Resisting Quietly: Strategic Agency in Contemporary Pashtun Women’s Fiction

Abstract

While the body of literary feminist criticism is growing rapidly, Pashto women's short fiction is still an unexplored area, especially in relation to gendered resilience and post-war womanhood. This study explores how contemporary Pashto short fiction authored by Pashtun women articulates female agency, identity, and survival in the shadow of war and conflict. This study focuses on two short stories titled Number Thirteen by Batool Haidari and The Other Side of the Window by Homayra Rafat. It examines how Pashtun women's lives are reflected in a fictionalized yet deeply rooted portrayal of motherhood, resilience, and mourning. This study, through textual analysis, aims to unpack the recurring motifs of resistance and voice in these short narratives. Framed through Insider Feminism and Strategic Essentialism, this study foregrounds how Pashtun female authors reject frameworks of Western identity while drawing on collective identity to challenge gendered representation and emphasize cultural representation. The findings of this study reveal that Pashtun women writers of selected short narratives attempt at reclaiming their agency and navigating womanhood within the systems of war, family, and patriarchy. Ultimately, these stories serve not just as narratives but also as embodiments of cultural memory and acts of soft resilience.