Some Brief Reflections on the Function of Myth in Agha Shahid Ali’s The Country Without A Post Office

Abstract

It is almost thirty years since the publication of The Country Without A Post Office (henceforth Country), years which (sadly) have done little to make the violence and suffering Shahid Ali depicts in the book outdated or historical. The most recent violence brings an undesirable relevance to poetry which many people would prefer to date historically. Earlier this year – and in the wake of the bombing of Gaza – I watched Elia Suleiman’s The Time That Remains (2009), and felt the similar, uncomfortable sensation of watching art act out and comment upon a series of injustices it factually pre-dated.