A Case Study Of Pakistani National Identity Using Narrative

A key component to long-term success, particularly of a young nation, is a strong sense of shared national identity. Whether this is formed through territory, language, religion or race, it can be difficult to measure without using an authentic method of research that strikes at the very source of information, in this case, the people. This essay will use research gathered from narrative analysis to examine Pakistan’s nationhood, tracing the experience of a shared national identity. This reflection of political reality as seen through Pakistan’s story and its peoples, is key to helping to understand what it is to be Pakistani. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is an ethnically diverse country which geographically spans 796,100 km² making it more likely to have a diverse perception of its own identity. It identifies as a federal parliamentary republic united by religion (Islam) with a population of around 240 million.

According to Cisse and Rasmussen (2022, n.p), narrative analysis can be defined as being “based on the premise” in which “people experience and understand their lives in storied forms”. By connecting events “in a manner similar to a story” and with a “beginning, middle and end point”, the result is a reflective account of “a person’s past, present, and future” (2022, n.p). What makes narrative analysis different from other qualitative methods, is how it focuses “on narrated experiences representing either a whole life or aspects of it” (2022, n.p).

As stated by White (1980), “to raise the question of the nature of the narrative is to invite reflection on the very nature of culture and, possibly, even on the nature of humanity itself” (1980, p. 5). In this case, the narrative analysis gives a voice to individuals, en masse and minorities, who can reflect on their own perception of what is a shared national identity.

Throughout this essay, the importance of collecting diverse perspectives will serve as an interpretation of lived experiences of people who today make up the modern state of Pakistan. These voices are being shaped in varying degrees of influence by media polarization, historical moments and political activism.

Of these three categories, one that can be argued to be the most significant in helping shape the Pakistani psyche is the remembrance of historical moments. Beginning with the 1947 Partition with India, which split the former British Raj colony into two states. As discussed by Gilmartin (1998), “the coming of partition” cast a “powerful shadow on historical reconstructions of the decades before 1947” and “ramifications of partition have continued to leave their mark on subcontinental politics fifty years after the event” (1998, p. 1068).

These ramifications are further explored in Srivastava’s (2022) review of Anindya Raychaudhur’s seminal book, ‘Narrating South Asian Partition: Oral History, Literature, Cinema’ (2019). This contains 165 interviews that “cut across nationalities, gender, class and age” (2022). The repertoire of different “oral narratives” explores how “people chose to remember or forget the Partition of the Indian subcontinent”(2022) from a Punjabi, Sindhi, Bengali or Kashmiri point of view. The clear sense of trauma still felt 75 years on, remains both a point of reference and a touchstone uniting people in the country.

Srivastava states how the author believed “oral history should be examined together with cultural representations so as to understand personal memories and public expressions of the same”. Moreover, Srivastava also highlights the way in which voices in each chapter are utilized through focusing on the nostalgia, violence and bloodshed which plagued the Partition. Srivastava notes in the first chapter how “Raychaudhuri brings to light the narrative of people who were actively aware of ‘missing’ family members while in the newly formed states”. And how they were “severely distressed” and “broken” and that these cases are backed up by “rich oral histories to support this” (2022).

What can be gathered from Srivastava’s review, is how the shock of Partition reverberated on all communities within the newly formed state and how the violence made the event a national experience. In Pakistan, this forged a sense of the importance of religious conformity and sparked a rivalry between India and Pakistan which lingers. As a result, it can be argued that historical moments in living history become an integral part of shared national identity long after those coping with it have passed on.

Due to the nation’s concentration of South Asian Suni Muslims historically situated in Pakistan, this experience however may not be strictly a Pakistani one. Gilmartin (1998) notes that whilst some Pakistani historians have argued “that for a directive narrative line from the arrival of Muslims in India to the creation of Pakistan” the fact is that the “creation of Pakistan marked a partition not simply of the subcontinent, but of the Indian Muslim community itself.” This made “the fitting of the creation of Pakistan into any simple narrative of Muslim community extremely problematic” (1998, p. 1068).

Although less so than historical tensions, media is another factor said to influence nationhood. Over time this has helped grow an identity and develop a sense of political voice for the nation. The significance of media cannot be underestimated in helping shape the Pakistani experience of today.

Sabir (2011, p.25) has noted, “the media in Pakistan enjoys the maximum freedom to the large extent disregarding any political pressure and sometimes direct bans by political stakeholders (2011, p.25, )”. The author goes on to argue a “new era of popular electronic media” within Pakistan has led to the mass circulation of TV throughout the country with “more than forty channels which emit soaps, musical programs, religious speeches, political talk shows, and news every hour”. Through this, what can be understood is that the media retains a large amount of influence helping in shaping Pakistani society and culture.

Additionally, Sabir notes how the role of mass media “since the 1960s with the ideological state equipment, was able to organize the social image more concentrating on the ideology of national identity and national interest.” However, the Pakistan media has been criticized as being politically biased. Iqbal and Hussain (2018) agree the influence of media can sway political opinion and project a sense of nationalism. The writers note the way in which Pakistan presents many conflicts with India in a similar way to other media referring to “the Two World Wars in Western countries” (2018, p. 152).

A final influence involves political activism but from the increasingly active role women are playing into Pakistani national identity. This can be attributed to a reaction against traditional Islamic doctrine which has often silenced the voices of women from speaking out about their experienced prejudice.

Anjum (2020) talks of a “dichotomy of perceptions, attitudes towards gender identity, feminism, and religious norms” and “intersectionality with nationalism in Pakistan” (2020, p. 45). Having conducted a study using 20 in-depth interviews “with women from two categories of activism” the author found “all women in both categories talked about their experiences and personal involvement in the work their organizations do, regarding perceptions, gendered attitudes and feminism”. All women “were personally committed to activism pursuing their ideology” in both conservative as well as liberal agendas (2020, p. 45). The study showcases struggles against societal norms within the state of Pakistan and demonstrates the existence of feminist groups willing to challenge the status quo. These women add their voices to a struggle that highlights a demand for change within the national identity.

Media has helped perpetuate the national story of rivalry with India however, it could be argued the increasing use of social media, especially with a younger generation, will find areas beyond this populist narrative.

As media theorist, McLuhan (1964) once noted, although referring to television, the methods of the media used to communicate can be as powerful and have an impact on the message and ideas perceived by this. The accessibility of social media in Pakistan has enabled marginalised sectors, including women to be heard. It will be interesting to see whether such voices continue to be part of Pakistan`s culture of political activism, and become a part of an evolving picture of what it is to be Pakistani.

In conclusion, it can be argued that narrative analysis gives researchers the opportunity to study the authentic voices of people which can deliver a clear picture of national identity. Whilst it is easier to understand how and why momentous incidents such as the Partition have instilled rigid elements of national identity, it is only by listening to the voices of marginalised groups as much as the masses, that we see the full picture of new national identities emerging.

The media, whilst not being as influential as Partition, has contributed thus far to Pakistani national identity by swaying political opinion, reinstating values and perpetuating Pakistan’s ‘story’. The next chapter in the nation’s identity arguably belongs to new technologies which may define whatever is the ‘new Pakistani’.

Reference List

-Anjum, G. (2020) Women’s Activism in Pakistan: Role of Religious Nationalism and Feminist Ideology Among Self-Identified Conservatives and Liberals. Open Cultural Studies, Vol. 4 (Issue 1), pp. 36-49.

-Cissé, A. and Rasmussen, A. (2022). 3.06 - Qualitative Methods, Comprehensive Clinical Psychology (Second Edition),ScienceDirect, pp. 91 - 103

-Gilmartin, D. (1998). Partition, Pakistan, and South Asian History: In Search of a Narrative. The Journal of Asian Studies, 57(4), pp.1068–1095.

-Iqbal, M.Z. and Hussain, S. (2018). Indo-Pak wars (1948, 1965, 1971, 1999): Projecting the Nationalistic Narrative, pp. 139-156

-Sabir, M. (2011). The Role of Media in Creating Values of Nationalism in Pakistan An Overview of Nationalism in Pakistan. Journal of Political Studies, [online] 18(2), pp.17–36.

-Srivastava, P. (2022). Book Review: Narrating South Asian Partition: Oral History, Literature, Cinema. Memory Studies, 15(2), 504–507.

-White, H. (1980). The Value of Narrativity in the Representation of Reality. Critical Inquiry, 7(1), 5–27.

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