Twins in Literature and Fiction: Bonding, Individuation, and Identity
ISBN: 978-1-4955-0754-0 116pp.

Fraternal Male Twinship in History, Society, Fiction and Entertainment
ISBN: 978-1-4955-0927-8 116pp.

Twin Perceptions and Realities: Viewed Through Fiction and Non-Fiction
ISBN: 978-1-4955-1070-0 100pp.

Literary, Scholarly and Mythological Aspects of Twinship
ISBN: 978-1-4955-1336-7
130pp.

All books by Nadya Chishty-Mujahid and published by The Edwin Mellen Press n exceptionally dedicated educationist, a prolific writer of both non-fiction and fiction, and a sharply observant literary critic who teaches in Karachi after receiving a doctorate in English literature in Canada, Nadya Chishty-Mujahid recently completed four monographs on twinship.

The quartet represents the first-ever study in multiple dimensions by a Pakistani scholar on a subject that has so far been examined in the region only in relatively narrow scientific terms of physical and health-related aspects. In this set of four studies, the author has conducted extensive — indeed  exhaustive, and surely exhausting — reading, research and reflection on the historical, physiological, psychological, familial, social and cultural facets of this unusual biological phenomenon.

Though she sourced content that is available and accessible in her working language of English and is, unavoidably, largely Western, her search also ranged far and wide, be it for references from China or Italy. She read about 90 novels on facets of twinship written by authors of whom very few were directly associated with twins (as siblings, parents, relatives and friends) or by those many more who devised twins as characters in their fictional narratives. She also referred to numerous investigative studies, and coincidentally taught a class in which two of her students were twins.

This series brims with information that illuminates and educates on this subject, whose scientific name is gemellology. On a broad, global basis, one in every 250 pregnancies brings forth identical twins. Though the incidence is far higher — for, as yet, unknown reasons — in Africa than in Asia (Nigeria being most prolific in that continent), there are several categories of twins whose particularities are determined by which precise sperm-fertilisation process, natural or in vitro, occurs.

Identical twins, who share virtually every physical feature, are also known as monozygotic. Fraternal twins, who are known as dizygotic twins, do not exactly resemble each other and number about two-thirds of the world’s twin population. For the record: dissimilar looking fraternals, nevertheless, have bonds as deep and profound as exactly-similar looking identicals.

Then there are sub-categories: conjoined twins who have to be surgically separated after birth — in some cases, even after years — and twins of the same gender, or with opposite genders. Whichever the category, relations between twins, their individual relations with parents, with other siblings, and other relationships in general are complex, multi-layered and fascinating.

Four monographs by a Pakistani scholar brim with information and comparative research about the representation of twins in literature and popular culture

Referring to the preeminent scholarly work rendered by Dr Nancy Segal, director of the Fullerton California State University of Twin Studies — the only centre in the world exclusively devoted to this sphere of inquiry — and to eminent researchers such as Joan Friedman, Barbara Klein and others, the author presents an array of data on the myriad behavioural dimensions of twinship.

One of these is individuation, the process by which each twin seeks to, or is encouraged to, develop distinctly specific personal traits separate from the other twin, and consequent results, happy or otherwise. As in almost every case, the twin-bond is infinitely imperishable.

As Dr Zeenat Ismail Noor, former professor of psychology, attests in her commendatory foreword to the first monograph, the author uses her knowledge of astrology and geometry in the fourth monograph to also take the reader into the realm of exotic mythology. This is exemplified by the Roman god synonymous with twins known as Mercury.

Nadya Chishty-Mujahid also explores the genesis of the faces and features portrayed on what are normally called tarot cards. She meticulously traces the origins, designs, colours, motifs and personas depicted in the Sola Busca tarocchi and two extant E and S series of the Mantegna tarocchi, as evolving onwards from the mid-15th century in Renaissance Italy.

The author makes short shrift of the vast majority of fiction writers who use twins only as plot devices and attribute characteristics to them with little or no research into evidence and established facts. She regrets that even the famous, prize-winning, Indian novelist Arundhati Roy, in her first book The God of Small Things, does not do justice to the twin relationship presented therein. However, she records high praise for Pakistan’s own prize-winning novelist Kamila Shamsie, in whose book Homefire — adapted loosely from the classic Greek play ‘Antigone’ by Sophocles — a differently gendered set of twins is portrayed far more credibly and empathetically.

Unavoidably repetitive in certain parts because of the quartet-nature of the series, such repetition becomes reiterative. It even serves to helpfully remind us of important facts and facets of diverse categories of twins and the writings published about them. In this admirable series, Nadya Chishty-Mujahid proves her versatile capacity to create notable works of both non-fiction and fiction that are valuable additions to respective genres.

The reviewer is a recipient of the Hilal-i-Imtiaz. Most recently, he has written a short story titled ‘The Dizygotic Duo — A Never-Ever Story’, part of a new anthology named Zareena and Abid

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, July 5th, 2026