NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES AND THE REPRESENTATION OF
PAKISTANI CULTURE: A CRITICAL STUDY OF KAMILA SHAMSIE’S SALT AND SAFFRON
S. Vijayalakshmi
PhD Research Scholar,
Department of
English,
Government Arts
College (A),
Salem
&
T. Alagarasan
Associate Professor,
Department of
English,
Government Arts
College (A),
Salem- 7
Abstract:
Salt and Saffron, a novel by Kamila Shamsie, a Pakistan born British
writer is woven with mixed narratives. This research aims to analyse the
narrative techniques employed in Salt
and Saffron which projects the prevalent culture of Pakistan. Shamsie
uses various traits viz non-linear structure, intertextuality, multiple
narrative voices, and symbolism to represent the cultural concepts and motifs.
Throughout the novel, all the characters try to unravel the real history of
their family by jumping back and forth. Aliya, the protagonist of the novel
after completing her higher studies in the USA, visited Karachi to meet her
family. There she finds the original history of her Dard-e-Dil family. The
technique, polyphonic narrative used in this novel exemplifies the author’s intention
of conveying cultural identity. This paper tries to unearth the challenges for
the dominant cultures in Pakistan with the cross references and myths used in
the novel. Umberto Eco’s narrative concept is used to appraise the research
understanding in a better way.
Keywords:Narrative technique, Non-linear, Intertextuality,
Symbolism, Dominant culture
Introduction
The narrative
technique is a kind of writing used by a writer to present the story. It is an
effective way of reaching the reader. The mode of narration is just as
significant as the story itself. There are various elements included in
techniques of narration. Some of them are perspective, theme, setting,
foreshadowing, style, unreliable narrator, flashback, stream of consciousness,
and backstory, etc. These are the suprasegmental features that really grab the
attention, which help the reader to empathise with the writer.
Kamila Shamsie’s
second novel, Salt and Saffron is a
story of Aliya, a young girl belongs to an orthodox family. She has completed
her higher studies in the USA and returned to her native place in Karachi,
Pakistan. The novel is interwoven with multiple narrative techniques. This
novel is written in multiple narratives wherein Aliya’s perspective is
predominant. Through these narrations, readers can easily cull out the family
history of Aliya. She belongs to the prestigious family of Dard-e-Dil. The
members of the family consider themselves the lineage of the ‘Mughal Dynasty’.
The first narrator of
this novel is Aliya. She unfolds her family history of Dard-e-Dil. When she
returned from the USA, she was supposed to meet her cousin Samia, who has been
residing in London. When she was in London, Aliya was about to know the story
of her ancestors through Samia. Her ancestors proclaimed them as the great
lineage of the Mughal Dynasty. But the fact is that they are the scion of the
King and became administrators,
So really old Ham was
merely a scion of a once important family which had the good sense to
ingratiate itself with the Mughals early onand received, in return, the
position of subehdar – chief administrator – of the province. (Shamsie 45)
Aliya has not only brought out the
true lineage of her family but also introduced the character of Taj, a midwife
of the Dard-e-Dil family. Her mother was raped by the Nawab and she gave birth
infront of the palace. Here, Aliya opines that this kind of shame is quite
common in the royal families, “Such tales are common amongst royal families.”
(144)
Sulaiman is another
narrator of this story. He is one among the triplets (Taimur, Akbar and
Sulaiman) and is the cousin of Abida. In the beginning of the novel, Abida is
portrayed as a conservative who abides by the rules strictly, and later on, her
story of love with those triplets makes the reader see Abida from a different
angle. Without the knowledge of Taimur, she secretly loved him, but when she
came to know that he was going to marry someone else, she married Akbar. In the
end of the novel, when Sulaiman came to meet Abida, he expressed his love
towards Abida and revealed the true love of Taimur over Abida. After hearing
her truth, the reaction is unexpected, “Sulaiman, that’s sheer melodrama. My
life! Such passion, such tragic miscommunication, such revelations in the
aftermath of the main action. It’s too absurd.” (233)
Polyphonic narrative
offers a diverse perspective, enabling readers to draw their conclusions. If
the story is narrated by a single narrator, there is the possibility of
inaccurate and unreliable facts, but at the same time, if it is a multiple
voice narration, it will present different perspectives. One such narrative
form is epistolary narration. It provides the complex relationship between the
characters of the novel. Abida is portrayed as an orthodox who write a letter
to Aliya. In her letter, she exposes her pride and sometimes insists Aliya
visit the library in America to read the family history of Dard-e-Dil. Not
every character in this novel like to follow the traditional beliefs. Taimur,
one of Aliya’s grandfathers, wrote a letter and suddenly disappeared in one
day. In his letter, he reveals that it is difficult for him to follow his
family’s prejudices.
The sequence of the
novel does not undergo a chronological order. At one time the present state of
Aliya is narrated; then the story moves back to her ancestors. This non-linear
technique with twists and turns prompt this story more interesting. It mirrors
the fragmented nature of the memory and experience of the character. The
structure of the novel swings to past, present, and future. At present, Aliya
is narrating the story, when she needs to tell any incidents, she suddenly goes
back to that period and narrates it as it was. She is very conscious of her
future too. She knows well that when she is supposed to elope like her cousin,
definitely she might be abandoned by her family.
The novel is embedded
with many symbols. Samia, the cousin of Aliya, is living in London. She is
doing her master study in psychology. When Aliya visited Samia’s house, she
noticed the house, which is decorated with a Bukhara rug and Mughal miniatures.
The people of Pakistan may migrate from their native place; they do not forget
their culture and identity. Particularly, the royal family from the Muslim
religion gives importance to their appearance. They expect their clavicle to be
in proper shape. Clavicle is known as ‘collarbone’.
Some people believe
their clavicle bone adds elegance to their structure. According to them, it is
the most attractive and visible part of the body. The family of Aliya is also
conscious of this belief, “She had the angular features, prominent clavicle”
(7). It represents the features of Samia, but Aliya is not looking so, “Family
members use words like ‘agreeable’ and ‘pleasant’ regarding my features, and go
on so much about the beauty mark” (7). When Mariam at first came to see Aliya’s
family, they believed her by seeing her appearance, as she belongs to the
Dard-e-Dil family. She wore a chiffon sari and a gold chain, and her arm was
adorned with gold bangles. In addition, they noticed her cheekbones and
clavicle too to confirm her identity.
Every gesture of a
person implies multiple meanings. Without verbal communication, people can
express their hostility, aversion, kindness, and affection to others. In this
novel too, the character Abida shows her pride by her chin-up position. If she
wants to feel others as inferior, she just maintains silence with an
inclination of the head,
the silence of my
grandmother, which was meant to inform those who received it of the lowliness
of their stature. Dadi always accompanied those silences with an upward tilt of
her head, as though she were posing for the head of a coin (5)
The title Salt and Saffron symbolizes the social difference between Aliya and
Khaleel. Generally, saffron is considered a rare and expensive ingredient. It
is used in food to enrich the texture of the food. It also represents courage,
strength, purity, and cultural identity in social sense. Contrary to this, Salt
is intended by the writer as an ordinary and inferior aspect. There is no such
representation prevailing in society, but Shamsie wants to connect it with
hierarchy.
One of the most
important techniques used by the writer is intertextuality, and its proponent
is Umberto Eco. His novel The Name of the
Rose is well known for intertextual use of various folk tales and symbols.
ccording to him, text is not an isolated one; rather, it is shaped by the
socio-cultural contexts of the writer. He believes that meaning is not derived
from the text itself; it is derived through the relationship between the text
and what it references. Shamsie, all through her novel includes references from
other texts. She intentionally adds other works to reach wider audience. She
has referred to the character Iago, from Shakespeare’s Othello, and his motiveless malignity in comparison with Taj. In
conversation with Samia, Aliya says that in Othello,
Iago’s revenge is not clearly stated, but Taj has a strong reason to take
revenge on Dard-e-Dil family because her mother is raped by the Nawab, and to
take revenge, she might change the birth order of the not-quite-twins Sulaiman,
Taimur, and Akbar.
Shamsie uses
reference from the modern work The Love
Song of J. Alfred Prufrock of T.S. Eliot. She compares Prufrock’s coffee
spoon which represents ‘disengagement with the outer world’ with Aliya’s Baji
of using cigarettes to prevent her from connecting with others; “Cigarettes are
to me what coffee spoons were to Prufrock” (27). In addition, Shakespeare’s Macbeth is also used by Shamsie. Aliya’s
family strictly follows the myth of ‘not-quite-twins’. It is believed that
children who are born on the same day in the same family will bring disgrace to
the family. Fearing for this reason, Nawab Hamiduzzaman, one of the ancestors
of Aliya, poisoned Inamuddin and Masooma, the twin nephews of him. After this
incident, he could not sleep or walk, and he had not even peeled the poison
from his lips. This reminds of Lady Macbeth suffering of somnambulism caused
due to her conscious guilt of poisoning the mind of her husband to kill King
Duncan.
Food is not just a
source for living; it reflects the culture, history, values, and traditions.
Generally, people are emotionally connected with food. They passed down their
traditional food to the upcoming generations. In the globalised world, people
often migrate from one place to another for various reasons. With them they carry
their memories as well as their culture too. Through food, we can easily
exchange our emotions. It is a common belief that whenever we are happy, we
prefer to eat sweets. At the same time, spicy foods can be seen as a sign of
reducing stress.
Here, Mariam, a
cousin to Aliya, expresses her love towards Masood through food. She rarely
talks with others, and she is madly in love with Masood. She skips food that is
prepared by other cooks. At once, Masood was supposed to take his father on
Haj; during that time, he preserved frozen foods for a week knowing that she
would be starving. Her innate love is exposed only through food. She knows well
that her love will not be accepted by her family because he is a cook and
socially inferior, but Mariam does not bother about his social status. Not only
Mariam, but family members of Mariam too missed his food often. Aliya confesses
that she yearned for his food when she was in summer holidays.
Food is often tied
with emotions. One can easily attract others by serving food. Mariam is a
daughter of one of the not-quite-twins, Taimur. He had left his family long
before and married someone else. Taimur’s wife is believed to be an inferior,
so the people did not search him. When Mariam came to enter Aliya’s house after
her father’s death, she overheard the conversation between Saira and Masood. He
enquired what would be prepared for dinner. Suddenly, Mariam, in response,
listed out Saira’sfavorite food as, “Aloo ka bhurta, achaar gosht, pulao,
masoor kidaal, kachoomar” (56). These foods are mostly prepared by Asian people
and, in particular, Muslim community people. They love to have biryani, kebabs,
korma, haleem, etc., in their food.
Aliya connects her
foreign culture of eating doughnuts with her own cultural background. When
Rehana Apa, one of her cousins, decides to take away Aliya to the doughnut
shop, Aliya refuses and connects it with her experience in America. She has
spent lots of empty days in there. She recalls and says, “The word doughnut is
a sign, the visual image of the doughnut is the signifier and a nostalgia for
another life is the signified” (49). In return, she prefers to sit under a
green tree. It reflects how much she hated her foreign culture and yearned for
her identity.
Conclusion
Kamila Shamsie’sSalt and Saffron contributes to knowing
the cultural background of Pakistani people through her narrative skill, using
symbolism, revealing family history, and so on. She uses various kinds of
narratives likely non-linear, epistolary, and intertextual narratives. Though
the novel is in a non-linear structure, at the end the revelation of Abida
makes the story more vibrant. This study presents the power of this novel to
reflect the socio-cultural background without hiding any mysteries.
Works Cited
Eco, Umberto. The Name of the Rose. RHUK. 1992
Eliot, T.S. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.
1915.
Shakespeare, William.
Othello. Maple Press. 2013.
Shamsie, Kamila. Salt and Saffron. Bloomsbury Publishing.
2029.