Fiction is a genre of narrative
that deals with fictional and imaginative storyline. Fiction is a literary work
comprising theater, cinemas, music and different forms of stories. Women stories
are mainly designed with fictional patterns as to establish certain
characterization that in not having real presence. Fictional women stories are
published in digests that are heavily read by women. Pakistani Urdu digests are
meant to publish short stories depicting women issues at domestic, occupational,
personal and educational level. Women short stories are based on either fantasy
or realism. Human mind evaluates real and fantasized worlds. Fantasy mirrors
desires and reality reflects compromises.
Short stories in digests are shaped with women issues. They cover the issues
including violence, socio-cultural roles, public and private life, love and
affection, sacrifice, discrimination, harassment, inequality and oppression. The
name of digests like Khawateen, Pakeeza and Anchal are also depicting women’s
identity. The stories include women as a leading character that leads the story
to its climax. Stories depict women’s struggle to cope with the difficult
situations she faces in comparison with her male counterpart. Digests cover
women stories because it has been said by Washington Irving that:
“A woman's whole life is a history of the affections”
The story comprises of words, characterization, story line and the climax to
categorize it as fantasized or a realistic story. The exaggeration in each type
creates fantasized story content whereas the factual image creation in the
stories makes the story a realistic one. The title picture and the theme also
act their part in making a story interesting for the reader. The study finds the
degree to which Urdu women digests are following fantasy in women stories as to
attract more readers. Fantasy is an instrument for the digests in forming women
stories to lead unexpected climax. The story narrative is the means of educating
the reader and it molds the reader according to the portrayal of the character
in which they are interested.
The story writing in women digests uses either of the two approaches; fantasy or
realism. Reading digests found out that the type of writing is prevalent in
women stories is related to violence, stereotypical roles, family life,
victimization, harassment, human rights, employment, love and affection, and
freedom of expression. Urdu digests’ contents including short stories, celebrity
interview, recipes, tips and remedies and episodes of long stories are analyzed
in this research. The theme of the stories includes violence, love, family
issues, social life, rejection, aggression, deference and male-dominance that
form female characterization. Pakistani women digests are framing the women with
fantasy in multiple stories. They use certain words and expressions that create
the idealistic image of women creating an impact on female readers. The writing
approach utilized is forming an illusionary female image and her roles that
attract the reader. The reason for using fantasy in story writing is that the
digest is meant to be read by the house wives who are emotional and sensitive in
nature. They catch emotions and feelings of female readers who feel sympathy for
those who are victimized. This sensitive being is targeted by the digests to
increase their readership. The second reason is advantageous for the publishers
as more readership generates more revenue that is the need of survival for them.
The digests are being appreciated and read by majority of females because it
uses the technique for attracting the sensitive nature of females by fantasizing
the story that leads to the world of imagination. The society has prescribed
certain norms that define a female. The digest portrays what males want women to
be, so that they can mold themselves for the survival of the fittest. Hence, the
digest is acting as a medium of teaching for the women to transform themselves
into a heavenly being for men. The title pictures of stories in women digests is
following realism. There is a contrast in the story progression and the title
picture. The flow of the story is formed by using elements of fantasy but the
title picture is made with realism. The reason behind this contrast goes as the
attraction at first glance to the story through the picture is creating a real
image in the minds as to inculcate that the digest is having real life stories.
But the story is created with fantasy that attracts the reader and indulges in
the form of the story. The second reason is that by seeing the title picture of
the story the woman reader would think it to be related to her life and would
prefer reading the story immediately. This is the effect of described by George
Gerbner in his cultivation theory as a “double-dose” effect in which the viewer
relates the image with his everyday experiences. Similarly, the theme of the
story also follows realism as it is related to the real problems and issues of
women but the representation of the theme within the story is fantasized.