This lecture will be delivered by Aqsa Ijaz of the Government College University Lahore in Lahore, Pakistan. She is the junior visiting faculty fellow at the joint North Carolina Central University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill American Institute of Pakistan Studies.

This presentation introduces the various voices in contemporary Pakistani literature and art that often go unnoticed in international representations of Pakistan. Using recent examples from Urdu and English fiction, Ijaz will bring out various local themes and metaphors regarding self and identity to broaden the debate in Pakistan studies and the country’s representation in general. She contests the assumption that Pakistan is whatever is perceived of it in the world outside through news media or English language fiction.

This event is free and open to the public, and coffee and tea will be provided.