īina Shah : There are at least three generations of Pakistanis who read the great works of classic science fiction by authors like Huxley, Asimov, Le Guin, Bradbury, Vonnegut and the immensely popular novels of Herbert, Gibson, Atwood in their youth. To what extent has the advent of modernity in the wake of colonialism and the critical reception of Western forms enabled the advent of forms like SF/speculative fiction in this region?. Fantasy literature has a longstanding provenance in Persian and Urdu-speaking cultures, with the Dastan-e-Amir Hamza being one example that has stood the test of time. Tarun K.Saint : Welcome to this inaugural session of South Asian SF Dialogues, Bina. Followed with an extract from her novel Before She Sleeps This inaugural session features Bina Shah, writer of literary and speculative fiction based in Karachi. As much as I was concerned by what Shah left out, what was on the page was beautifully written.Each episode of South Asian SF Dialogues series will include a well-known writer in an exchange of ideas about the field, and the writer’s work in particular. She concocted a moving tale about a frightening future that could all too easily come to pass. Although the overarching context of Before She Sleeps didn’t work for me, I was still captivated by Bina Shah. It will appear on lists of the best feminist and dystopian fiction for years to come. A lot of people are going to love this novel no matter my objections. That by the end of the novel I know more about Green City’s malls than I do its queer community is disappointing to say the least. But Shah still could have used the background narrative to venture beyond the rigid rules of cis/heteronormativity even while keeping the protagonists cishet. Her storyline would have had so much more social commentary with some queerness folded in. Frankly, I think it’s a shame Sabine was written as cishet. The characters do not refute, scrutinize, or criticize how Green City constructs gender roles, identities, or expressions. Before She Sleeps is deeply, frustratingly, and inexplicably focused on cisnormativity and heteronormativity. But it fails for me in two key areas: queerness and authorial intent. I want to tell you that Before She Sleeps by Bina Shah is well-crafted feminist dystopian science fiction.

Bina shah before she sleeps