Proceedings of The 4th World Conference on Research in Social Sciences
Year: 2022
DOI:
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Style and Sense-Ability: Structuring feeling in Pakistani Anglophone Literature
Huma Saeed and Huma Ahmad
ABSTRACT:
This research aims to explore the notion of style and its effects on the production of a subject. The subject is produced by the moving sands of ‘affects’ which continually cross and traverse other ‘styles’ of becoming. (Colebrook,2002) This study is a Deleuzean analysis of two novels Red Birds (2018) written by Muhammad Hanif and Thinner Than Skin (2012) written by Uzma Aslam Khan. These Pakistani Anglophone writers make succinct use of their writing skills and create ‘affects’ of loneliness, intrusion, and insecurity in their novels. This research is toggled by the French theorists Deleuze and Guattari’s theoretical notions of style, affect, and assemblage. Deleuze and Guattari hold that literature is a literary machine that shatters thought into affects and percepts. It opens new worlds of meanings and presents myriad forms of experiences. Theorists argue that a character is the effect of investments in affects. This study aims to explore three questions, firstly, what are the factors that contribute to the assemblage of south Asian women’s identity? Secondly, what is the role of literature in creating ‘Affects’ and ‘Percepts’? Finally, how does the style lend uniqueness to individuals? The study seeks to provide a fecund ground for future researchers to undertake innovative insights into the discourse of identity and the creation of affects.
keywords: style, affects, assemblage, percepts, women.