M-shaped scars

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Authors
Victor, Sarah
Advisor
Didden, Katy, 1974-
Issue Date
2019-05-04
Keyword
Degree
Thesis (M.A.)
Department
Department of English
Other Identifiers
CardCat URL
Abstract

In this project I have written twelve flash non-fiction essays in which I explore my struggles and the strategies that I used to survive in the patriarchal society of Pakistan. I also acknowledge the influence of uncles, cousins and lovers in shaping who I have become. In this collection, beginning with “Congratulations” (in which I tell the story of how my birth foiled the hopes and expectations of my family to have a son), until the last essay “Man-Eater” (in which I take a step towards a future of making my own choices), I demonstrate the ways in which at every turn I challenged the prescribed boundaries for women in Pakistani society. I chose flash non-fiction because it allowed me to write in an episodic way and to give each episode a climax or resolution. I chose to arrange the essays in a chronological order because in the space of this collection I’m moving beyond the shadows of my past towards a future of self-discovery.