NEW WINE IN OLD BOTTLE: A FEMINIST NARRATOLOGICAL READING OF UNMARRIAGEABLE PRIDE AND PREJUDICE IN PAKISTAN BY SONIAH KAMAL

Abstract

This study attempts to explicate the narratological features of Unmarriageable Pride and Prejudice in Pakistan by Soniah Kamal. By engaging narratological concepts and its reconstruction in a literary text, it features the concepts of Franz K. Stanzel, Susan Lanser and Mieke Bal to theorize the feminists underpinnings of the selected text.  This paper discusses the ways through which the narratives by women benefit from narratology and how far narratology is strategic in understanding feminist criticism and the experiences of women’s texts. With that, it also accentuates Lanser’s argument that in order to justify the canonical writings, the writers have to be mindful of gender prejudices and be inclusive of writings by female authors. At the same time, female authors while contesting the gender prejudice of male authors ought to avoid the essential gender notions. This paper examines how narrative structures our perception of both cultural artifacts and the world around us. It is significant to understand a narrative since our ordering of time and space in narrative forms constitutes the stories and expression of our experiences that influence our perception and performance.