A Critique of American Supremacist Politics in Cold War in Sorayya Khan's City of Spies

Abstract

The present study investigates the representation of America in Anglophone Pakistani Literature with a special focus on Sorayya Khan's City of Spies with the assumption to trace some possible connection between American intervention and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the context of Pakistan's politics. Given the American intervention in Pakistani politics and its indelible impact on the domestic and international scenario had made the country a virtual battleground for the superpowers of the world. Khan's novel situates this conflict in the aftermath of the military coup of General Zia, followed by the Afghan war and (c)overt American alliance in it, which brought about serious implications for the Pakistani state. The story of the novel offers some pertinent extracts which deal, literally or metaphorically, with the role and representation of America in these geostrategic events. The article has used the critical cultural angle by investing the theoretical views of Ziauddin Sardar in terms of the Muslim world's apathy for America in the aftermath of cold war politics are used to get a better insight into the central problem by underscoring how this foreign policy of America has been responsible for the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan.