LAHORE: A question was raised about using autobiographical for writing fiction as the moderator Raza Naeem called it a weak device in the literary canon in context of The Second Coming, the debut novel of Athar Tahir.

Apparently surprised at the question, Dr Amra Raza, the former chairperson of the Department of English of the Punjab University, said to read a novel as an autobiography would be a narrow take on the narrative itself. “I think to some extent, most novels or fiction, if not autobiographical, draws on the experiences of the novelists and the novelists describe themselves as one or more characters.

“Here the question of autobiography arises as the protagonist (just like the author) is a bureaucrat, sixty years of age and an Oxnonian having artistic sensibilities but for me to read it that way would devalue the novel itself as there are so many subtexts in it and it’s not just about one protagonist but all of us,” said Amra.

To the same question, Athar Tahir replied by saying that in the literary canon, to say that the autobiographical element is considered weak is perhaps a misreading. He gave examples of two masterpieces in the 20th century English/American literature having autobiographical elements and they are considered iconic works—D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers and Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer.

“So to say that the autobiographical element weakens the narrative is not quite true because it all depends on the author or the poet and how he uses it.”

The conversation happened in a session, ‘the novel effect—conversations on craft and creativity on The Second Coming’, by Athar Tahir at the Adab Festival Pakistan on Saturday.

To a question about the title, Dr Amra said the title of the novel is a Biblical reference to Christ but it also referred to a poem of W.B. Yeats which had the same title. “The Second Coming in Yeats’ poem is not the ‘second coming’ of Christ but a warning of the coming of a rough beast with the body of a lion, head of a human being and scorpion’s tail.” The theme of the poem also echoed in the narrative of the novel, including tension, fears and chaos, she said.

When asked how the theme of desire has been treated in the English language fiction in Pakistan, poet Mina Malik said “the writers in the country skirt around desire mostly when they write about it”. She called it brave on the part of Tahir to take upon the desire of an older person. “What I find exciting is intentional and careful layering of a man’s internal awakening against the background of sex trade that Thailand is known for.”

Tahir said he wrote the novel because he wanted to share his experiences, ideas and observations of life and he did not want to do it in a conventional love story like the novel (Love Story) written by Erich Segal that became popular in the 1970s. “It’s not a conventional Romeo Juliet read. It actually puts all those shades in perspective.”

WOMEN’S CRICKET: Mumbai-based journalist and author Aayush Puthran says a lot of issues related to women cricketers are not limited to Pakistani cricketers but globally until 2010, women cricket was not given much importance as it was treated just as a CSR (corporate social responsibility) project.

He says while Australia has moved ahead of all, India, New Zealand and England have match fee parity for women cricketers while South Africa and West Indies have committed to do it, Sri Lankan players draw $750 per match while Bangladesh has Rs40,000 for a match.

“Unfortunately in Pakistan, the concept of equal pay in cricket has not even started. Even the conversation has not started. If the conversation starts then at some point the implementation will start.” Aayush said if you point out equal pay at the moment, it would be ridiculed.

“The rest of the world has implemented it (equal pay) and if Pakistan does not implement it now, it would be left so far behind that it would not be able to catch up.”

Aayush was speaking at the launch of his book, Unveiling Jazba, A History of Pakistan’s Women Cricket.

Cricketer Bismah Maroof termed the parental policy of the Pakistan Cricket Board for women cricketers game-changing.

“Under the parental policy, I can continue after motherhood and they will take care of my finances for two years if I am not playing but if I am playing, I can take my child with me and one support person can accompany me.”

Bismah said the policy helped her a lot as she was not sure of continuing playing cricket after getting married and becoming a mother.

Chairperson of the PCB women wing, Tania Mallick said the girls are keen to play cricket and parents, colleges and universities are also supporting them. To deal with financial aspects of women cricketers, she said, the PCB introduced domestic contacts for the upcoming cricketers along with central contracts. She said the board was taking care of the financial stability of women cricketers.

Bushra Aitzaz also spoke.

Earlier, Ameena Saiyid, the organiser, talked about the Adab Festival Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2024