As a novelist and memoirist, Isabel Allende, the famous contemporary Latin American, narrates the political history of the contemporary world under the cover of fiction. She writes stories of passion and romance. “Her novels and memoirs tells the stories of women and men who live with passionate commitment – to love, to their world, to an ideal,” said the speakers at a seminar held n Tuesday at the National University of Modern Languages (NUML). Drawing the historical background of the Latin American writers like Isabel Allende and Gabrial Garcia Marques, the guest speaker from Quaid-e-Azam University Amina Ghazanfar said the Latin American writers had to undergo strict rules, despotic regimes and laws, which would not allow the freedom of expression and speech.
She further said many journalist-turned writers had to face embargoes and gag orders, imposed by the super power or by her implanted leaders to shut the publications and press. “It is dramatic irony that Gabrial Garcia, whose entry was banned in America, instead of writing in newspapers started writing novels which were highly admired and appreciated by American readers. After the overthrow and assassination in 1973 of her uncle, Chilean president Salvador Allende, Isabel, her husband and children left for safety in Venezuela. It was in her exile that she began to write ‘The House of the Spirits’, her first novel, which was based on her own family and the politics of Chile,” she added.
NUML Assistant Professor Ambreena Qayyum told students that the unique feature of fictionalising the history was the hallmark of Isabel and her contemporaries. Explaining literature and its relations with history, she said besides satisfying the aesthetic sense of readers, literature also recorded history.
“Literary works of a language reflect the social, political, religious and economic system practiced by the people who use that language. Direct or indirect references about the major historical events of their society are given by the literary artists in their works.
At times literary works become instrumental in developing awareness among the masses because of their critical approach towards the existing legal, social, political and economic system. This is quite true for the societies where freedom of expression is curbed. When censorship becomes an obstacle in the way of expression of truth, then literature because of its evasive style serves as the right means of giving vent to repressed emotions and declarations of facts.” The seminar was attended by Faculty of Advanced Integrated Studies and Research Dean Dr Robeena Kamran, Department Head Dr Shaheena Ayub Bhatti, faculty members and by a large number of students.
