Dr. Javaria Farooqui is Assistant Professor of English and Literary Studies at COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus, Pakistan. She is the author of Romance Fandom in 21st-Century Pakistan: Reading the Regency (2024) and multiple articles on Austen, Romance, and the popular culture, including “Romance Austen and English Medium of Schooling in Pakistan” (2021). She speaks regularly on romance, feminist theory, and Austen.

Dr. Farooqui discusses her early encounters with the narratives of Austen and theorizes on some of the reasons why young female readers in Pakistan were drawn to these stories. 

 

Dr. Farooqui talks about the immense pressures upon Pakistani women to marry and the lure, relatability, and accessibility of Austen’s stories for Pakistani students and readers.

 

Dr. Farooqui reflects on her own comment that many Pakistani readers are “stuck in the Regency” and the role of Austen in this experience for Pakistani women

 

Dr. Farooqui responds to my rather blunt question “is Austen helping or hurting women in Pakistan?” and speaks to the hope that Austen provides to many women in Pakistan

 

Dr. Farooqui discusses the popularity and availability of Austen’s novels in Pakistan as well as the ongoing incorporation of her texts in Pakistani culture and education

 

Dr. Farooqui points to the importance of Austen in the learning of English language within Pakistani culture and the ongoing role of English language in promoting narratives of imperialism and progress

 

Dr. Farooqui discusses Austen’s versatile cultural capital within Pakistan

 

Dr. Farooqui reflects on the peculiar relatability of Mansfield Park to Pakistani readers and connects this to the refusal of middle-class Pakistani families to change and look outward, especially in marriage

 

Dr. Farooqui shares some ideas on Pride and Prejudice, the inevitability of change, and how this concept may inform the culture of Pakistan

 

Dr. Farooqui offers distinct ideas on how we might theorize the role Austen in informing possibilities of change and progress within Pakistani culture