The Brontes and Pakistan
This article comes from BBC Leeds, but it seemed very familiar to me. Richard Wilcocks had posted something very similar several months ago on the Bronte Parsonage Blog- indeed, it is an interview with the same Bronte enthusiast- Wali Aslam. So, if you like you may go here to view that earlier interview. I think this article is also the first time Bronteana has been mentioned by the BBC (in the 'web links' section). Click here for Wali's tour of the parsonage.
3 comments:
"I think if you want to see the England of Brontë times you want to go to Pakistan because you can see all those surroundings, all those relationships, all those arranged marriages, all those limited opportunities for women."
I couldn't agree more. He hit the nail straight on the head! It is also one of the reasons I am drawn to Victorian Literature.
"but if you want to feel what it was like then you need to go to Pakistan."
YES! The same can be said of most parts of South Asia.
I had noticed some similarities between my father's culture and that of some of the more conventional characters in the novel. Nothing striking, though.
I absolutely agree! When I first started to read Bronte and Austen, I immediately understood the mores of the characters: arranged marriages, the importance of a good connection, family ties, the importance of religion, and the sense of honour attached to the chastity of women.
I actually think that a modern retelling of one of the books set in an British Asian setting would work extremely well. (I actually have started to plan out Pride and Prejudice in my head according to these rules, though I must admit, it will probably only remain a daydream). "Bride and Prejudice" by Gurinder Chadha had practically no resonance at all with me, it's like an Indian soap opera retelling of the story and like practically all modern indian films makes me recoil in horror.
Any way this post reminds me of the time when I was in Pakistan and being unable to exist without a book, I took a load, in 4 weeks, among others, I reread Jude the Obscure and Jane Eyre. I remember having to read by lamplight because the electricity was off.
eek, sorry about the rambling nature of that comment and I while I remember, I did do my book meme :)
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