Negotiating Conflict: Regional and National Identities in Contemporary Pakistani Fiction in English

Pakistan has frequently been viewed as a stronghold of Islamic radicals, often overlooking the fact that various trends of both dormant and obvious conflicts exist between the politics of religion and region. Whereas the former is mainly controlled by the state, the latter is generally influenced by language and ethnicity. The state’s monolithic notion of national identity, from the country’s birth in 1947 to the present, has overshadowed the regional identities mainly the Pashtuns, Baluchis, and Sindhis, and disregarded the minority credos such as Shias, Parsis, Ahmadis, Hindus, and Christians. The present article aims to explore how contemporary Pakistani fiction in English spotlights images of a fragmented national self, underlining plights of the aforementioned marginal groups and exhibiting strong resistance to hidebound national identity. Reviewing contemporary Pakistani fiction in English with a particular focus on the fiction of Bapsi Sidhwa, Sara Suleri, Kamila Shamsie, Nadeem Aslam, Bina Shah, and Jamil Ahmad, this paper aims to bring critical attention of the scholars to the socio-cultural and political valuation of the regional identities.

DI ANTARA DUA ARUS: STUDI FENOMENOLOGI NARASI PASCA ISLAMISME ANAK MUDA MUSLIM DI YOGYAKARTA

The end of the New Order era is an opportunity to develop a new structure in Indonesia. The beginning of the reformation era was marked by the emergence of the Islamist movements or the rising religious spirit era. In this article, the term Islamism is not defined as a discourse within politics of religion, but it refers to narrative spiritual expression in the public space. In a more specific way, this article would like to describe how young Muslims criticize Islamism in their daily lives. This research found that Islamism that occurs in family milieu and in the circle of a friendship has created anxiety mong them. This anxiety appears in the form of disagreement on monolithic definition of Islamism, the criticism of the new pattern of piety in the public space, and the counter narrative to the Islamism phenomenon. Pasca runtuhnya rezim Orde Baru seolah menjadi ‘keran’ bagi terbukanya sistem dan struktur sosial di masyarakat, salah satunya ditandai dengan menguatnya Islamisme atau kebangkitan semangat beragama. Islamisme yang akan diulas di penelitian ini bukan merujuk pada diskursus relasi politik agama, namun lebih kepada eksistensi dari ekspresi keagamaan yang muncul dalam bentuk meningkatnya penggunaan atribut Islam di ruang publik. Penelitian ini secara khusus berupaya memberikan gambaran bagaimana pemuda Muslim mengkritisi fenomena Islamisme dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan adanya Islamisme yang terjadi di ruang lingkup keluarga dan pertemanan melahirkan berbagai keresahan bagi anak muda. Keresahan itu terwujud melalui ketidaksetujuan tentang pemaknaan baru dalam Islam yang dinilai homogen, kritik atas pola kesalehan di ruang publik, dan munculnya konter narasi berupa perlawanan atas fenomena Islamisme.