what is Pakistani literature?
The Pakistani literature is one of those bodies of writing that are hard to cut from other bodies of writing and that also require a careful internal dissection. There is a constant debate on where it begins and where it ends; certainly, it would be very reductive to say that Pakistani literature starts with the birth of Pakistan, in 1947. It is also a typical case of multilingual literature, written in Urdu, in English, sometimes in Persian, and in many other languages, such as Pushto, and Punjabi, and Seraiki, and Balochi, and who knows what else. Sindhi, this is what they call it. It is also written in Sindhi.
Especially in historical perspective, the literature of Pakistan should be probably broken down into all those components. Kashmiri literature should be addressed as a separate entity, quite diverse from Urdu literature or Sindhi literature. That would be the professional way of speaking of it. Even like this, the stories result quite complex, shifting geographically over great distances. The best example is Urdu, a language and a literary tradition that is typically associated with Pakistan, and that is nonetheless born in the Sultanate of Delhi, in North India, some time around the 14th century. It is an amalgamation of Sanskrit (or rather Prakrit) and Arabo-Persian vocabulary of the new ruling elite. If it emerged in the 14th century in quite another region, so it is certainly not the oldest literary tradition of Pakistan. The oldest, undoubtedly, is the illustrious Sanskrit-speaking tradition of Kashmiri letters. The Punjabi literature is relatively old, for it was there already in the 12th/13th century, with Sufi poetry of Fariduddin Ganjshakar. Pashto literature may claim to be older, if we admit it started in the 7th century with the warrior poet Amir Kror Suri, but he may as well be only a legendary figure. The literary things started on serious among the Pashtuns only with Pir Roshan, another Sufi poet, in the 16th century. As a local version of Arabo-Persian culture, Sindhi literature seemed well established already in the 11th century, with its own tradition of Sindhi qasida and its romantic stories. Finally, Saraiki literature in Punjab is out of the competition, as it can only bring about some folk tales and 18th-c. poetry. As we can see, whatever the literature of Pakistan might be, it seems to admit and develop the languages and traditions of various conquerors. So it does with English, the language of the British colonial rule. It has its own local dialect and its own strands of poetry, short story and novel, just as proper and typical for the country as a Sindhi qasida.
Especially in historical perspective, the literature of Pakistan should be probably broken down into all those components. Kashmiri literature should be addressed as a separate entity, quite diverse from Urdu literature or Sindhi literature. That would be the professional way of speaking of it. Even like this, the stories result quite complex, shifting geographically over great distances. The best example is Urdu, a language and a literary tradition that is typically associated with Pakistan, and that is nonetheless born in the Sultanate of Delhi, in North India, some time around the 14th century. It is an amalgamation of Sanskrit (or rather Prakrit) and Arabo-Persian vocabulary of the new ruling elite. If it emerged in the 14th century in quite another region, so it is certainly not the oldest literary tradition of Pakistan. The oldest, undoubtedly, is the illustrious Sanskrit-speaking tradition of Kashmiri letters. The Punjabi literature is relatively old, for it was there already in the 12th/13th century, with Sufi poetry of Fariduddin Ganjshakar. Pashto literature may claim to be older, if we admit it started in the 7th century with the warrior poet Amir Kror Suri, but he may as well be only a legendary figure. The literary things started on serious among the Pashtuns only with Pir Roshan, another Sufi poet, in the 16th century. As a local version of Arabo-Persian culture, Sindhi literature seemed well established already in the 11th century, with its own tradition of Sindhi qasida and its romantic stories. Finally, Saraiki literature in Punjab is out of the competition, as it can only bring about some folk tales and 18th-c. poetry. As we can see, whatever the literature of Pakistan might be, it seems to admit and develop the languages and traditions of various conquerors. So it does with English, the language of the British colonial rule. It has its own local dialect and its own strands of poetry, short story and novel, just as proper and typical for the country as a Sindhi qasida.
I have readKhushal Khan Khattak, The Book of Falconry (1674)
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I have written... nothing ...
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