and cultural force.
> “It will not be out of place to consider the first decade of this twenty-first century as the
beginning of a new epoch in the genre of novels in English literature” (Aamir, 2016, p. 170).
This framing suggests that literature post-9/11 demands new theoretical tools to interpret shifting
identities, power, and belonging.
---
2. Theoretical Framework: Hybridity and New Historicism
Aamir applies Homi Bhabha’s concept of hybridity and Foucault’s new historicism to explore
how post-9/11 diasporic Pakistani fiction subverts Eurocentric literary canons. Hybridity,
according to Bhabha, is:
> “Neither the one nor the other \[, something which is] struggling to free itself from a past
ancestry, and which values the ‘pure’ over its threatening opposite, the ‘composite’” (Ashcroft,
1989, qtd. in Aamir, p. 169).
This theoretical lens sees diasporic fiction not as marginal, but as shifting the center of literary
discourse. The texts actively resist dominant narratives by repositioning Pakistani perspectives
from the periphery to the center.
---
3. Redefining South Asian Literature
The article contends that post-9/11 Pakistani fiction is redefining South Asian literature by
blending traditional concerns with global realities. Writers such as Mohsin Hamid, Kamila
Shamsie, H.M. Naqvi, and Ali Sethi write from a diasporic vantage point, combining local
experience with global trauma.
> “These writers, in a very subtle way, are redefining South Asian Literature” (Aamir, 2016, p.
170).
This suggests a literary decolonization—a move away from Indo-centric narratives toward a
distinct Pakistani diasporic voice.
---
4. The Post-9/11 Novel: Politics, Trauma, and Identity
Aamir contrasts Pakistani fiction with American post-9/11 novels. While American writers like
Don DeLillo (Falling Man) and Foer (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) focus on
psychological trauma, Pakistani writers explore broader themes—ethnic background, identity
crisis, and global politics.
> “The psychological trauma ensuing due to this event \[9/11] is the prime focus of these
\[American] novels” (p. 172).
Pakistani fiction, therefore, offers a multifaceted engagement with 9/11—moving beyond
victimhood into a space of critique and reinterpretation.
---
5. Global Literary Themes: Diaspora, Belonging, and Ethnicity
Writers across the world after 9/11 have addressed ethnic identity, diaspora, and the politics of
belonging. Aamir draws comparisons with writers like Jhumpa Lahiri, Monica Ali, Sherman
Alexie, and Chimamanda Adichie, who examine themes of cultural hybridity, displacement, and
assimilation.
> “Writing about ethnic background is therefore another dominant theme in the fiction written
after 9/11” (p. 174).
Pakistani writers, however, go further by linking these identity struggles with political ruptures
and global suspicion—particularly Islamophobia.
---
6. Triadic Themes in Pakistani Diasporic Fiction
According to Aamir, Pakistani post-9/11 fiction uniquely integrates three key themes:
1. Portrayal of ethnic background
2. Identity formation and crisis
3. Impact of 9/11
These themes are not treated in isolation but interwoven to reflect the complexity of modern
diasporic life.
> “Writers of only Pakistani origin... have the credit to have integrated all three thematic strands
in their novels” (p. 176).
This synthesis allows Pakistani fiction to function as a site of resistance and redefinition.
---
7. Textual Analysis: Hamid, Naqvi, Shamsie, and Sethi
The article discusses four major writers:
Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist explores identity, Lahore’s cultural texture, and
post-9/11 surveillance.
H.M. Naqvi’s Home Boy dramatizes dislocation and racial profiling in post-9/11 America.
Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows links Nagasaki to Guantánamo, foregrounding transhistorical
trauma.
Ali Sethi’s The Wish Maker presents detailed cultural background with subtle nods to identity
and global politics.
> “Shamsie may be regarded as the literary Florence Nightingale of Pakistani diaspora in the
twenty first century” (p. 177).
Each novel becomes a textual response to global injustice, using personal stories to reflect
political shifts.
---
8. Subverting Eurocentric Judgments
Aamir emphasizes how these texts challenge Western epistemologies by rewriting history from
the margins. Using Bhabha’s concept of hybridity and Ashcroft’s critique of Eurocentrism:
> “They have further pushed the centrality of the nucleus of ‘Eurocentric standard of judgment’
to the peripheries” (p. 177).
Through this textual resistance, Pakistani writers assert their cultural sovereignty and offer
epistemic alternatives to the West.
---
9. New Historicism and Power Structures
Foucault’s theory of new historicism informs the reading of these novels as reflections of how
power circulates post-9/11. Fiction is shown to be shaped by historical forces while also shaping
perception.
> “Through their characters, these selected works exhibit how the modern power of the event of
9/11 has permeated the capillaries of the narratives” (p. 178).
Characters become docile bodies subjected to global regimes of power—surveillance,
suspicion, and exclusion. Literature here functions as a counter-history.
---
10. Conclusion: Redefining Literary Canons
The article concludes that these writers should no longer be seen as peripheral. Instead, they
are central to understanding postcolonial modernity and transnational identity.
> “These prima indicants are redefining the boundaries of South Asian literature by imparting
their individual talent in the grand narrative of literary tradition” (p. 179).
Aamir calls for the recognition of Pakistani Anglophone fiction as an independent field, no longer
overshadowed by Indian English fiction.
Post-9/11 Pakistani diasporic fiction redefines South Asian literature by integrating ethnic
identity, trauma, and global politics, using hybridity and new historicism to challenge Eurocentric
power structures and write alternative histories.
