Disability: A Determinist Rubric of Identity in The Geometry of God by Uzma Aslam Khan

Abstract

This article undertakes a constructivist analysis of disability/visual impairment in The Geometry of God (2014) by Uzma Aslam Khan. Disability as a new epistemology has greatly revolutionized the Western understanding of the socio-cultural and political situation of people with disabilities as marginalized others. A shameful silence, however, still shrouds this category in the Pakistani literary context which calls for a critical engagement to revise the oppressive social rhetoric surrounding it. Social Constructivism as a theoretical framework has helped examine Mehwish’s blindness as a deterministic rubric of identity constructed socially like race and gender. Socio-cultural and political perspectives on disability/difference configuring in Pakistani Anglophone novels offer a broader understanding of the representation of the Pakistani community and human experience. The Geometry of God foregrounds Mehwish’s blindness as palpable in that being disabled entails physical and psychological discomfort, even pain experienced by her daily. Her disability is a persistent concern for care and attention. Moreover, Mehwish’s self-perception and formulation of a worldview are directly influenced by the way she interacts with others. Her maturation as a visually impaired, yet positional, and progressive being is traced through multi-layered, polyphonic storytelling and dialogue. Social heteroglossia is pivotal to the constitution of her identity in a multicultural, postcolonial Pakistan depicted via diverse forms of social speech (at times even different languages) and individual voices. The dialogical perspective further elaborates how deficits of the body and mind are understood and dealt with differently in different societies. Change of locale and culture automatically changes the perception of disability.