ePub Constructing Pakistan: Foundational Texts and the Rise of Muslim National Identity; 1857- 1947 by Masood Ashraf Raja in History

Review

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Topical!By Robin Truth GoodmanConstructing Pakistan analyzes the last 150 years of Muslim nationalism; from its beginning in India's Sepoy rebellion in 1857; when British colonialization was consolidated to the detriment of Muslim populations; to the founding of Pakistan. Dr. Raja contends that a survivalist ethic in religion; politics; and culture means that the current politics of Pakistan has its genealogical core in anti-colonial resistance. This is a very important intervention in the current political juncture; not only because it traces a history of secular features of Islamic societies but also because of the very breadth of cultural forms; where literary practices and theories end up feeding political and material realities and visa versa.Much of this study was done using original Urdu materials that Dr. Raja translated himself into English; granting him a nuanced version of how nineteenth century Muslim thinkers were defining their political identities. The study is enormously helpful in pushing out the limits of postcolonial thinking: it is insightful in bringing analysis of religion back into a literary field that has been historically tied to the secular philosophies of the Enlightenment. Also; at a time when the dominant voices in the field are talking about the demise of the nation in economic and political terms; Dr. Raja identifies reasons why it is more important than ever to be able to think about the nation; its histories; and its futures. Overall; Dr. Raja is formatively helpful in providing a historical rationale for why studying literary genre is central to considering the politics of aggression and counter-aggression in our contemporary world.