ABSTRACT
Using Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of the habitus, this chapter discusses the problems of authorial right to represent Pakistan and the nature of expectations placed upon such texts by Pakistani readers. Overall, the argument is that while some Pakistani writers write and publish their works within the larger metropolitan market, their readers look at these representations from a nationalistic habitus. This chapter attempts to find a middle ground where the authorial right to represent is protected but readers’ expectations also have a place in our engagement with the texts of Pakistani writing in English.
