SPECTRAL VOICES: A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF GHOST CHARACTERS IN NADEEM ASLAM’S FICTION

Abstract

Nadeem Aslam creates a realm besides the tangible physical realm which sometimes superimposes and sometimes is integrated in it. In it he places his “invisible” characters. All of such characters, like Zameen in The Wasted Vigil, Judge Anwar in Season of the Rain Birds and Chanda and Jugnu in The Maps for Lost Lovers are dead when the story begins and so they are ghosts – both literally and figuratively. The technique employed in forming these characters is worth discussing. When a writer constructs characters that appear during the action of the novel, certain things act as devices to build the character like the reference that other characters make to the character, the characters actions and conversation. However, to make an absent character convincing is not as simple, for the writer cannot use the most important device – the character’s own voice. Aslam makes these characters convincing by using various narrative strategies. These shall be examined in detail. Aslam’s craftsmanship lies in the representation of such characters as an active part of his novels despite their absence. This aspect of Aslam’s writing is worth examining in detail as it marks a new development in the art of fiction writing, for it allows Aslam to create multiple planes of space and time, breaking away from the convention. This technique opens new possibilities in characterization which in turn creates still more diversity, adding versatility to his writing by providing multiple perspectives. This paper analyses Aslam’s techniques in representing and concretizing ghost characters in his fiction.