Narratives of Confession: Religion and Patriarchy in the Fiction of Shahraz and Hosseini

Abstract

This paper discusses Khalid Hosseini‘s novel A Thousand Splendid Suns and Qaisra Shahraz‘s novel Typhoon as social commentaries on the socio-cultural oppressive structures both established and perpetuated by patriarchy, and by patriarchal interpretations of religion to subordinate and victimise women in Pakistani and Afghani societies. The paper also examines these texts as narratives of confession, unfolding crimes and injustices as committed in the name of religion and culture against weak and vulnerable members of the society. Both of these narratives, as forms of confession, voice through, not only their female characters but also men, that ‗the sacred‘ is an effective patriarchal apparatus centred on justifying male control and dominance while denying basic human rights to women, thus relegating them to a secondary position. Through a critical examination of centuries-old socio-cultural norms, which have achieved the status of ‗sacred‘ in such societies, these texts reveal various practices of domestic and structural violence through which the sins of injustice, cruelty, oppression and victimisation of women in the name of culture and religion are justified and exercised in daily life. Both Typhoon and A Thousand Splendid Suns, as narratives of confession, document emotional, psychological, physical, sexual and structural violence committed against women and voice resistance against the oppressive social practices of their respective societies. As narratives of confession, these two texts authenticate the truth presented in the form of fiction.