Nadeem Aslam, The Wasted Vigil

Emily Horton (Brunel University London)

Ed. by Jenni Ramone, The Nottingham Trent University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 10.3.2: Pakistani and Bangladeshi Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Claire Gallien (Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3), Sarker Hasan Al Zayed (Independent University Bangladesh), Pavan Kumar Malreddy (J W Goethe University of Frankfurt), Delphine Munos (Université de Liège), Muneeza Shamsie (Independent Scholar - Asia), Niaz Zaman (Independent University Bangladesh)

Dates

First circulation or publication 2008

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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The Wasted Vigil

(2008), Nadeem Aslam’s third novel, takes on a different setting and direction from either of his two earlier fictions,

Season of the Rainbirds

(1993) and

Maps for Lost Lovers

(2004), corroborating his self-affirmed interest to move beyond his own background and immigrant experience by exploring instead the contemporary political hot-spot of wartime Afghanistan (see Aslam, 2011). As such, the novel situates itself as a direct response to post-9/11 ‘War on Terror’ politics, weaving into its melancholic representation of local post-Taliban animosities direct references to current US military operations in the area, as well as a longer history of imperial involvement stretching back to Alexander the Great but focused primarily on US and Soviet engagements during the…

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2455 words

Citation: Horton, Emily. "The Wasted Vigil". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 October 2016 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=26541, accessed 18 April 2024.]

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