1. A short history of English Literature from South Asia (How we got here)

• 1. A short history of English Literature from South Asia (How we got here)

• 2. Re-thinking literature from South Asia and the “Islamic world” (Where we are) – Language (Urdu or English? Local or Alien?

Complicity or Dissent? And what about the “others” – Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Seraiki, to name only a few?)

– Narrative (from poetry to fiction)– Islam– Gender

Languages

• Which languages are most widely spoken as a first language? – Punjabi 44% +– Pashto 15%– Sindhi 14%– Seraiki10%– Urdu - 8% (49% of this populous lives in Karachi)

• For how much of the population is Urdu a first or a second language?– 60% (100 million +)

• What is Pakistan’s population?– 170 (165) million + (sixth most populated country in the world)

• What are the three most populous countries to use English as an official language?

– India, United States, Pakistan. – Pakistan is the third most populous, though how many claim English as a “first”

language is unknown. Certainly, there are now more English speakers in South Asia than anywhere else in the world.

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