Article Title: Voices of Hope and Despair: Themes in the Lives and English Language Works of Women Creative Writers of Pakistani Heritage Published in the Last Decade.
Author: Kiran Bashir Ahmad
Institute: Institute of Professional Psychology, Bahria University, Karachi
Journal: Bahria Journal of Professional Psychology, January 2012, Vol-11, 1, 19 – 42
Abstract
The present study explored the bipolar psychosocial dimensions of hope and despair through corresponding themes in the lives and works of twelve Englishlanguage women creative writers of Pakistani heritage who had their work published during the years 2000 to 2010. Themes and data obtained from publication reviews, autobiographical and biographical essays, and videotaped and published interviews were analyzed. The study was conducted from the participant – observer standpoint. The analytic induction method of constant comparison was used which is generally helpful in generating social theory. The study answers the research questions: 1. What is the predominant psychosocial factor in the bipolar dimensions of hope and despair among women creative writers as shown by themes portrayed in their work? And 2. Does the nature of life themes of Pakistani women creative writers affect the derived psychosocial factor of hope or despair shown in their work? The study revealed hope as the predominant factor and validated the effect of the nature of life themes on both bipolar dimensions of hope and despair. A total of thirteen themes emerged from the four categories of developmental events, professional situations, personality characteristics and main writing themes.
KeyWords: themes, women creative writers, hope, despair, psychosocial dimensions, Pakistani literature.
