Linguistics and Literature Review

Actantial Paradigm of Narrative Structures in Techno-thriller and Visionary Fiction

Ramsha Khan — 2024-09-02

This study examines the structural patterns of two radically distinct genres, namely techno-thriller and visionary fiction, by focusing on the actantial elements of fictional works. It seeks to clarify misconceptions about traditional literary analysis by comparing the novels Rumi's Daughter by Maufroy (2004) and Deception Point by Brown (2001). The actant theory, first introduced by Greimas (1971) and later amended by Hébert (2020), is employed to analyze the roles of characters, exploring both their similarities and differences within the internal narrative structure of the selected novels. The study investigates narratives’ universal “grammar” by focusing on three pairings of binary oppositions, that is, subject/object, sender/receiver, and helper/opponent. Despite the differences in theme, culture, characters, and genre, the study shows that the characters’ narrative structure and actantial function are the same, proving Greimas’ claim that the actantial theory applies to all narratives. This study contributes to the basic understanding of the fundamental patterns that connect human narratives, despite the apparent differences between the civilizations they belong to.

Writing Trauma: Poetics of Cultural Trauma and Memory in Anglophonic Kashmiri Literature

Rabia Ashraf — 2024-09-30

This study concentrates on the Anglophonic literature produced in the region of Jammu and Kashmir. It explores its narratives through the lens of trauma theory, pertaining to the region’s history of forced conflict. After the Second World War, the relevance of trauma in literary studies has increased and texts have been characterized by an archeology of traumatic consciousness. Also, the narratives act as vehicles for transmitting stories of suppressed and wounded consciousness. This research focuses upon Mirza Waheed’s (2011) novel The Collaborator and Basharat Peer’s (2010) memoir Curfewed Night as the primary texts and investigates the art of
writing trauma by exploring the narrative structures deployed by the authors. The objective is to find out as to how the very act of writing trauma is shaped by traumatic memories of a past rooted in the partition conflict,
war, and prolonged violence. Furthermore, the study probes into how the fictional characters embody and express pain and anguish as part of their memories. The key focus remains on how both the works portray the
(un)speakability of grief and the (in)comprehensibility of trauma drawing on some of the seminal contemporary theories of cultural trauma and memory studies. Using qualitative methodology and trauma theory as the
theoretical framework, it is concluded that apart from presenting reality as horrific, gloomy, and glim, Kashmiri texts discuss how causalities create memories riddled with unspoken fears by bringing forth the intricacies of speechless terror and trauma. Thus, the study captures the narration’s struggle to represent evasive and suppressed memories and the challenges of trauma writing.

Mirative Status of the Urdu Discourse Marker to

Ahmad Naveed Sharif — 2024-09-30

This study explicates the licensing conditions for the mirative behaviour of the Urdu discourse marker to, that is, how do declaratives become miratives in the presence of the discourse particle to? To explore the semantic contribution of this particle, the study uses Evans’ Lexical Concept and Cognitive Model (2009), since it combines linguistic and cognitive systems to account for a situated meaning. The study employs naturally occurring data, introspection, and Urdu Lughat to mitigate the limitations associated with an individual source when used in isolation. It finds that the discourse particle to contributes a non-propositional mirative meaning when it interacts with other lexical concepts undergoing the semantic compositional processes, namely selection, integration, and interpretation. The use of to and prosodic construction in declaratives remain in complementary distribution. The findings imply that both linguistic and non-linguistic factors account for form-meaning relation in Urdu language.

Exploring Spatiality in Selected Poems of Moniza Alvi: A Poetic Cartography of Displacement

Rija Ahsan — 2024-09-30

This research aims to analyze the dynamics of space in Moniza Alvi’s seven poems from her collection The Country at my Shoulder (1993). It explores how spatial anxiety and dislocated geographical and cultural concerns become prominent in her poems through different spaces. This research mainly highlights the collision of two diverse cultures and value systems in Alvi’s poems to bring forth her transcultural quests, which display the influence of geographical perplexity on postmodern literature. The research employs the theoretical framework of spatiality primarily discussed by Gaston Bachelard, Henri Lefebvre and Benjamin N. Vis. First, architectural spaces, such as rooms and buildings, are discussed in the context of her native culture, as architectural trends of a nation are representative of its culture. Second, social and filial spaces are traced in the form of city space and social ties to unearth their influence on the poet’s existence. Third, diasporic spaces are analyzed through the contrast of oriental and occidental psyches to determine the poet’s vacillation between dual cultures. Fourth, geological and body spaces are interpreted through the metaphor of a displaced geography to highlight the angst of dislocation. These spaces are specifically explored in the light of the philosophies of different critics of space. This exploration shows that Alvi’s poetry proves to be a multi-spatial platform that is reflective of the general restlessness of the 21^st century due to postmodern spatial crisis and the dilemma of migration.

Exploring Intentionality and Temporality in Alan Lightman’s Einstein’s Dreams: A Phenomenological Perspective

Noureen Sagheer Malik — 2024-09-30

This research examines Alan Lightman’s Einstein’s Dreams through the phenomenological framework introduced in Edmund Husserl’s book “On the Phenomenology of the Consciousness of Internal Time” which focuses on temporality and intentionality. Lightman’s novel, composed of imaginative vignettes, each depicting a unique conception of time, provides a fertile ground for phenomenological analysis. Employing Husserl’s notions of lived experience and consciousness, the current study explores how Lightman’s narratives extend beyond the scientific domain to probe the subjective human experience of time. The study argues that Einstein’s Dreams not only reflects Husserl’s ideas on temporality - the flow of time as experienced by consciousness - but also embodies his concept of intentionality, the idea that consciousness is always directed towards something. Through qualitative textual analysis, this study highlights how Lightman’s portrayal of various temporal dimensions aligns with Husserl’s emphasis on the individual’s perception of time, rather than an objective measurement. By intertwining scientific imagination with phenomenological philosophy, Lightman transcends the boundaries of traditional science fiction, inviting readers to engage with the deeper existential implications of time and consciousness. This research contributes to a subtle understanding of how literature can illustrate and expand phenomenological concepts, particularly in the intersection with theoretical physics.

Tragedizing the Villain: Shakespearean Perspective on Iago as a Tragic Character

Shafaat Yar Khan — 2024-09-30

Through a critical analysis of Shakespeare’s Othello, this study reveals how certain dramatic techniques contribute to the creation of tragic characters, particularly in the case of Iago as a villain. An examination of these techniques shows how Shakespeare blurred the distinction between hero and villain, not only in characters such as Macbeth and Richard III, but also in Iago. The critical analysis demonstrates how Shakespeare affected a moral ambiguity in creating Iago and crafted him as a tragic villain, calling for a sympathetic understanding of his motives and evoking sympathy. Based on the findings, this research supports the use of the term “tragic” for a criminal character like Iago. The study allows for the discussion of the complex relevance of justice to tragedy and tragic characters, as well as its implications for contemporary culture and pedagogy, in which popular culture figures, such as the Joker of Marvel Comics, are discussed as tragic only because they are given sad backstories.

Magical Realism and Mythmaking in Pakistani English Children Fiction: A Linguistic Critique of A Firefly in the Dark

Anosh. — 2024-09-30

The present study analyzes the linguistic choices and quality through a co-textual study of the magical and mythical stories inscribed in Shazaf Fatima Haider’s A Firefly in the Dark (2018). This research emphasizes the ways the author retrieves an intersection of Pakistani history through its magical and cultural threads weaved convivially in the textual and contextual parameters of temporal and geographical spaces of the selected text. The researchers examine the selected text linguistically to see how it negotiates the magical quality of stories of ghosts and gods, daydreaming, horror and myth, imagery and identity, and the amalgamation of rational and irrational worldviews. The writer has proven to be the flag bearer of contemporary literature of magical realism in Pakistan. The textual study grasps the historical context, aspects of magical realism and mythmaking linguistic choices inherent in A Firefly in the Dark. . The researchers have carried out the study by developing an analytical framework from the existing theories of magical realism by Faris (2004) and Campbell’s theory of hero, mythmaking, and monomyth (Campbell, 1988). By connecting traditional mythmaking with cutting-edge storytelling techniques, the novel encompasses the fundamental values of magical realism. The researchers examine the ways the text negotiates the myth-making tradition and gains a fresh perspective on cultural narratives.

Alignment of Punjab Textbook Board’s English Textbooks with the National Curriculum for English (2006): An Evaluative Study

Shahbaz Malik — 2024-09-30

In Pakistan, English language textbooks are considered the most authentic and useful material for language teaching and are expected to be designed by following the objectives stated in the National Curriculum for English, 2006. The federal government has complete control over designing and selecting the content of the books. Pakistani society has a religious, cultural and ethnic diversity that seeks a curriculum which promotes national identity and unity among various groups. As it is a developing country, where traditional methods and techniques are used to teach language, hence, it becomes necessary to minutely evaluate the teaching material. For this purpose, textbooks taught at intermediate-level English classes are evaluated following the objectives stated in the National Curriculum. The data has been taken from the four textbooks taught at HSSC in Punjab, Pakistan. This research employs a qualitative approach to analyse the exercises of various types of deviations and the objectives of the curriculum. The research argues that the textbook exercises are partially aligned with students' learning outcomes of benchmarks, standards and competencies mentioned in the National Curriculum. The study also suggests ways to synchronize the textbooks with the policy document which would ultimately improve the overall English language skills of the students.

Ambivalent Temporalities of Nation-Space: A Study of Mohsin Hamid’s Moth Smoke and Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things

Noor Ul Qamar Qasmi — 2024-09-30

Following Bhabha’s theorization on the ambivalent temporalities of nation-space, this research seeks to analyze how the mutual tension between the pedagogical and the performative temporalities of nationalist representation plays out in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things (1997) and Mohsin Hamid’s Moth Smoke (2000). This article explores how the nation-space narrated by Roy and Hamid is marked by a tussle between the pedagogical and the performative on the lines Bhabha describes it in his seminal essay, ‘DissemiNation: Time, narrative and the margins of the modern nation’. The novels display how the narration of the nation engages in a ‘double movement’ through a harking back to the past while simultaneously being progressive and forward-looking. These double movements cause ambivalent temporalities and produce a disruptive anterior where a deterministic past/history comes head-to-head with the daily performance of the people. The invasive presence of the past quashes the emancipatory maneuvers of the characters who try to chart a performative of their own in contravention of the traditions. In both the novels, the pedagogical pitted against the performance enforces its impersonal and transhistorical outreach by trying to quash what it sees as the unauthorized performance of the people. The nation-space, therefore, remains ambivalent and split between the myths of the past and the realities of the present.