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Monday, November 1

"Curbing the Flood" in today's Pakistan

by Mike on Mon 01 Nov 2010 07:48 PM EDT

The following note was penned by our friend in the weeks following the 2010 Pakistan floods. His words are presented here with his kind permission.

Lu Xun's story "Curbing the Flood" may be read as a comment on the recent flood in Pakistan. Various characters appear and Lu Xun upholds to ridicule their attitudes and ways of thinking. The rulers, ministers, intellectuals, all are closed in their own limited thinking and prejudices. He also depicts what may be called "Culture of Poverty."

The members of the upper and middle classes giving lessons of alms-giving, taking pity on the poor, sharing their grief performing the "holy act of Zakat." (Zakat is an Islamic concept: Allah the Almighty has created the poor and has given you plenty so you must give a little portion of your wealth to the poor. The amount given will be multiplied by 70 when you go to paradise. It proves that God does not like poverty, though he has created the poor.) On the Pakistani TV channels we see honest and upright ministers, tender-hearted players, reputable actors, beautiful actresses, and conscientious traders giving the lesson of charity and generosity. They have also learnt many verses from the Holy Quran and also how to bring tears into their eyes. I call it "Culture of Poverty" because it gives them a feeling of superiority, a feeling that they are above the scum of society. Above all, it is an effort to maintain these humiliating conditions where majority of the people live below human level.

Lu Xun was under the influence of the May Fourth Movement when he wanted to bring a change in the Chinese society. Like Goethe, he used the old Forms but these were modified and given a new meaning by the contemporary truths. It is the re-evaluation of China's mythology, in Old Tales Retold. The Chinese intellectuals, like the Pakistani ones, were alienated from political activity. Lu Xun praises Yu, the man who acts to bring a change society in "Curbing the Flood." In this way he encourages his readers to challenge the status-quo.

-- I.H., August 2010