Pakistani Science Fiction: Glocalizing the Genre
| dc.contributor.advisor | Shea, Victor | |
| dc.contributor.author | Kiran, Sobia | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-11-07T11:09:52Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-11-07T11:09:52Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 2024-07-23 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024-11-07 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2024-11-07T11:09:52Z | |
| dc.degree.discipline | Humanities | |
| dc.degree.level | Doctoral | |
| dc.degree.name | PhD - Doctor of Philosophy | |
| dc.description.abstract | The dissertation provides the first introductory survey of Pakistani science fiction (sf) in diverse media in Urdu and English from the 1980s to the present. Using the insights of Western and Indian sf scholars along with Pakistani literary scholarship, this study employs a comparative approach to provide an eclectic and interdisciplinary perspective mainly through a glocal lens in combination with historical, postcolonial, feminist, and eco-critical frameworks. This dissertation studies speculative works published, produced, and labelled as science fiction, with chapters on Tarzan as a model of glocalized proto sf in Urdu; religion as a subject and as an episteme; varied treatment of the alien figure; post 9/11 identity crisis; and futuristic and other visions. It uses a thematic organization for the chapters to structure the close reading of multiple works produced in diverse media, in two different languages, and from time periods spanning from 1980s to the present. The discussion analyzes films such as Shaani (dir. Saeed Rizvi 1989) and Sar Kata Insan (The Beheaded Man: dir. Rizvi 1994); sf stories in Tilism i Hosh Afza (The Enlightenment of the Senses 2013) by Ashfaq Ahmed; the cartoon series Burka Avenger presenting a female superhero (Haroon Rashid 2013-2016); the comic series Buraaq presenting a Muslim superhero (Adil Imtiaz and Kamil Imtiaz 2011- present); the animated bilingual cyberpunk films Shehre Tabassum (A City of Smiles 2020) and Swipe (2020) by Arafat Mazhar; and literary contributions to the field made by Usman T. Malik, Sidra Sheikh, Bina Shah, and Muhammad Omar Iftikhar, with works like Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan (2021), The Light Blue Jumper (2017), Before She Sleeps (2018), and Divided Species (2020). These works incorporate Western and desi elements in their world- building to imagine Pakistan’s past, present, and future. Utilizing the glocalization theory by Roland Robertson, the dissertation argues that Pakistani sf reshapes the science fiction genre by not only borrowing from Western and Indian sf traditions but also incorporating the local and desi elements. Pakistani sf reflects attempts to reconfigure Pakistani identity in both national and international forums by including the gendered and religious others as well as by challenging the Western negative perception and representation of Muslims and Islam. It not only addresses the local issues of corruption, extremism, and class and gender discrimination but also highlights the problems generated by global capitalism and foreign interference. In addition, Pakistani sf works try to dissociate Pakistan’s and generally Islam’s association with fundamentalism, extremism, and terrorism in the glocal context of rising Islamophobia. By identifying the main motifs, and patterns in Pakistani sf, the dissertation introduces a new field in the global sf studies and opens a dialogic space for the future scholars to contribute to the emerging field. The study holds the potential to attract readers, scholars, and students interested in Pakistani Science Fiction, Pakistani Speculative Fiction, Western Science Fiction, Indian Science Fiction, South Asian Futurisms, and Global sf Studies. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10315/42456 | |
| dc.language | en | |
| dc.rights | Author owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests. | |
| dc.subject | Comparative literature | |
| dc.subject | Asian literature | |
| dc.subject | South Asian studies | |
| dc.subject.keywords | Pakistani speculative fiction | |
| dc.subject.keywords | Pakistani science fiction | |
| dc.subject.keywords | Western science fiction | |
| dc.subject.keywords | Indian science fiction | |
| dc.subject.keywords | South Asian literature | |
| dc.subject.keywords | Global SF studies | |
| dc.subject.keywords | Global science fiction studies | |
| dc.title | Pakistani Science Fiction: Glocalizing the Genre | |
| dc.type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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