Threshold: A Spatial and Ideological Barrier in South Asian Fiction - A Case study of Pakistani Women Fiction Writers

This paper discusses the symbolic significance of the threshold of home, a constructed perceptual barrier between male and female spaces, with reference to the fiction produced by Pakistani women writers. There are famous anonymous adages: “It is a man’s world” and “Woman’s place is in the home.” This sums up the reality as seen by patriarchy. Taking these notions as basis, spaces for women are defined. First category is “Home” and second category is “Outer Space”. This paper focuses on one space which is seen as the space inside the home, yet it is the separator between the inner space and outer space i.e. threshold. Crossing the threshold constitute an ageold form of restraint and constraint as far as South Asian religious, cultural, social and literary tradition is concerned. In South Asian tradition, this boundary-line or threshold is symbolized occasionally as Laksman-rekha1, a notion from Hindu mythology. This notion comes from Ramayana, which comprises a set of legends and stories and a rich part of South Asian literary and religious tradition. Complete works of twenty-six Pakistani women fiction writers, writing in six different languages were studied for this purpose. It was seen that threshold plays a significant role in determining the status of women of this society, i.e. if the women stays within the boundary-line or not.