Gender representation in Urdu pulp fiction for women

Compositional interpretation of the selected pencil sketches

Background: My research is based on the Urdu
reading digests which publish popular romance fiction for
Pakistani women. The digests target middle class Muslim
women, aged nineteen and above who can easily read
Urdu. The domestic features of a Pakistani woman’s life
are the subject of the stories and other segments of the
digests. A very common feature of all the published
digests are pencil sketches with the stories. This visual
data is embedded in cultural information about women’s
identities and social roles.

Combination of shading: The position of characters

and shading are balanced purposefully. Visibility of the
woman in the background is emphasized by deep
shading and multiple tones.

Positions of the sketches: The sketches are usually at

the beginning of every story. The position sets a
scenario for the reader to enter into the fictional world.

Expressive content: The major images evoke

Geometrical perspective: The diminutive images of
men are used as a contrast against the magnified
images of women. This contrast is seen through
women’s perspectives.
Content of the image: The characters drawn seem to be
in their youth. Visual thematic construction of the collage
informs the features of romance genre.
feelings of despair and helplessness associated with
the social image of a woman. This image highlights
the social discourses of patriarchy which
characterize a woman as weak, dependent and
victimized by men.
Discussion: The Urdu digests for women are
cultural artefacts in which domestic social issues of
Pakistani society are discussed. The target audience
is also seen in terms of their cultural and Islamic
values. However, some aspects are borrowed from
other popular culture media which have their deep
influence on Pakistani social and cultural make-up.
There are two key issues that emerge from this
research. First, to explore the process of production
of these pencil sketches, and historical tracing of
how this art became a convention of the women’s
digests. These areas of research can give us a deeper
insight into the issues of women’s representation in
popular culture.
Nadia Siddiqui
School of Education
University of Birmingham
NXS828@bham.ac.uk