“Pakkis” (1986)
Fiction (Original Language: Norwegian)
Khalid Hussain
Introduced by Linn Normand
“Pakki, fucking Pakki! You guys always look so innocent, but behind those back eyes of yours, your’re so damn weird. Drugs and welfare-leaching. You guys are responsible for most of the drugs in this country and are ruining Norwegian youths, so that you scums can come here and ruin everything we have built.
The tears began to run down Sajjad´s cheeks. His face was pale from fear. A man should never cry. At least not a man who was 15 years old. But this felt like ten punches in the stomach”.
The opening passage of the novel “Pakkis” – written by 16-year-old Khalid Hussain – was the first of its kind in Norwegian literary works. Written in 1986, this autobiographical novel was the first to be written by a non-European immigrant about his lived experiences of immigration to Norway. The book’s title “Pakkis” – a derogative term used as a shorthand slang for Pakistani – sets the tone for the book’s content which offers a brutal and honest immigrant youth-perspective of racism, identity-politics and divided multicultural identities.
In the book, the reader meets 15-year-old Sajjad, who has lived in Norway since the age of four. Now as a Pakistani teenager in Norway, Sajjad reveals some of the challenges of living as an immigrant youth straddling two different cultural identities. The reader encounters several scenes in the book that illustrate this tension.
The book provides both a youth- and minority perspective on different cultural and religious expectations: for instance, several scenes in the book include conflicts with Sajjad’s father, who clings to his home country’s religious values, practices and traditions and expects his son to do the same. Amid this generational tension, Sajjad finds himself having to navigate his new national identity, and adjust to different, more-liberal – and sometimes conflicting – customs to fit in with his fellow Norwegian schoolfriends.
The book raises important themes including identity and feeling of belonging. As the following passage from the book poignantly illustrates:
“Sajjad started to feel less and less at home in Norway. Where was it he actually felt at home? He was not sure any longer. Maybe in Pakistan? What would he do there though? He could not even read or write Urdu. Where do I belong? He wondered. He did not really know. Who could answer this for him? Everything was more difficult now. Before it was decided that he was going to live in Norway, but how was he going to be able to live in a country that demanded more of him than Norwegians when it came to employment for instance? Would he be able to live like that? At least he wanted to give it a try. Maybe he should try to become a Norwegian citizen? But would that little red passport actually make him more Norwegian? He did not want to become Norwegian. Isn’t it possible to be something in between? Norwegian-Pakistani for instance? He did not want to leave behind his Pakistani roots. He would not even manage to even if he tried. His skin color would always be with him. The feature that meant he was not Norwegian.”
Racism is another central theme in the novel. Several episodes reveal how Pakistani youths in Norway are exposed to everyday inciteful comments due to the color of their skin. At times though, the author shows how friendship-bonds can provide support. For instance, riding the subway in downtown Oslo, one of Sajjad’s female Norwegian friends, Laila, notices an old lady staring at them. Provoked by her glaring eyes, Laila asks her what she is looking at. When the lady refuses to answer she confronts her:
“You are glaring at us because I am together with a Pakistani. Why? You know why I am with him? Because he knows how to live with people who don’t look the same as him. There are not a lot of Norwegian boys who can do that”.
When Sajjad asks his frustrated friend what they can about the xenophobic fear of the elderly, Laila replies: “I don’t know. They are so old. I don’t think there is any use in spreading information to them about immigrants. They will die soon anyways, so it’s a waste of time.” Laila’s reflections also bring to light the book´s youthful and angry tone – a new perspective of lived experiences of immigration from the vantage point of the immigrant himself.
At the end of the novel, though, Sajjad is confronted with a difficult choice: Return to Pakistan with his parents or stay in a country where his future is uncertain. His father leaves the choice up to him but urges Sajjad to consider: “Norway will always see you as a burden to the white-man’s society. Pakistan will love you”.
“Pakkis” remains a classic in Norwegian immigrant-centered literature and the book was often used as an assigned textbook in schools. Immigrant youths also reported that the book resonated with them because it was the first time, they could read a book that engaged directly with themes that were relevant to their day life experiences in Norway.
In the new preface to "Pakkis", Hassain asks immigrant parents to be attentive of their children. He also acknowledges that there are changes underway: "The parent (first) generation is on its way into retirement homes, if they have not traveled to Pakistan to rest there. We can look up and look ahead.” He also recognized changes in Norwegian society as well. At least no journalist today, he points out, would write as a Norwegian newspaper reporter did in an interview with Hussain in 1986: “As usual, one is surprised that immigrants speak Norwegian, at least perfectly.”
Suggested classroom activities: The extracts can be used for class-room activities geared towards discussing dual-identities, tensions between first- vs second generation immigrant expectations of cultural adjustment, and racism. Students can also be asked to write a diary entry, like Hussain, to document their own lived experiences of immigration. The book is particularly well suited for a youth/teenage audience - given the authors age – he grapples with identity issues that especially resonate with their age group.