Always alien: Zulfiqar Ghose by Rizwan Akhtar

Zulfiqar Ghose is the only writer from the sub-continent whose work is a conscientious depiction of different cultures, but, in the literary sense, he has never shown any concern to claim his roots and the place of his origin. After more than twenty-five years of topsy-turvy recognition, he has descended into an involuntary anonymity because his agent has recently refused to publish his latest novel, calling it not suave enough for contemporary readers.

Writers writing about the Empire, the postcolonial diaspora and migrant issues often unreservedly express their cultural predicaments but Ghose is a different case. Born in pre-partition Sialkot, educated in the colonial educational system in Bombay, Ghose emigrated to England with his family and ended up living in Texas, Austin where he taught creative writing and lives with his Brazilian wife. This seems an incredibly adventurous and culturally tenacious progression and opens out the writer to incorporate and release the east-west dichotomy. Hanif Kureshi and Tariq Ali never lived in Pakistan but once they walked into the western literary domains, their writings became reflective of post-partition Pakistan. But Zulfikar Ghose's critical reception both at home and abroad has been moderate whereas postcolonialism has paved way for a literary community engaged in adding to the literatures of the east and the west. However, Ghose's truthful and conscious disclaimer about his origins indicates the problematic relationship between biography and author. Ghose's writings are wary reminders of the fact that a writer's involvement with any context or culture should not be made an issue of critical debate. In other words, 'text' should be the primary and the context a peripheral reality. It is indeed contestable as why Ghose relinquishes his legitimate claim to nostalgia that arises out of one's geographical dislocation.