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NUML Journal of Critical Inquiry ISSN 2222-5706
Vol 15 (II), Dec, 2017

Indexed & Abstracted by Proquest & Ebscohost

HEC Recognized Multidisciplinary Journal in “Category Y”

Chief Editor
Dr. Muhammad Safeer Awan
Dean, Faculty of English Studies & Languages
National University of Modern Languages

Editor
Dr. Farheen Ahmed Hashmi
Director Publications
National University of Modern Languages

Y OF MOD
SIT
R

ER
L UNIVE

N LANG U
NA
O

I GE
NAT S

PUBLICATION BRANCH
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN

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 Patron-in-Chief
Maj. Gen. (R) Zia Uddin Najam HI (M)
Rector, National University of Modern Languages

Patron
Brig. Muhammad Ibrahim
DG, National University of Modern Languages

Editorial Board
Dr. Randi Reppen Dr. Robin Truth Goodman
Professor Professor
English Department The English Department
Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Dr. James D'Angelo Dr. Almuth Degener
Professor Associate Professor
Department of World Englishes Department of Indology
Chukyo University, Nagoya, Japan University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
Dr. Sergei Serebriany Dr. Haj Ross
Director Professor
E. M. Meletinsky Institute for Advanced Studies in Department of Linguistics and Technical
the Humanities Communication, College of Arts & Sciences
Russian State University for the Humanities, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA
Moscow, Russia
Dr. Masood Ashraf Raja Dr. Steven Talmy
Associate Professor Associate Professor
Department of English Department of Language & Literacy Education
College of Arts & Sciences University of British Columbia, Vancouver,
University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA Canada
Dr. John Gibbons Dr. Maria Staton
Adjunct Professor Assistant Professor
School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics Department of English
Monash University, Malbourne, Australia Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA
Dr. Ryan Skinnell Dr. Ummul Khair Ahmad
Assistant Professor Associate Professor
Department of English & Comparative Literature Language Academy
College of Humanities & the Arts Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru,
San José State University, San José, CA, USA Malaysia
Dr. Jesse Egbert Dr. Claire Chambers
Assistant Professor Lecturer in Global Literature
Department of Linguistics & English Language Department of English and Related Literature
Brigham Young University, Prove, UT, USA University of York, Heslington, York, UK

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Dr. Dawn Langley Dr. Bernhard Kelle
Dean Professor of Linguistics
General Education & Development Studies University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
Piedmont Community College, Roxboro, NC, USA
Dr. Nelofer Halai Dr. Samina Amin Qadir
Professor Vice Chancellor
Institute for Educational Development Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi,
Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan Pakistan
Dr. Waseem Anwar Dr. Amra Raza
Dean of Humanities & Professor of English Chairperson/Associate Professor
Forman Christian College Department of English Language & Literature
(A Chartered University), Lahore, Pakistan University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Dr. Aalia Sohail Khan Dr. Shahid Siddiqui
Principal Vice Chancellor
Government Post Graduate College for Women Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad,
Satellite Town, Rawalpind, Pakistan Pakistan
Dr. Arshad Mehmood Dr. Naveed Akhtar
Department of English Director QEC
National University of Modern Languages National University of Modern Languages
Dr. Sibghatullah Dr. Marium Deen
Assistant Professor Assistant Professor
Department of English Education Department
National University of Modern Languages National University of Modern Languages

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Vol 15 (II), Dec, 2017 ISSN 2222-5706
CONTENTS
Editorial Board V
Contents VII
Contributors VIII
Research Papers
Sadaf Mahmood & Fauzia Janjua 1
Black Masks, White Skin: Neo Orientalism and Contemporary Pakistani
Fiction in English
Shahla Qasim, Aleem Shakir & Ahmad Bin Qasim 18
Linguistic Analysis of Pakistani Book Blurbs on New Textual Dimensions
Mehwish Ali Khan & Bahramand Shah 41
Frozen: A Postmodern Fairy Tale through the Lens of Intertextuality
Nazak Hussain Mughal & Muhammad Safeer Awan 57
Ideo-cultural Hegemony of Euro-Americans: Analysis of Presentation
of different Cultures in ELT books in Pakistan
Lubna Umar & Sarwet Rasul 78
Critical Metaphor Analysis: Nawaz Sharif and the Myth of a Golden Time
Syeda Aniqah Sabahat & Behzad Anwar 103
Social Meaning Making of Preschoolers through Animated Videos:
A Multimodal Social Semiotic Analysis
Ishrat Siddiqa Lodhi, Muhammad Shakir, Zahid Hussain & Rubia Abid 120
Effect of Outdoor Education on the Concept Attainment of Science
at Elementary Level
Sundas Tahreem, Farheen Ahmed Hashmi & Khadeeja Mushtaq 134
Lying with Truth: A Fictionalized Confrontation with History
Gulnaz Begum & Muhammad Shoaib Awan 151
Framing Obama’s visit to India by Pakistani & Indian Newspapers
Azhar Habib & Hazrat Umar 171
A Qualitative Inquiry into the Alignment of English Textbooks with the
National Curriculum at Secondary Level
Ayyaz Qadeer, Wasima Shehzad, Muhammad Ilyas Chishti 186
Print Media Practices in the Representation of Political Discourse in
Pakistan
Copyright Statement 202
Disclaimer 203
Call for Papers 204
Subscription Form 205

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 Contributors
Black Masks, White Skin: Neo Orientalism and Contemporary Pakistani
Fiction in English
Sadaf Mehmood (Main Author) is a Teaching/Research Associate in the Department
of English, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan. She teaches
Pakistani Literature and Comparative Literature to undergraduate and graduate
students. She has presented different papers at numerous national and
international conferences. She has also published different articles in leading
research journals. Her research interests include Literature and Ideology,
Comparative Literature, Postcolonial Literature, Gender Studies and Pakistani
Fiction in English.
Email: sadaf.mehmood@iiu.edu.pk
Dr. Fauzia Janjua (Co-Author) is working as an Associate Professor in the
Department of English, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan. She
teaches Language, Linguistics and Research courses at Graduate and Post-Graduate
levels. She is an active researcher and has secured research grants as well. She
serves as a reviewer for several journals and is a part of Editorial boards of
international and national journals. Many MS and PhD students have completed
their research projects under her supervision and several are engaged in the
process. She has presented many papers at numerous international and national
conferences and has numerous publications to her credit. She has also authored four
books and three chapters focusing on linguistics and research.
Email: gr8janjua@yahoo.com
Linguistic Analysis of Pakistani Book Blurbs on New Textual Dimensions
Shahla Qasim (Main Author) is employed as an Assistant Professor of English at
Government College Women University Faisalabad. She is a PhD scholar at the
Department of Applied Linguistics, Government College University, Faisalabad. Her
doctoral study aims at exploring patterns of linguistic variability across Pakistani
book blurbs following multidimensional analytical approach. Her current research
interests include Corpus Linguistics, Register Variation, Multidimensional Analysis,
Genre Analysis and ELT. Several of her articles focusing these areas are published in
esteemed national and international journals.
Email: shahlaqasim1@hotmail.com
Dr. Aleem Shakir (Co-Author) is working as an Assistant Professor of Applied
Linguistics at Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan. He received a
PhD in Applied Linguistics at International Islamic University, Islamabad. His PhD
dissertation focused on linguistic variation across print advertisements in Pakistani
media. His study was the first ever attempt to apply the Multidimensional Analysis
to the language of print ads. He has contributed several research publications in

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national and international journals. His research interests cover corpus linguistics,
multidimensional analysis, advertising language and syllabus design.
Email: alamsha@yahoo.com
Ahmad Bin Qasim (Co-Author) completed his BS in Computer Science from National
University of Science and Technology, Islamabad and has currently got admission to
Technical University Munich, Germany, for MS. He is interested in developing
innovative computational programs to deal with the complexities of large data. His
final research project entitled “An Efficient GPU Virtualization Framework using API
Remoting for CUDA Applications” was shortlisted for the gold medal for the best
Final Year Project (FYP) at his school, and is accepted by “IEEE Transactions on
Computers” for publication.
Email: ahmad.live.1@gmail.com
Frozen: A Postmodern Fairy Tale through the Lens of Intertextuality
Mehwish Ali Khan (Main Author) is a lecturer of English at Sardar Bahadur Khan
Women’s University, Quetta, Baluchistan. She is currently at the final stage of her
PhD which she is pursuing from the Area Study Center for Africa, North and South
America, of Quaid-e Azam University, Islamabad. Her academic interests are based
on fairy tales and their representation in contemporary American films. She teaches
Contemporary Literature, Academic Reading and Writing and American Literature.
Email: mahwishalisbkwu@gmail.com
Dr. Bahramand Shah (Co- Author) is an Assistant Professor at the Area Study Center
for Africa, North and South America, of Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad. He is a
Fulbright PhD alumnus. His academic interests include but are not limited to Post-
Colonial Theory and Literature, Orientalism, Comparative Literature, American
Literature, British Literature, Marxist Theory, Composition and Rhetoric, Linguistics,
Sociolinguistics, Business Communication, and ESL.
Email: bahramands@yahoo.com
Ideo-Cultural Hegemony of Euro-Americans: Analysis of Presentation of
Different Cultures in ELT Books in Pakistan
Nazak Hussain Mughal (Main Author) is a PhD Scholar in Linguistics and Literature
at Department of English, Air University, Islamabad. Currently he is working as a
lecturer at FG Liaquat Ali Degree College for Men, Peshawar Road, Rawalpindi. His
doctoral research work focuses on unmasking of ideological hegemony established
in ELT books recommended for IGCSE/O’ Level in Pakistan. The particular interest is
the application of multimodal frameworks of Content Analysis, CDA and Semiotic
analysis for the purpose of investigating the ideological and cultural clash presented
in these books. The scholar has participated and presented in several international
conferences. He has worked at different institutes in different capacities,

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contributing a lot in synchronizing the gap between school and college education.
His areas of interest are ELT, Multimodality and Critical Pedagogy.
Email: nazakmughal@gmail.com
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Safeer Awan (Co-Author) is one of the progenitors and
promoters of postcolonial thought in Pakistan. Currently, he is delivering the
responsibilities as Dean Faculty of English Studies at National University of Modern
Languages, Islamabad. He has an extensive background in English language and
literature. He has ignited a new vision about English language teaching in a wide-
range of students of different universities by disseminating postcolonial ideology
through his teaching as well as presentations in seminars and conferences. His other
areas of specialization include cultural studies, translation and comparative studies
in literature.
Email: msawan@numl.edu.pk
Critical Metaphor Analysis: Nawaz Sharif and the Myth of a Golden Time
Lubna Umar (Main Author) is working as a lecturer in Department of Linguistics,
Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. She has also worked as a lecturer in leading
universities of Islamabad including IIUI and NUST. She is a PhD scholar of English
Linguistics at International Islamic University, Islamabad. Currently, she is involved
in teaching and research and her areas of interest are Discourse Analysis, Semantics,
Pragmatics, Psycholinguistics and Language and Gender. She is also the executive
editor of International magazine Melange and a freelance writer with an avid
interest in Pakistani Politics and defence issues.
Email: lubena22@hotmail.com
Dr. Sarwet Rasul (Co-Author) has an extensive background in English language and
Linguistics, and is currently working as an Associate Professor and Incharge of
Department of English, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi. She has a PhD
degree in English Linguistics from National University of Modern Languages,
Islamabad. She has scores of publications to her credit. She is also the recipient of
Country-wide Best University Teacher Award by Higher Education Commission,
Pakistan, and National Star award for category Education (Women) by South Asia
Publications. Her areas of interest are Sociolinguistics (Language Hybridization),
Pragmatics, Research Methodologies, etc.
Email: sarwet2004@hotmail.com
Social Meaning Making of Preschoolers through Animated Videos: A
Multimodal Social Semiotic Analysis
Syeda Aniqah Sabahat (Main Author) is an MPhil scholar in Linguistics, department
of English, University of Gujrat, Gujrat. She is currently working as a Vice Principal
and Master Trainer English in Education Department, Punjab. She has done her
Master in English from University of Sargodha. She also worked at different

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administrative posts in education department. She has conducted numerous
workshops and training programs. She is particularly interested in the use of
multimedia technology in school education. The areas of her academic interest
include Morphology, Semiotics and Multidimensional Analysis.
Email: eshaa.sayyad@gmail.com
Dr. Behzad Anwar (Co-Author) is working as an Assistant Professor /Head of English
Department at University of Gujrat, Gujrat. He has a teaching experience of more
than 10 years at various institutions. He has done his PhD in English from Bahauddin
Zakariya University, Multan and worked as an academic visitor at Birmingham
University, United Kingdom. He is a Co-editor of Hayatian Journal of Linguistics and
Literature, Department of English, University of Gujrat, Gujrat. He compiled a 12
million word corpus of Pakistani English newspapers. He has presented numerous
research papers at various national and international conferences. His research
interests include World Englishes, Sociolinguistics and Corpus Studies.
Email: behzad.anwar@uog.edu.pk
Effect of Outdoor Education on the Concept Attainment of Science at
Elementary Level
Dr. Ishrat Siddiqa Lodhi (Main Author), Director, Academic Division, Higher
Education Commission; Pakistan joined Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi
in 2008 as a lecturer. She completed her PhD from International Islamic University,
Islamabad in 2014 in the area of Teacher Training at Higher Level. Her skill set
includes Research and Development, Teacher Training, Human Development and
Learning, Educational Planning and Management, University Education. She has
participated in different projects in collaboration with Higher Education
Commission, USAID, British Council and UNESCO. She has also participated in HEC
module development process by Learning and Innovation Division.
Email: ishratsiddiqalodhi@gmail.com
Dr. Muhammad Shakir (Co-Author), Lecturer, Department of Educational Training,
The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. He Joined the Islamia University of
Bahawalpur in 2013 and did his PhD on “An Evaluation of Secondary School
Teachers’ Competencies Based on National Professional Standards for Teachers in
Punjab Province.” Before starting his research journey, he has been a part of
National Commission for Human Development as a Markaz Coordinator for the
implementation of Universalization of Primary Education which was the basic pillar
of EFA strategies. His interests include Educational Research, Teacher Education,
Educational Psychology, Assessment and Evaluation, Education for All, Reading,
writing and Numeracy, Quality at Higher Education, Quality at Primary Education,
Curriculum Design, Teaching of Urdu, and Teaching of Social Sciences.
Email: shakir.iub@hotmail.com

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Dr. Zahid Hussain (Co-Author), currently working as a senior science teacher in
Federal Government Public School (boys) Bahawalpur Cant. He has completed his
PhD in the area of Curriculum Development at Secondary School Level in Pakistan.
He joined teaching profession in 1997 as a science teacher. His interests include
Curriculum Development, Teacher Evaluation, Science Education, Teaching of
Chemistry, Physics and Biology.
Email: zahidfg@gmail.com
Rubia Abid (Co-Author), MPhil Scholar, Department of Education, Fatima Jinnah
Women University Rawalpindi. During her MPhil study, she has participated in
different research projects with the collaboration of Ministry of Education
Pakistan, National Commission for Human Development, USAID, UNESCO and
Japan International Cooperation Agency. Her areas of interest include but are not
limited to Science Education, Bio Diversity, Teaching of English as Foreign and
Second Language, Assessment and Evaluation.
Email: rubia_abid@live.com
Lying with Truth: A Fictionalized Confrontation with History
Sundas Tahreem (Main Author) is a PhD scholar in English Literature at National
University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad. She has been working as
Lecturer of English at NUML since 2014. She has also worked with Publication Branch
at the same university for one year. In addition, she has served as lecturer of English
at FAST National University, Islamabad for one year. Her areas of interest include
Native American Literature, South Asian Literature, Postcolonial Literature, Literary
Theory, and Critical Discourse Analysis.
Email: sundas.tahreem@yahoo.com
Dr. Farheen Ahmed Hashmi (Co-Author) is currently employed as Director
Publications at National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad. Her
responsibilities include supervision of Research & Publication work at NUML. She is
also working as the Editor of NUML Journal of Critical Inquiry and has immensely
contributed in the field of research by reviewing/evaluating research work, teaching
and supervising at MPhil & PhD levels, and by presenting in both national and
international conferences. Her areas of research include Phonological Variations in
Pakistani English, Transliteration & Text Processing, Semantic Philosophy, Semiotics,
Pragmatics & Conversational Analysis, Sociopragmatics & Pragmalinguistics, Lexical
Hybridization, and Discourse Analysis. In addition, Feminism, issues of Identity, and
study of postcolonial mindset are her prime concerns.
Email: dr.farheenahmedhashmi@gmail.com
Khadeeja Mushtaq (Co-Author) is Assistant Professor and a PHD Scholar in the
Department of English, NUML, Islamabad. She earned her MPhil degree in English
Literature and Linguistics. She has been associated with teaching profession since

xii
1998 and has taught different courses and degree programs at NUML. She has also
served at different administrative posts and is currently coordinator NUML
Dramatics Club. Her interests include Feminist Literature, Ghazal Poetry, Middle East
Literature, literature of protest, and Trauma Studies.
Email: khadeeja64@gmail.com
Framing Obama’s Visit to India by Pakistani and Indian Newspapers
Gulnaz Begum (Main Author) is currently working as a research supervisor and
external examiner at MA TEFL in Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Islamabad.
She has been teaching research methodology at MA TEFL level in the same university
as a resource person for the last two years. She holds an MPhil degree in English
Linguistics from Foundation University Rawalpindi. Her research interests include
Forensic Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, Language and Identity, Critical Discourse
Analysis, Teaching of English as a Second Language (TESL) and ESL Learning, English
for Specific Purposes (ESP), and Academic and Technical Writings.
Email: tiamalik5@gmail.com
Muhammad Shoaib Awan (Co-Author) is currently teaching Pakistan Studies at O/A
Levels in Sadiq Public School, Rawalpindi. He also has two year teaching experience
of the same subject at PACE College, Rawalpindi. He is a research scholar of MPhil in
Pakistan Studies at Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Islamabad. His research
interests include Civil-Military Relations, International Relations, Pakistan Domestic
and Foreign Policy, US-Pak Relations, Indo-Pak Relations, Islam, West and
Democracy, Domestic Politics, and Security Affairs.
Email: threestar.mark@gmail.com
A Qualitative Inquiry into the Alignment of English Textbooks with the
National Curriculum at Secondary Level
Azhar Habib (Main Author) is serving as a Lecturer in the Department of English,
National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad. He has done his MPhil in
English Linguistics. During MPhil research, he completed research fellowship from
University of North Texas (USA). It was sponsored by US State Department. Habib is
pursuing his PhD from Air University, Islamabad. He has published a number of
research articles in renowned journals. Currently, he is involved in both teaching and
research. His areas of interest are Sociolinguistics, Psycholinguistics, Language and
Culture, Syllabus Design and Textbook Evaluation.
Email: azher.habib@yahoo.com
Dr. Hazrat Umar (Co-Author), Assistant Professor of English at the Department of
English, National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad, received his
PhD in English (Applied Linguistics [English Language Teaching]) from NUML. Dr.
Umar has served as an English language teacher at the Functional Courses
Department at NUML. He also has taught courses at the graduate and postgraduate

xiii
levels in the Department of English at NUML. He has a number of research
publications both in literature and linguistics. Besides supervising MA students, he
supervises MPhil & PhD research scholars. He has attended and conducted different
workshops on faculty development and has presented papers in conferences.
Email: humar@numl.edu.pk
Print Media Practices in the Representation of Political Discourse in
Pakistan
Dr. Ayyaz Qadeer (Main Author) has a vast experience of teaching English along
with other allied subjects like business communication and report writing skills at
various Higher Education Institutions. At present, he is teaching as an Assistant
Professor at COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Wah Cantt. Beside
academic responsibilities, he writes speeches and trains students for different stage
performances. His research interests are Sociolinguistics, Critical Discourse Analysis
& Media Discourse. He has presented his research at various conferences. He works
as a reviewer and has evaluated various dissertations for universities and research
manuscripts for research journals. He is also a member of various editorial boards.
Email: ayazqadeer@yahoo.com
Prof. Dr. Wasima Shehzad (Co- Author) is one of the most prominent academicians
and researchers in Pakistan. At present she is serving as Dean, Faculty of Social
Sciences, Air University, Islamabad. Her contribution in the field of Corpus Studies,
Genre Studies and Academic Discourse is recognized at important forums. She has
shared her valuable research at several international conferences such as in UK, the
USA, Korea, Japan, and China. Her publications in national and international
research journals, according to Google Scholar Citations Index, have been cited
widely. Her vision has been instrumental in bringing vital change in the academic
milieu of Pakistan through her profound tutelage and value added research.
Email: wasima.shehzad@yahoo.com
Dr. Muhammad Ilyas Chishti (Co-Author) is currently working as Assistant Professor
at NUST School of Natural Sciences, Islamabad. He is a PhD in English Linguistics from
National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad. His PhD work encompasses a
critical discourse dimension of Schimmel’s works Pain and Grace, Mystical
Dimensions of Islam and As through a Veil. His research interests include Critical
Discourse Studies, Pragmatics, Sociolinguistics and Sufi Discourse. He has diverse
teaching experience and has taught at International Islamic University, Islamabad,
Foundation University, Rawalpindi, and UET Taxila as a visiting faculty. Dr. Chishti is
also in Guidance and Evaluation Committee (GEC) of various universities. Dr. Chishti
has the honour of conducting high profile and literary events at prestigious forums
and is often invited to judge the proceedings of All Pakistan Declamation Contests.
Currently, he is acting as the Faculty Sponsor of NUST Dramatics Club.
Email: ilyas_chishti2007@yahoo.com

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NUML Journal of Critical Inquiry Vol 15(II) December, 2017 ISSN 2222-5706

Black Masks, White Skin: Neo Orientalism and

Contemporary Pakistani Fiction in English
Sadaf Mehmood1
Fauzia Janjua2
Abstract
Orientalism is an academic discipline where series of
representations about the Orients are recorded to dominate and rule them.
These representations subject them as primitive, uncivilized, exotic, other.
Binaries of East/ West, Orient/ Occident, Centre/ Margin are used to define
both nations. The oppressed and marginalized nations appear to
deconstruct these constructions by celebrating their rich historical and
cultural heritage. The literature of Pakistan in English has its traces in its
colonial past. The present paper aims to analyze a portrayal of Pakistani
society in Pakistani fiction in English. The study is based on qualitative form
of research by using the technique of close textual analysis of selected
fiction. The works of Uzma Aslam Khan, Mohsin Hamid, Bina Shah, Nadeem
Aslam and Qaisra Shahraz are selected to analyze the portrayal of Pakistani
society. The study explores Janus-faced nature of Pakistani fiction that at
one end aims to dismantle barbaric and uncivilized figure of the nation by
portraying an esteemed and dignified nation that has, as a Muslim minority,
history of great rule over subcontinent’s Hindu majority. However, on the
other, the discursive notion of realism provides lens to perceive the uncouth
rituals of contemporary society. The study investigates this shift, from
postcolonial commemoration to representing a muddle of unseen evils in
the name of ignorant traditions and customs, to compete needs of
international market. Being inspired by the Western hegemonic discourse,
these writers silence the obscenities of colonial encounter and appear as
neo-orientalists who are natives in origin but English in taste and intellect.
The paper finally concludes that how diversion from native ideology to
realism is serving the objectives of imperial ideology where natives are
portrayed as uncivilized, emotional, fundamentalist and primitive.
Keywords: Orientalism, Neo-Orientalism, stereotypes
Introduction
The seed of inferiority that is sown by the colonial masters on the
colonized lands has extended the web of its roots to the generations of
natives. The British Raj in Subcontinent has marginalized Muslim community
through its colonial discourses. The dehumanized and devalued natives of
subcontinent aim to write back, in order to deconstruct the marginal and
peripheral representations by bringing themselves to the center of the text.
Creative thinkers and philosophers choose to write in colonial language with

1
a delicate touch of commemoration and celebration of their native culture.
This commemoration in the colonized discourses depicts them as a nation
with rich cultural and historical inheritance. Literature of Pakistan has
introduced itself in English apart from its existence in other languages and
thus, the literary discourses produced in this language have a distinct place
in the rags of Pakistani history.
Pakistani literature in English is originated for national purposes, to
serve nation and to battle its opposite discourses where native sighs and
sobs for independence. It aims to deconstruct the cultural, social, regional
and historical generalizations of Pakistani society. The rich customs,
traditions and norms are interwoven in the fabric of grand stories. However,
as the time flee, the cultural and national celebrations are replaced with the
portrayal of realism. With the axe of realism the writer chooses to dig the
anxiety and filth of Pakistani society in order to be recognized worldwide.
They wish to achieve a distinguish place at international level. The audience
bestows them a number of awards to continue this task. By portraying the
'misery' and 'dirt' in Pakistan they are actually performing the same tasks
and assignments of the West that are once used to be done by the
Orientalists; travelers, missionaries, traders and pilgrims. The creativity of
Pakistani writers is not different from the Western travel logs where the
natives are explored as primitive, uncouth and uncivilized.
In colonial era, the stereotypes and generalizations of Muslim
community and its religion were perpetuated in the Orientalist discourses
with assertion and authority. However, with the strong native resistance
these stereotypes were appeared to be fake. The authenticity of these
stereotypes is best authorized through native pen. The present writers;
mimic men, in order to be renowned at international level, are giving West
the descriptive snapshots of Pakistan by screening the bleakness,
primitivity, irrationality of present Muslim society.
The selected works of contemporary Pakistani fiction identify the
society of Pakistan at different emotional, political, economic, social and
regional perspectives. It will be observed that these works present Pakistan
before West as a dangerous threat of primitivity and fundamentalism. It
aims to evaluate Edward Said’s Orientalism and Bhabha’s Mimicry to
foreground the current phase of Pakistani English Literature. The textual
analysis will find that the native writers are constructing the same
generalizations and pre-conceived notions that are once structured by the
West. It will insist that the image of Pakistan is presented as negative and
other instead of presenting a positive picture of Pakistan. The paper will
emphasize that the writers while asserting the realism are perpetuating the
Western ideology of center and civilization where recognition is only
achieved through “turn white or disappear.”

2
Literature Review
In The Wretched of the Earth (1963), Frantz Fanon speaks of the
arousal of national consciousness against the colonial empire of France in
Africa. He insists on cultural resistance through the revival of national
culture and national literature. He is concerned with the revival of glorious
past that has been demeaned and devalued by the colonial masters. It is
one of their prime strategies to turn “to the past of oppressed people, and
distort, disfigure, and destroy it” while it is assumed by the natives that
“colonialism came to lighten their darkness” (pp. 210-211). Fanon
persuades his community to rebel by referring other colonies of Whites
where they have applied the same strategies to overpower. However, the
natives of those colonies “remind their people of the great pages of their
history” as “a reply to the lies told by the occupying power” (p. 213). Fanon
insists natives to celebrate their rich cultural heritage in order to uncover
the underlying dominating strategies to demean the nation's past. The past
of the natives is introduced as pre-historic and primeval while culture,
civilization and history are brought by the colonizers to their lands. By
receiving constant dehumanization and condemnation, the natives
internalize the inferiority complex.
Fanon in Black Skin, White Masks (2008) sheds light on the
psychological impacts of colonization by focusing on the development of
inferiority complex. Through colonial mirror of binary oppositions;
superior/inferior, White/black, civilized/barbaric, the natives find
themselves captivated with an evident difference of color complexion. This
differentiation eventually leads them to the extent where they began to
accept the notions of the ruling power and subjugate themselves to serve
the colonial masters. Fanon identifies his negritude with degradation and
condemnation; “I discovered my Blackness, my ethnic characteristics; and I
was battered down by tom-toms, cannibalism, intellectual deficiency,
fetishism, racial defects, slave-ships” (p. 84). For Fanon, with the treatment
of Negros as animal and dark, the white man becomes an epitome of
perfection that reveals him a man of color, “a white mask” over “his black
skin.” Fanon accepts Negro as black creature but does not find him an
inferior, cannibal, evil creature. A Negro should be accepted and liberated if
not anywhere else but on his own land, his territory. There is no need to
submit before the white imperial power since a Negro is a man like the white
man and is valuable in his community.
The idea of liberation and independence is rejected by Octave
Manonni. In Propero and Caliban: The Psychology of Colonization (1990) he
describes colonization as an act to find people who require dependence. It
aims to find a community of people who are in need of it: “Wherever
Europeans have founded colonies of the type we are considering, it can

3
safely be said that their coming was unconsciously expected—even
desired—by the future subject peoples” (p. 86). The colonizers aim to
explore such lands for considering their holy duty of “Whiteman's burden.
“Therefore, they appear to natives in colonial father figure who “tries to
rectify the situation by establishing a dependence relationship on the
pattern of that of the child with his parents” (1990, p. 61).They defend their
dominance and superiority on natural grounds. The natives are born
colonized, therefore, inferior and black whereas the colonizers are born to
rule them, therefore, they are superior and white.
Their justification of superiority and inferiority, civilized and
uncivilized, center and marginal needs a proper mode of representation.
Therefore, they confined a proper discipline of criticism and generalizations
through literary discourses. The natives are primarily subjected in this
literary discipline as “orients”; non-Europeans, that can be described as “an
idea, concept, or image. The word Orient has a considerable and interesting
cultural resonance in the West” (Said, Orientalism, 2001, p. 202).
Edward Said in Orientalism (2001) calls Orientalism as an “academic
tradition” a literary discipline to describe orients and non-Whites:
“Orientalism is a school of interpretation whose material happens to be the
Orient, its civilizations, peoples, and localities” (p. 203). The knowledge that
it carries, is gathered by “'travelers, commercial enterprises, governments,
military expeditions, readers of novels and accounts of exotic adventure,
national historians, and pilgrims” (p. 203). Said finds Orientalism as a
practice of constructions and generalizations of/ about the orients since it
is a product of personal assumptions of the Occident who identifies Orients
as barbaric, emotional, uncouth, other and uncivilized natives of an exotic,
mysterious and mythic land. Orientalism is a literary discipline with political
and ideological constructions, therefore, it is correct to say: “every
European, in what he could say about the Orient, was consequently a racist,
an imperialist, and almost totally ethnocentric” (p. 204). Said argues
Orientalism as an erection of “imaginative geography” where West
constructs itself as center and civilized while marginal and barbaric land
belongs to East. This imagination is the root of cultural diversity which
divides into us and them: “imaginative geography of the 'our land-barbarian
land' variety does not require that the barbarians acknowledge the
distinction. It is enough for 'us' to set up these boundaries in our minds, they
become they accordingly, and both their territory and their mentality are
designated as different from ours” (p. 54). To synthesize Orientalism is a
European advent and
A collective notion identifying ''us'' Europeans as against all
''those'' non-Europeans, and indeed it can be argued that
the major component in European culture is precisely what

4
 made that culture hegemonic both in and outside Europe:
the idea of European identity as a superior one in
comparison with all the non-European peoples and
cultures. (p. 7)
The politics of binaries identifies the natives as anonymous masses instead
of individual beings. Their actions are measured with parameters of racism
that are instinctively emotional (envy, lust, terror, ferocity). The otherness
gives all Orients a collective self-identity that is negative. They are obliged
to recognize themselves not as human beings with their own needs and
desires but less than human, inferior and an object.
Homi K. Bhabha investigates the motives behind the colonial
degeneration of the natives as: “The objective of colonial discourse is to
construe the colonized as a population of degenerate types on the basis of
racial origin, in order to justify conquest and to establish systems of
administration and instruction”(1994, p. 70). However, the colonial
strategies to demean the natives in order to fulfill their motives, cannot
achieve their ends since the domineering scheme is “on the one hand, a
topic for learning, discovery and practice; on the other, it is a site of dreams,
images, fantasies, myths, obsessions and requirements” (p. 71). Thus,
orients are discovered as barbaric, superstitious, emotional, violent, but at
the same time paradoxically, the mesmerizing, enchanting and mysterious
orients bring Europeans from inside out. The stereotypical construction of
orients appears contradictory in nature: “colonial discourse produces the
colonized as a social reality which is at once an ‘other’ and yet entirely
knowable and visible” (pp. 70-71). The knowledge gathered through colonial
discourses reveals that natives are not subjected 'other' rather they are
studied by the colonizers and thus the distance between them is lessened.
However, this distance is maintained by the colonizers through the
generalizations of inferiority and slavery.
The black is both savage (cannibal) and yet the most
obedient and dignified of servants (the bearer of food); he
is the embodiment of rampant sexuality and yet innocent
as a child; he is mystical, primitive, simple-minded and yet
the most worldly and accomplished liar, and manipulator
of social forces. In each case what is being dramatized is a
separation between races, cultures, histories within
histories - a separation between before and after that
repeats obsessively the mythical moment or disjunction.
(p. 82)
Their presence in the colonial discourses is “harmless” and “knowable” but
at the same time “harmful” and “wild”. Bhabha describes stereotype in

5
respect of its ambivalent nature: “form of knowledge and identification that
vacillates between what is always ‘in place,’ already known, and something
that must be anxiously repeated” (p. 66). Bhabha scrutinizes the constant
representation of colonized in order to fix their identity as “other” but their
identity remains in motion and sliding between the polarities of known and
unknown:
The stereotypes is not a simplification because it is a false
representation of a given reality. It is a simplification because
it is an arrested, fixated form of representation that, in
denying the play of difference constitutes a problem for the
representation of the subject in significations of psychic and
social relations. (p. 75)
Thus, the stereotypes remain the subject of primary significance both for
colonizer and colonized in terms of “fantasy and defense” and are
“threatened by the differences of race, color and culture” (Bhabha, p. 75).
The constant repetition of the stereotypes in known and unknown
parameters insists on the idea of inability to take both notions side by side.
They appear to be at war with each other. The continuous repetition reflects
their instability to fix these stereotypes.
Colonial ambivalence reflects the inability of colonizers to
determine and fix the stereotypical generalizations in an appropriate way.
The reason behind it can easily be traced through distinct colonized
behavior towards colonizers. The colonizers categorize natives in two ways;
one, the natives accept the domineering authority of colonial rule and
subjugate themselves before their interests, two, they resist the colonial
rule and desire independence. The colonizers are the outsiders, therefore,
they have to return to their mother land one day or the other. Their
expected departure from the native land made them to contemplate over
the future ruler for the natives who can preserve their authority on these
lands. As Macaulay states:
We must at present do our best to form a class who may be
interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern;
a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in
taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect. (Ashcroft, 2003,
p. 430)
This native-English crowd was thus trained in English schools as a missionary
to perpetuate English motives. Bhabha finds these missionaries as “Mimic
men” who are an “inner compatibility of empire and nation” (1994, p. 87).
Bhabha calls the “mimicry” of colonials “is the desire for a reformed,
recognizable ‘Other’, as a subject of difference that is almost the same, but
not quite” (p. 86). These mimic men identify themselves with the esteem

6
bestowed by the colonizers that “conceals no presence or identity behind
its mask” (p. 88). These mimic men are not treated as barbaric, savages,
cannibals but they exercise the power in place of colonizers. However, this
mimicry due to its double vision can be a menace to colonizers by “disclosing
the ambivalence of the colonial discourse” that will eventually disrupt their
authority by comprehending the constructed stereotypes.
Their double vision can be a worrying danger to their ruling power
with the resemblance of language that will eventually destroy the discipline
of knowledge gathered with years of planning to overpower them.
These are the appropriate objects of a colonialist chain of
command, authorized versions of otherness. But they are
also, as I have shown, the figures of a doubling, the part-
objects of a metonymy of colonial desire which alienates the
modality and normality of those dominant discourses in
which they emerge as inappropriate subjects. (p. 88)
Bhabha (1994) measures the ambivalent vision of a mimic man which can
result into anti-colonial resistance by challenging the representations to
define them as a nation if they do not enjoy the authority, the power. In his
work Culture and Imperialism (1994) Edward Said by referring to Joseph
Conrad and his novel Nostromo, highlights the condition of the natives and
colonial frame of mind:
We Westerners will decide who is a good native or a bad,
because all natives have sufficient existence by virtue of our
recognition. We created them, we taught them to think and
speak, and when they rebel they simply confirm our views of
them as silly children, duped by some of their Western
masters. (Said, Culture and Imperialism , 1994, p. xviii)
The theoretical perspectives of Bhabha on mimicry and ambivalence in the
colonial discourse explore the representation of their objectives as unstable
and wavering. The colonial discourses are unable to portray their values and
motives. They could not successfully secure their aims and thus meet
“resistance from the outset by indigenous inhabitants of colonized lands”
(Mcleod, 2000, p. 8).The apparent binaries of dehumanization and
condemnation of the indigenous people produce contemplative indigenous
thinkers to project the exploitation of natives, their culture, history and
sources. They evoke the natives to celebrate their rich heritage, culture,
religion and history. By analyzing the legitimacy and psychological
consequences of the colonial ideology, they aimed to write back to the
center, the white, occident, and European supremacy against the
stereotypical generalizations of the orients, Eastern, blacks and marginal.
The theoretical and literary discourses are produced by the natives in order

7
to break the stereotypes by celebrating the indigenous heritage and culture.
Chinua Achebe resists the colonial condemnation on critical and literary
grounds. After finding a sharp slaughter knife on the neck of African culture
in Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Achebe rescues his indigenous
culture with the celebration of his masculine cultural heritage in Things Fall
Apart. In An Image of Africa Achebe calls Conrad a “bloody racist “and
projects the denunciation of African culture and nation:
The real question is the dehumanization of Africa and
Africans which this age-long attitude has fostered and
continues to foster in the world. And the question is whether
a novel which celebrates this dehumanization, which
depersonalizes a portion of the human race, can be called a
great work of art? (Achebe, 2010, p. 14)
The British colonization in Asia is seen by Allama Iqbal as a folly of its Muslim
natives. He evokes his nation through his rich poetry on nationalism. He
undermines generalizations about Islam as primitive, conservative, violent
but an honorable religion to be followed ever. For him the religion Islam is
not constrained to boundaries rather every Muslim on earth belongs to one
nation. He criticizes the vicious policies of Western civilization who wish to
split Muslims by indulging them in the politics of boundary lines with their
associations to different lands:
Do not compare your nation with the nations of the West
Because, the nation of the Prophet of Islam is of a different mould.
Western nationalism is based on territory or race
But your nationalism gets its strength from the power of religion.
With the loosening of the religious hold
Your unity as a distinct nation will be lost. (Malik, 2003, p. 24)
He evokes his nation against the vanities of Western nation and calls his
nation for liberation from colonial shackles to gain an independent land not
based on differences of color and blood but in order to live by the practices
of Islam:
Our Master, migrating from his fatherland, resolved the knot
of Muslim nationhood, His wisdom founded one community
– The world its parish. Those who adopted country as the
basis of nationalism have shattered the fabric of human
fraternity. By making country an object of veneration they
have divided human unity into tribes. Your nation is above
the considerations of color and blood. (Malik, 2003, pp. 26-
28)

8
The philosophical resistance of Iqbal to the Western colonial power evokes
its nation with the spiritual and divine duty to resist the colonial submission
by having grand and rich history of ruling the world. Western rulers choose
to identify Muslims as primitives, extremists, violent and conservative
people by prioritizing Hindus over them since Hindus can wear an attire of
a missionary but a Muslim cannot subdue his faith before Christianity. Akbar
S. Ahmed (1997) depicts the plight of these Muslim natives as:
At one stroke, the Muslims of India had lost their Kingdom,
their Mughal Empire, their Emperor, their language, their
culture, their capital city of Delhi and their sense of self.
Politically and culturally the loss was totally devastating. (p.
43)
The Muslim struggled for a separate land where they could continue their
religious practices. The continuous resistance eventually resulted in the
partition. This historical tragedy has been weaved in the fabric of literature
in pre-partition and post- partition Pakistan. The untold and horrendous
tales of partition become a major theme of literature. It unleashes the
ferocious policies of British Raj over the wretched natives. These tales are
told in various regional languages like Pashto, Sindhi, Siraiki, and Punjabi but
particularly in Urdu and English with the celebration of its rich cultural
heritage. By recording the vicious colonial strategies of cultural and
historical denunciation with the commemoration of indigenous culture, the
literature of Pakistan takes off in the land of English language. Tariq Rehman
(1991) traces the ancestry of Pakistani Literature in English with the names
of Feroze Khan Noon, Khawaja Ahmed Abbas, Ahmed Ali and Mumtaz
Shahnawaz. Their works celebrate past glories of Mughal time and
contemplate over its gradual disappearance with a use of hyperbole
(Hashmi, 1989). However, later literature has a shift from fantasy to realism.
Bapsi Sidhwa, Zulfiqar Ghose, Tariq Ali, M. Athar Tahir, Kamila Shamsie, Sara
Suleri and Mohammed Hanif are some of the prominent voices who have
introduced the realistic portrayal of socio-cultural and religio-political
upheavals of Pakistan. The era of general Zia and Post 9/11 reshaped literary
world of English with a wave of Islamophobia in its own ways. The sanctity
of Pakistani English literature asserted its existence by enjoying a
distinguished reception at national and international literary world through
depicting a detached picture of socio-political and religio-cultural Pakistani
society with convincing human portraits. This shift from attachment to
detachment emerged in the world of post-colonialism to hunt for their
recognition in international market. Pakistani writers use their pen to dig
out the silenced muddle of the society that is giving them a large audience
for appreciation and recognition.

9
Preservation of Imperial Ideology in Contemporary Pakistani Fiction
With the traces of colonial history the writers of Pakistani Literature
in English live a life of struggle for existence. They work to consider the
needs of the hour. Early phases of English literature depicts national ecstasy;
the rich traditions with a delicate religious touch. The writers choose to
write in English in order to resist the generalizations against Muslim natives.
It aims to demonstrate the cultural heritage before the audience who
recognize them as violent, barbaric, conservative, uncivilized and
emotional. The bent of realism with cultural glimpses indicates the level of
refinement and delicacy in the genre. However, the contemporary literature
is unable to find the glimpses of the cultural bliss. With the slogan of realism,
present fabrication of the stories portrays a society that is corrupt and
depraved. It appears at international level to perpetuate the stereotypes
that are identical to imperial ideology. It reveals the same society that
International audience is already familiar with. However, the native stamp
it bears makes it appear more authentic and bona fide. They carry black
masks on their white skin. The contemporary Pakistani writers are not
English in their color or race, but in “taste,” “morals,” and in “intellect” they
are English. They appear to be more refined in their description of Pakistani
people, culture, religion, etc., since the Western Orientalists simply measure
them in the tool of binaries. The present fiction generalizes them through
description of each binary opposition though.
The picture of contemporary Pakistani society is bleak and
miserable. Mohsin Hamid in Moth Smoke portrays each character as corrupt
and immoral. Corruption is rooted in personal and social life. Through the
character portrayal Mohsin Hamid depicts Pakistani people as a nation of
money lovers and opportunists. The family bonds on which they pride are
weak and fake. The justice system that serves the interests of elite is cruel
and violent. The morally depraved society is a whirlpool of evils where
robbers and drug suppliers live. Hamid portrays a class conscious society
where power is held by the strong and elite class. The elite class enjoys
comfort and ease even after the great crimes like murder, money
laundering, adultery but the poor class is repressed by the powerful and
accustomed to the judicial system. The illegal sexual relationship of Mumtaz
with Daru exposes the immorality and dishonesty of Pakistani people who
are habitual of deceiving their loved ones. Murad satisfies himself by
robbing, cheating and supplying drugs to people. Through the character
portrayal Hamid embodies the blind followers of id with an immediate
satisfaction of their “instinctive emotions.” The description of “dark,” “evil,”
“uncivilized” Pakistani society distinguishes Hamid in noble literary world of
intellectuals.

10
 Thinner than Skin by Uzma Aslam sheds light on the inhumanity of
the elite class who raised slogans of equality at the time of partition. Uzma
Aslam depicts dark picture of Pakistani society. People are still indulged in
fake status consciousness where they treat humans on the basis of class
distinction. They identify people through their caste. They are uncouth and
uncivilized people who cannot give up their primitivity.
Through the portrayal of outcast herders in Thinner than Skin, Uzma
Aslam highlights the superstitious people of Modern Pakistan. Though
herders are living for generations in the valley but they are provided with
no rights to live and survive in the society. When Kiran died after drowning
while she was with Farhana and Nadir on boat, her parents were not in a
position to question them because they were the suppressed one in that
valley. This discrimination is clearly depicted when Irfan tells Nadir:
If this had happened in America, you’d be in jail. If this had
happened to a child of landlord, you’d be in danger and in
debt. So that’s why our lives are spared, herders are disliked
in this valley. They were considered outcasts. (p. 103)
Aslam reveals discrimination of justice system that is based on caste system
instead of humanity. The herders are socially outcast on the basis of wealth
and religion. Similarly, Maryam is a Hindu woman and thus unable to
practice her religion in a Pakistani Muslim society.
The conformist society of Pakistan is also presented by Bina Shah in
Slum Child. She portrays a Christian slum who suffers an emotional collapse
due to the death of her lovable sister, Jamana. Laila is a nine-year old slum
who struggles to survive in a Muslim community. She strives hard to
overcome the marginalized oppression that she receives being a Christian.
Her life encounters the economical, patriarchal and religious conditions to
spend a contended life in Pakistan. Though Laila, Bina reflects the
constraints of Pakistani people who try to impose their religious practices to
a nine-year old girl by degrading her faith. Her life symbolizes a struggle to
assert her religious practices before the Islamic fundamentals:
The thing that we learned best, I suppose, was how to fit in.
This was a vital skill for any Christian living in a Muslim area.
We had to be nondescript. We could not flaunt our faith
outside of the safety of Colony. Nobody was going to accuse
anyone here on burning a Quran or blaspheming against the
prophet- accusations concocted for the purpose of grabbing
someone's property or land rather than defending another's
faith and nobody here had any property or land worth
grabbing. We went to church and told anyone who asked
that we were Christian, but avoided wearing crosses and our

11
 women took to wearing dupattas on their heads or even
burqas when venturing out of the house. Why ask for more
trouble than you already had been born to. (pp. 19-20)
The religious suppression depicts Muslim community as fundamentalist and
conservative. The representation of Pakistani society as primitive,
uncivilized, barbaric, and conservative in Pakistani fiction is further
demonstrated through its traditions and customs. Instead of celebrating the
cultural heritage that is evident through pre and post partition literature,
the contemporary writers choose to portray a society with its primitive and
brutal traditions.
In Maps for Lost Lovers, Nadeem Aslam narrates the life stories of
Pakistani community. It is a critique of fundamental and conservative
Muslim inhabitants who justify their brutality in the name of religion. Aslam
portrays a harsh stereotype of honor killing that is appreciated and legalized
by the Muslim community. The punishment that is confined by British
community is disregarded by the characters since murder in the name of
honor is received as a noble prestige in the society with an expectation of
clemency from Pakistani judiciary: “The law of Pakistan was almost always
lenient with them and they were out of jail much sooner than those who
had committed other kinds of murder" (p.357). The death of a married girl
who is beaten till death on the fake conception of Dijins throws light on the
ignorance, irrationality and brutality of Pakistani community. In words of
Mah-Jabin, Aslam accuses Pakistani nation for their world-wide
stereotyping by practicing the immoral and irrational traditions in the name
of religion: "the so-called traditions that you have dragged into this country
with you like shit on your shoes" (p. 139). He further states: "It's all the fault
of you lot, you sister-murdering, nose-blowing, mosque-going, cousin-
marrying, veil-wearing inbred imbeciles" (p. 320).
The Holy Woman by Qaisra Shahraz narrates another tale of
sacrifice in the name of honor. She portrays an irrational and hollow
tradition of Pakistan that could destroy the life of a human being. The novel
revolves around marriage of a Muslim woman (who evolves from Zarri Bano
to Shehzadi Ibadat) to the Holy Quran. This shift in status depicts the
triumph of cruel and barbaric traditions of uncivilized Pakistan. Zarri Bano is
a modern girl of Pakistan with university education. She bears the authority
of patriarchal culture.
Dearest Sister I wish you would make sure that your scarf
manages to stay in your place on your head when you are
outside in a public place' he nagged her gently. Look at your
hair! Don't you ever tie it up? It is everywhere! It is not for a
woman to be seen like this. Men, especially Badmash men,

12
 give women looks when they are as beautiful as you. You look
so wanton! It creates a very bad impression. Not only of you
but of us and our father. (p. 6)
However, her acceptance to marry Holy Quran reveals the termination of
modernity before primitivity of Pakistani society. The veil over a modern
woman; Zarri Bano symbolizes the veil of feudalism and patriarchy over
Pakistani society: Where have your feminist beliefs and idealism
disappeared to? How can a woman of your caliber, with university degree,
a former editor of a magazine, at the end of the twentieth century, be so
blinded? (p. 126)
When she sets free after spending years being a Holy woman, she
marries Sikandar and spends a life she once desired for. Shahraz draws
conclusion that commitment and emancipation of women can challenge the
patriarchal structures of Pakistan: “Zarri Bano, the university campus
woman, the feminist, fighting with the recluse” (p. 176). Her determination
finally leads her to break the customs and traditions of her region:
You know, Father, Zarri Bano has a lot of commitments. She
can’t just drop everything, now that she is married to me.
One of those commitments is the women’s Jamaat-i-
Muslimeen tour of Indonesia and Malaysia. Zarri Bano had
made plans for this a long time ago, well before the wedding
came along. (p. 439)
By portraying the bleak traditions of Pakistani society Shahraz suggests a
Western movement to liberate and emancipate women from the shackles
of patriarchy.
The character of Riffat in Trespassing by Uzma Aslam appears to be
strong enough to manage alone to run her family's silk business. The liberal
business woman raises Dia as an independent thinking young girl. The
traditional woman Anu, independent Riffat, Dia and young beautiful
Nissrine are both victims and survivors of the patriarchy:
There was an unspoken agreement between men: Woman
was not a topic worth mentioning, unless she aroused them
sexually. But man was a topic women devoured from every
angle. Dia was certain this was the most obvious yet
neglected reason for their disparate positions in society: time
Women spent it on men. Men spent it on men. (p. 94)
The relationship of Riffat with her husband is not a humble relationship.
Riffat is portrayed as assertive and thus her stability and independence is an
outcome of her authority and determination. Anu in comparison lives a life
of a submissive wife and devoted mother. The author's description of

13
different ends of both ladies insists on woman's liberation and
emancipation: “Karachi’s becoming a city of entrepreneurial Mothers. They
get what they want. They just have to give in first. It’s simple mechanics” (p.
114). The independent, emancipated woman of Pakistan is striving hard to
be recognized by the society. If on one side they are liberal, authoritative,
assertive, and independent then the world also identifies them as passive,
oppressed, victimized, veiled looking for emancipation from the socio-
cultural restrictions. In How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, Mohsin Hamid
portrays female characters in the context of patriarchy. They are depicted
as dependent creatures who do not have an identity on their own in the
world. Hamid identifies the female characters in relation to the protagonist.
The protagonist “you” has a mother, a sister, a wife and a girlfriend, pretty
girl. The mother of the protagonist lives a rural life and struggles to survive
within a prescribed monthly income. She is responsible to raise her children
and obey her husband and his family. The conflicts between the mother
and her mother in law supports the notion of matriarchy. She is passive in
her role and an object of sexual gratification for his father. The sister of
protagonist also lives a passive and oppressed life. Her husband is a decade
old to her. Though she doesn't like him, she seems not to resist the
marriage.
Through the picture of women, Hamid presents a society where
woman is oppressed economically, emotionally, physically, and sexually.
The pretty girl who seeks ways for her independence also encounters sexual
oppression. She becomes an object of objectification and commodification.
She sells her body in order to survive in the world. Hamid highlights the
strong hold of patriarchy in present Pakistani society where she has to sell
her virginity in order to gain independence. By presenting sexually and
morally depraved male counterparts, Hamid analyzes that a woman
chooses to prefer a life within the domestic sphere in order to secure her
virginity.
In Moth Smoke (2008), Hamid portrays Dilaram who narrates the
story of her life, how she is exploited and used as a commodity by the male
counterparts that leads her to brothel in Lahore:
The landlord of our area asked me to come to his house. I
refused, so he threatened to kill my family. When I went, he
raped me . . . I was so skinny. Not like a woman at all . . . He
kept making me come. He let his sons rape me. And
sometime his friends. One of them was from the city. He gave
me a silver bracelet . . . then I became pregnant . . . (p. 50)
The pseudonym of Mumtaz; Zulfiqar Manto reveals the intolerance of
woman on intellectual grounds since she is expected to be ill-witted who

14
cannot comprehend the controversial issues at social and political level. The
writings of Hamid present status of woman as marginalized and dependent
on its male counterparts. The world outside her domestic sphere appears to
be cruel and immoral that is not reluctant to usurp her virginity.
Nadeem Aslam presents domestic women in Maps for Lost Lovers
with new issues and projections. Koukab and Surraya are portrayed as
passive women who choose to live within the domestic fence. They
epitomize extreme negligence in the novel. They have their own
assumptions and understandings. They do not hesitate to exceed in
practicing an immoral and wicked act to gratify their pre-conceptions. The
character of Koukab is portrayed as a symbol of decadence. Belonging from
an extremely religious family she finds herself on white land with different
insecurities. He portrays a Pakistani Muslim woman who though claims of
reciting Quran and offering prayers five times a day is negligent and ignorant
of her Islam. For her Islam is only confined to veil herself, to recite and to
offer prayer. The practical implications of Islam are not known to her.
When she finds Shamas drinking with Jugnu and his girlfriend;
Stella, she loses her temper. In return, she serves the dinner in shoes. Her
immediate disturbing response reveals her cognitive disorder. She consults
a holy man to bestow her something sacred through which she could rescue
her children from the Western notions of modernity. The holy man gives her
a sacred salt that is discovered by Ujala as bromide to lower her libido. Her
bias against Western nation causes her fall in the eyes of her own children.
Aslam depicts her inability to consider the generation gap and she
eventually confronts the reality that she has lost her children. Aslam shows
how she accuses Western world for the conversion of her children but in
actual it is her own prejudices and ignorance that lead her to the end. Aslam
also narrates the story of Surraya who is divorced for going to the enemy's
place in order to conceal the sexual harassment of a fourteen year old girl
by her own uncle. Through, the character of Surraya, Aslam criticizes
contemporary Muslims who are immoral, irrational and barbaric. Surraya in
order to remarry her past husband involves in sexual relationship with
Shamas to convince him for marriage, who in the end refuses to marry her.
The female portrayal of dependence and independence, oppression and
authoritative presents the ongoing conflicts of “a problem that has no
name.” The figure of female is associated with the household. Thus,
representing different roles of female characters the writers present the
conflicts inside the home of Pakistani society.
Conclusion
Analysis of different well-known Pakistani fiction draws the
conclusion that the writers in one way or the other penetrate the same
issues that are already known to the audience at international level. These

15
issues are identical in contemporary debates where a true Pakistan is
uncivilized, barbaric, emotional, irrational, violent, fundamentalists, and
exotic. Through such portrayal, the writers emphasize their recognition as
new Orientalists with same knowledge but with different race and color.
Through male and female characters, the writers represent anonymous
identity of Pakistani people, who are vile, devious, corrupt and nefarious.
The pessimistic ends of these tales are invited by the immoral and ignorant
characters. The writers while idealizing Westernization validate their tragic
fall on natural grounds. They are born to be marginalized and colonized,
though, this colonization is not geographical but rather occupies intellectual
condition. It is finally observed that the ethnicity is sold for Western
admiration and recognition that was once done by the mimic men.
References
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Saladin. Karachi: Oxford University Press.
Aslam, N. (2004). Maps for lost lovers. London: Faber and Faber.
Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (Ed.). (2003). The Post-Colonial studies
reader. London: Routledge.
Barry, P. (2002). Beginning theory. New York: Manchester University Press.
Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The Location of culture. London: Routledge.
Fanon, F. (2008). Black skin, white masks (3rd ed.). (C. L. Markmann,
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Fanon, F. (1963). The wretched of the earth (2nd ed.). (C. Farrington,
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Hamid, M. (2008). Moth smoke. New Delhi: Penguin Books.
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Hashmi, A. (1989). The prolegomena to the study of Pakistani English and
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Khan, U. A. (2003). Trespassing. New Delhi: Penguin Group.
Khan, U. A. (2012). Thinner than skin. New Delhi: Clockroot Books.
Malik, R. (2003). The spritual father of Pakistan. Lahore: Sang-e- Meel
Publications.
Manonni, O. (1990). Prospero and Caliban: The psychology of colonization.
Ann Arbour, MI: University of Michigan Press.

16
Mcleod, J. (2000). Beginning postcolonialism. Manchester: Manchester
University Press.
Na'Allah, A. R. (2010). African discourse in Islam, oral traditions, and
performance. New York, NY: Routledge.
Nayar, P. K. (2010). Postcolonialism: A guide for the perplexed. London:
Continuum International Publishing Group.
Rehman, T. (1991). A history of Pakistani Literature in English. Lahore:
Vanguard Books Pvt. Ltd.
Said, E. (1994). Culture and imperialism. New York, NY: Vintage Books.
Said, E. (2001). Orientalism. London: Penguin Books.
Shah, B. (2010). Slum child. New Delhi: Tranquebar Press.
Shahraz, Q. (2001). The holy woman. London: Arcadia Books Ltd.
Shervani, S. (2014, August 14). Qaisra Shahraz: The novelist of the new era.
Retrieved from Academia edu: www.academia.edu

17
NUML Journal of Critical Inquiry Vol 15(II) December, 2017 ISSN 2222-5706

Linguistic Analysis of Pakistani Book Blurbs on New

Textual Dimensions
Shahla Qasim1
Aleem Shakir2
Ahmad Bin Qasim3
Abstract
Register analysis is an emerging area in the field of applied
linguistics, which is increasingly becoming a focus of attention of
researchers and linguists the world over. Book blurb register has also
attained singularity, specifically in context of rapidly expanding book
marketing industry. Blurbs are short descriptions about the content and
quality of the book along with endorsements by critics and prominent
literary figures. Previous studies on book blurbs established their findings
on individual linguistic features and the analysis based upon individual
linguistic features is invariably found deficient in producing scientific and
accurate results with respect to linguistic characterization of registers.
Present study set out to analyze linguistic characterization of Pakistani book
blurb register by applying a multidimensional (MD) approach which
emphasizes the distributional patterns of co-occurring linguistic features
and their shared communicative functions in register analysis. A
standardized principled corpora of 1311 Pakistani book blurbs was built by
using online and print sources. Sample data was compared on four linguistic
dimensions, generated as a result of applying new factor solution matrix on
the whole book blurb data. The four new linguistic dimensions identified
were: dimension1, Abstract informational description versus concrete
human focus; dimension 2, Interactive stance versus formal reportage of
facts; dimension 3, Informational density versus elaborated expression;
dimension 4, Expression of personal stance and judgment. The findings
extend considerable contribution to the domain of register variation in
general and Pakistani book blurbs register in particular. The new dimensions
identified in present study may be exploited by upcoming research works to
establish linguistic characterization of new Pakistani registers.
Keywords: book blurb register, MD approach, new factor solution
matrix
Introduction
The status of book blurbs as a distinct register is well established.
Blurbs illustrate the content of given books for their readers benefits and
highlight some of the positive features for their authors’ and publishers’
benefits. Their appealing presentation of selected data is meant to elicit an
appreciative response from potential book buyers (Gesuato, 2007, p. 84).

18
 Book blurbs are extensively studied in recent times but a substantial
volume of research is focused on exploring the generic and rhetorical
structure of book blurbs in terms of move and steps (e.g., Bhatia, 2004; Gea-
Valor, 2005; Onder, 2013). Analysis of linguistic features (an essential
requirement of register analysis) is not executed at length. A couple of
research works devoted to linguistic analysis (e.g., Basturkmen, 1999;
Cacchiani, 2007; Marciulioniene, 2009), have established their findings on
the study of individual linguistic features and as demonstrated by Biber
(1988), analysis based on individual linguistic features does not accurately
investigate the complex nature of textual relations across different
registers. Therefore, the findings of these studies need to be tested
quantitatively to exclude the element of idiosyncratic assumptions. Given
the methodological inadequacies of previous linguistic studies, the present
study on book blurbs establishes its findings on a multidimensional
analytical approach, which explores the specific distributional patterns of
co-occurring linguistic features in text and is, so far, considered to be the
best empirical approach to explore linguistic variation of different registers.
A multidimensional analysis of book blurb register is carried out to
investigate the following research question:
Q. What are the distributional patterns of co-occuring linguistic features
across Pakistani book blurb register on new linguistic dimensions?
Concept of Register Variation
Variation is inherent and all-pervasive in human languages. This
variation may be of three types, “variation associated with constraints in the
linguistic environment, variation associated with the social or demographic
characteristics of speakers, and variation associated with situations of use”
(Biber, 1995, p. 316). Register variation studies may take into account
register features and register markers. Register features are core lexical and
grammatical characteristics found to some extent in almost all the texts and
registers in varying frequency, whereas register markers are specific and
constrained to a target register (Biber, 1995, p. 29). The analysis of register
features instead of register markers can reliably distinguish among two or
more registers. Biber and Conrad (2009) stated the inevitability of the
analysis of register features in these words, “Linguistic component of a
register analysis requires identification of the pervasive linguistic features in
the variety: linguistic characteristics that might occur in any variety but are
much more common in the target register” (p. 6).
Register features are dominant indicators of register variation. They
have a tendency of occurring frequently in the form of groups and
considerable differences are found in their relative distributional patterns
across registers. The divergence of distributional pattern of linguistic
features depends upon the discourse function of features with respect to

19
diverse situational properties of each register. An empirical approach which
employs quantitative techniques is crucially important to identify register
features.
Register features of Book blurbs have not been explored so far, from
quantitative perspective. Existing studies mainly depend upon qualitative
interpretations of individual linguistic features informed by hypothetical
assumptions.
Linguistic Studies on Book Blurbs
Following is given a brief account of research studies which
approached language of book blurb text through analyzing individual
linguistic features.
A significant study conducted by Cacchiani (2007) compared book
reviews and book blurbs in terms of key words usage. The frequency of key
words (superlatives and intensifiers) used in the selected corpus of book
reviews (BR) and book blurbs (BB) was obtained by using Word Smith Tool.
The lexical devices were found to be used in blurbs more dominantly than
reviews to obtain semantic and pragmatic intensification. Cacchiani’s study
(2007) further concluded that book blurb text was a persuasive text with
dominant use of adjectives (p. 11). Gea-Valor and Ros (2009) examined the
use of evaluative language in blurbs which qualify the book in hand.
Evaluative language is mostly realized through positive adjectives such as
sensitive, powerful and astonishing. The study claimed that the use of
syntactic structure (one of the most+ adjective) was reminiscent of
advertising discourse (p. 212). The study did not use any statistical or
empirical method to authenticate its findings. Likewise, Marciulioniene’s
study (2009) also affirmed that the language of blurb of English fiction was
highly adjectival (p. 64). The study provided a detailed account of structural
and linguistic changes occurred in blurb writing over a course of time, but
the findings were not supported by any statistical analysis, rather depended
only on rate of occurrence of linguistic features. Therefore, the results
generalized only on the basis of frequency are not reliable and valid.
Yang (2013) investigated the use of key words in blurbs of academic
text book blurbs across eight disciplines of hard and soft sciences. Yang’s
study relied on the analysis of individual linguistic features and provided
implied hypothetical justifications of their prevailing or less prevailing
existence in book blurb text without adopting any quantitative strategy to
approach accurate and reliable findings. Onder (2013) examined the
promotional elements in blurbs of Amazon UK and Okouko TR. The study
revealed that the frequency of nouns and evaluative adjectives was closer
to each other in both corpora. Frequencies of adverbs and verbs were found
different. Verbs were the lowest frequency in Amazon and adverbs were the

20
lowest frequency in Okouko. Onder (2013), though, considered the issue of
varying number of blurbs (Amazon, 40 and Okouko, 55) and applied a two
tailed Z Test to find significant and non-significant differences, yet the issue
of varying length of blurbs in both corpora (Amazon, 16,392 & Okouko,
10,145) was not taken into account, consequently the study faced validity
threat.
Basturkmen (1999) examined key words in text book blurbs and
obtained their frequencies in the sub corpus (Move 1 and 2). Basturkmen’s
(2009) study, though classified individual linguistic features under three
categories to reach better decisions but even then the problem is not
resolved and the required explicitness and accuracy could not be attained
(possible only through using MD analysis approach). Kathpalia (1997)
examined the difference in the use of lexico-grammatical features in the
corpora of local blurbs (published in Singapur) and international blurbs. The
study pointed out a clear difference with respect to the use of evaluative
language. In international blurbs, evaluative language permeated
throughout the blurbs like spreading waves. While local blurbs tended to
confine the evaluative language to a focused move indicating the value of
book. The contrastive analysis conducted by Kathpalia (1997) lacked
numerical figures and empirical approach, essentially required for a
quantitative analysis.
In Pakistani context, only one study conducted by Qasim and Shakir
(2016) analyzed linguistic variation of 200 online blurbs of Pakistani fiction
and non-fiction books on five linguistic dimensions based on Biber (1988)
multidimensional analysis. A comparative analysis of the linguistic
characterization of book blurbs and other promotional varieties (direct mail
letters, non-profit grant proposals, print advertisements) led to the
conclusion that contrary to the claims of previous studies, book blurbs did
not show close resemblance with advertising text on dimensions 1, 2 and 3,
but with respect to dimensions 4 and 5, they displayed mutual similarity.
The results of this study are limited in the sense that were entirely based
upon five dimensions of Biber (1988) MD analysis and the new factor
solution matrix was not performed to generate new dimensions specific to
a new group of texts in a different discourse domain.
New Multidimensional Studies
A review of previous studies has elucidated the fact that scant
attention has been directed so far to explore the distributional patterns of
co-occurring linguistic features of book blurb register. The current study set
out to conduct a quantitative analysis of the linguistic characterization of a
specific register of Pakistani book blurb by applying a new multidimensional
approach. New multidimensional analysis is based upon new linguistic
dimensions generated as a result of dealing with a new group of blurb texts

21
in a different discourse domain. It involves the application of a new factor
solution matrix. A different corpus would certainly generate new sets of co-
occurring linguistic features defining unique dimensions indicative of
specific shared communicative functions. A few new dimensions were
identified through a new factor analysis employed by Biber (2006), D3:
Procedural versus Content Focused Discourse and D4: Academic Stance.
Biber (2008) discovered a new dimension labeled as, Stance Focused versus
Content Focused Discourse. The study conducted by Shakir (2013) explored
three new dimensions in Pakistani corpus of advertising text. These are, D1:
Oral versus Literate, D2: Expression of Organizational Policy versus Other
Concerns, & D3: Impersonal versus Audience Centered Style. Hardy and
Romer (2013) explored four new dimensions in the Michigan Corpus of
upper level students. These are, D 1: Involved Academic Narrative versus
Descriptive Academic Discourse, D2: Expression of Opinions and Mental
Processes, D3: Situation-Dependent, Non-Procedural Evaluation versus
Procedural Discourse and D4: Production of Possibility Statement and
Argumentation.
Gray (2011) explored linguistic variation of research articles across
six disciplines and identified four new dimensions: D1: Academic
Involvement and Elaboration versus Informational Density, D2:
Contextualized Narration versus Procedural Discourse, D3: Human versus
Non-Human Focus, D4: Academese. Egbert (2015) discovered five new
dimensions based on the multidimensional analysis of academic writing.
The five dimensions were labelled as, D1: Affective Synthesis versus
Specialized Information Density, D2: Definition and Evaluation of New
Concepts, D3: Author-Centered Stance, D 4: Colloquial Narrative and
Dimension 5: Abstract Observation and Description. Getkham (2013)
examined the distributional patterns of linguistic features across different
sections of research articles of applied Linguistics by using New MD
analytical approach and identified six dimensions which are labelled as
follows, D1: Established Knowledge/Expression of Ownership, D2:
Expression of Purposes, D3: Evaluative Stance, D4: Expression of Generality,
D5: Framing Claims, and Dimension 6: Conceptual complexity.
MD Approach and its Suitability for Present Study
The current study on linguistic variation of book blurbs subsumes to
multidimensional approach (Biber, 1988) as its methodological framework.
The logic underlying this decision is that no other approach, so far, is
available which possesses such an ample capacity to explore quantitatively
the linguistic similarities and differences across various registers. The
central importance is given to the notion of linguistic co-occurrence
patterns and the empirical methods of their identification.The idea of co-
occurrence of linguistic features is not a newly perceived idea. It has already

22
been acknowledged and employed by a number of earlier researchers and
linguists (Brown and Fraser, 1979; Chafe, 1982; Chafe and Danielewicz,
1987; Ervin -Tripp, 1972; Hymes, 1974). Halliday (1988) emphasized the
essential presence of co-occurring linguistic features in a register and
defined register as a “cluster of associated features having a greater- than-
random . . . tendency to co-occur (p. 162).
Multidimensional approach developed by Biber (1988) is highly
appropriate to distinguish among registers because “in this approach co-
occurrence patterns are identified quantitatively, based on the actual
distribution of linguistic features in a large corpus of text” (Biber et al., 1998,
p. 145). Therefore, the studies based on the examination of individual
features and the conclusions derived from them may be considered just
subjective perceptions and hypothetical speculations.
New MD analysis (used in current study) is based upon new
linguistic dimensions generated as a result of dealing with a different
discourse domain. It involves a new statistical analysis which is incorporated
to encompass the linguistic variations found in a specific corpus yet
unexplored. A different corpus would certainly generate new sets of co-
occurring linguistic features defining unique dimensions indicative of
specific shared communicative functions. A few new dimensions were
identified through a new factor analysis employed by Biber (2006, 2008),
Getkham (2010), Shakir (2013), Hardy and Romer (2013), Gray (2011),
Egbert (2015).
A review of previous studies conducted in the fashion of Old and
New multidimensional analytical approach has clearly elucidated the fact
that not a single study has been carried out so far to explore the co-
occurring distributional patterns of linguistic features of book blurb register
which possesses a remarkable importance in today’s ever expanding world
of book marketing. The current study set out to conduct a quantitative
analysis, following New MD approach in order to unfold the linguistic
variation of the specific register of Pakistani book blurb text.
Collection of Data and Corpus Compilation
Present study covered a comprehensive data of Pakistani book
blurbs, provided by local as well as foreign publishing houses, available in
print and online form. The corpus comprised a total of 1311 sample book
blurb texts containing 0.4 million words. Based on the insights drawn from
previous concerned literature, the book blurb data was categorized with
respect to three independent situational variables; 1) publisher location - to
find out linguistic variation across Pakistani blurbs provided by foreign
publishers and local publishers, 2) publication medium - to explore linguistic
variation between traditional print book blurbs and online blurbs, 3) literary

23
source - to explore linguistic variation between blurbs written for fiction
books and blurbs written for non-fiction books. However, the results of
present study deal with the book blurb corpus on the whole.
Data was collected in two phases. In the first phase, online book
blurbs for books written by Pakistani authors were collected from the
websites of different local and foreign publishing houses. A java program
was also written to extract blurb description and other important required
information about the title of book, name of author, publication year and
the name of publishing house. Print book blurbs for Pakistani books were
collected from the libraries of different public institutions in the form of
camera images. For conversion of images to text files, the third party GUI
flavors of Google Tesseract namely Sunny Page OCR and Tesseract4java
were tried, but they did not work effectively to extract text from images.
Instead, Text Fairy (a flavor of Google Tesseract tools for Android) worked
comparatively well.
All collected print and online book blurbs were edited and
scrutinized. Out of more than 2000 book blurbs, 1311 were finally selected
for analysis. To assign codes to the categories, a Java script was written.
Methods implemented within Java String Class were used for text
manipulation of blurb data. The Java script contained the details of the
codes to be assigned to the main categories, sub-categories and sub-sub
categories. The Java script parsed and analyzed the blurb data and extracted
the initial category code, the author name, the book title, the publisher
detail and year of publication. A final category code was created from this
information. Lastly, the program renamed the blurb files to respective
category codes.
Data Analysis
Multidimensional analysis of the blurb corpus was based on new
factor solution matrix. Methodological process involved tagging of linguistic
features, acquiring raw frequencies of linguistic features, turning raw
frequencies into normalized frequencies, standardization of normalized
frequencies, secree plot, factor analysis, computation of dimension scores
and finally, identification of new linguistic dimensions and their labelling
corresponding functional interpretation. Data was sent to Jessy Egbert,
Brigham Young University for complete tagging and analysis. Sequential
progression of analytical steps were as follows.
Step 1 Tagging of Linguistic Features
First important step was the tagging of data for all linguistic
features. A grammatical tagger (developed by Biber, 1993) was used to
identify the grammatical category of each linguistic feature in all book blurb
texts included in study.

24
Step 2 Computation of Normalized and Standardized Frequency Scores
After the tagging process of the linguistic features in sample texts
was done, the raw frequencies of all linguistic feature were computed. The
obtained raw frequency scores were normalized to a text length of 1,000
words to avoid skewing effect in case of varying length of texts included in
analysis. Normalization of raw frequencies was obtained through this
formula: Raw frequency of linguistic feature divided by total number of
words in text, multiplied by the sum 1000. Biber (1988) recommended the
process of normalization that it is very important for having accurate results
included in a study unaffected by various length of texts.
Standardization of normalized frequencies was another important
step to be carried out. The normalized frequencies were standardized to the
mean of 0.0 and a standard deviation of 1.0 (as practised by studies based
on 1988 MD analysis). Formula devised for this purpose was to subtract the
individual normalized scores from the mean normalized scores and the
resulting scores to be divided by the standard deviation. The logic justifying
this process of standardization was to ensure that all linguistic features on
dimension had equal weightage in the calculation of dimension scores.
Step 3 Scree Plot
In order to determine the optimal number of factors to be extracted
through New factor solution matrix, a Scree plot of Eigen values was
examined. It indicated percentage of maximum shared variance extracted
by each factor.

Figure 1: Scree Plot

Biber (1988) demonstrated that “Scree plot is a plot of Eigen values
which are direct indices of the amount of variance accounted for each
factor” (p. 82). According to the scree plot, factor 1 accounted for maximum
amount of variance i.e., 7.8%, factor 2, for 4.1%, factor 3 for an additional

25
1.9%, etc. The scree plot shows a sharp break between factors 5 and 6,
indicating a point at which additional factors would have a minimum loading
and consequently would not contribute significantly to overall analysis. So
the first 5 factors, which extracted the relatively larger groupings of co-
occurring linguistic features, were considered at initial stage. Later on fifth
factor was not included in interpretation because the feature loading of fifth
factor did not commensurate with the determined cut-off point. The rest of
the factors had little significance because they accounted for little amount
of shared variance.
Step 4 New Factor Solution Matrix
Factor analysis is a statistical tool of MD approach which is basically
used to reduce large number of original variables to a reduced number of
derived variables. In current study, factor analysis was used to reduce large
number of frequencies of linguistic features to small sets of factors. Each
factor represented a set of linguistic features which co-occurred with a high
frequency in text. The co-occurring linguistic features may be of two types:
positive features and negative features. Both types of linguistic features are
in complementary relationship with each other. It means that if positive
features co-occur frequently in a target text, there will be relatively low
occurrence of negative features and vice versa.
The new factor solution was based upon 87 linguistic features which
met minimum requirements for frequency and variance across texts. These
87 features were selected from a list of 147 linguistic features. Many of the
147 features were overlapping categories, so only those features were
included which did not overlap with any others. The selected features not
only included the 88 MD analysis features but also the features added to the
program later.
The factor analysis performed in this study used the statistical
program R (R Development). A principal factor analysis was run because of
the exploratory nature of study. This was done by using the R function ‘fa’
(factor analysis) within the “psych” library, with “fm” (factor method) set to
“pa” (principal axis).
Table 1: Factor Solution for the New MD Analysis of Book Blurbs
Linguistic Features D1 D2 D3 D4 D5
Contractions -0.15 0.25 -0.05 -0.07 -0.13
vb_present 0.04 0.78 -0.05 0.01 0.01
pro_2 -0.17 0.3 -0.02 -0.04 -0.1
pro_1 -0.23 0.3 -0.01 -0.02 -0.05

26
pro_it 0.27 0.11 0.3 0 -0.03
mod_poss 0 0.52 -0.01 -0.09 0.05
coord_conj_cls -0.02 -0.06 0.07 0.03 -0.28
nn_all -0.14 -0.01 -0.94 -0.08 -0.13
Prep 0.1 -0.48 0.1 -0.05 0.13
jj_attr 0.68 -0.08 0.07 -0.07 -0.13
vb_past -0.43 -0.46 0.31 0.1 0.16
pro_3 -0.71 -0.09 -0.01 -0.02 -0.01
wh_rel_subj 0 0.06 0.33 -0.06 0.12
coord_conj_phrs 0.32 0.08 0.11 -0.07 -0.1
nn_nom 0.34 -0.16 -0.44 0.09 0.03
Infinitive 0.05 -0.01 0.18 0.55 -0.02
mod_pred 0.01 0.51 0 -0.06 0.01
mod_necess -0.02 0.34 0.01 -0.09 0.01
split_aux -0.07 0.16 -0.05 -0.09 0.26
th_vb -0.07 0.31 -0.07 0.21 -0.02
mod_all -0.01 0.81 -0.03 -0.15 0.05
conj_all 0.11 0.03 0.21 0.02 -0.28
passive_all -0.06 0.04 0.16 -0.07 0.86
wh_rel_all 0.01 0.03 0.44 -0.09 0.11
jj_all 0.66 0.01 0.18 -0.07 -0.22
pro_all -0.78 0.1 -0.03 -0.04 -0.06
vb_all -0.27 0.31 0.31 0.32 0.19
jj_att_other 0.11 0.4 0.12 -0.07 -0.05
all_def_art 0.26 -0.28 0.4 0.02 -0.02
nn_common 0.17 0.22 -0.38 -0.06 0.02
nn_proper -0.49 -0.18 -0.43 -0.12 -0.18
nn_premod 0.07 0.1 -0.65 0.02 0.1
th_vb_stance_all -0.11 0.29 -0.13 0.58 -0.06
th_stange_all -0.08 0.29 -0.1 0.56 -0.04
to_vb_stance_all 0.05 -0.15 0.05 0.87 -0.06

27
to_stance_all 0.08 -0.19 0.08 0.87 -0.07
nn_human -0.33 0.07 0.01 -0.09 -0.04
nn_process 0.38 0.04 -0.17 0.1 0.12
nn_cog 0.25 0.14 0.03 0.04 0.06
nn_abstact 0.42 0.11 0.07 0.07 0.03
jj_topic 0.44 -0.1 0.05 0.06 -0.03
vb_mental -0.06 0.38 0.05 0.26 -0.03
word_length 0.53 -0.04 -0.52 0.08 0.01

The co-occurrence patterns of linguistic features on first four

dimensions were taken into consideration. Fifth dimension, due to
inadequate loading of less than five linguistic features did not meet the
criteria, hence not interpretable.
Step 5 Computation of Dimension Score
The next step was the computation of dimension score for each
text. Dimension scores were computed by subtracting sum of standardized
scores of negative features from the sum of standardized score of positive
features. The standardized scores of positive features were taken as
dimension scores where negative scores did not occur at all.
The criteria for the inclusion of a linguistic feature in the
computation process was settled with the help of previous studies. The
features having larger loadings (indicating maximum occurrence of the
linguistic feature) was retained, whereas the features having lower weight/
loading, were not included in computation process. The minimum loading
of any linguistic feature in 88 MD analysis was settled at +/- 35, whereas in
the new MD analysis the ratio of minimum loading was reduced to +/- 30
(following Shakir, 2013). It means that any linguistic feature either positive
or negative having lesser than 30 weight on any dimension was not
included. The minimum loading was referred to as cut-off point or salient
loadings. In case a feature had salient loadings on more than one
dimension/ factor, it was included in the factor score of that factor on which
it had the highest loading (Biber, 1988, p. 93).
Results and Discussion
This section presents the results of multidimensional analysis of
book blurbs based on new factor solution. New factor solution matrix is
performed on 87 features, which meet minimum requirements for
frequency and variance across texts. Based on the co-occurrence patterns,
merely 44 of those features were retained (i.e., they had a factor loading
that reached the minimum cutoff of .30). The section also describes the

28
distributional pattern of the sets of co-occurring linguistic features grouped
on new factors identified as new dimensions. It offers functional
interpretation of these groups of co-occurring features that what specific
shared functions they have to perform collectively, which cause their
existence on one dimension. The dimensions are labelled in accordance with
the shared function of the group of features placed on it. Text evidences are
presented with positive features bolded and negative features underlined.
Four dimensions of New Factor Analysis are labelled as:
D 1- Abstract Informational Description versus Concrete Human Focus
D2- Interactive Stance versus Formal Reportage of Facts
D3- Informational Density versus Elaborated Expression
D4- Expression of Personal Stance and Judgment
Explanation of Factors
Factor 1:
Abstract Informational Description versus Concrete Human Focus
Co-occurring distributional pattern of linguistic features on
dimension 1, Abstract Informational Description versus Concrete Human
Focus, is given below.
Table 2: List of Linguistic Features on First Dimension of New Factor Analysis
of Book Blurbs
Positive Linguistic Negative Linguistic
Scores Scores
Features Features
Attributive Adjectives 0.68 Human Nouns -0.33
All Adjectives 0.66 Proper Nouns -0.49
Word_length 0.53 3rd Person pronoun -0.71
Topical Adjectives 0.44 All Personal Pronouns -0.78
Abstract Nouns 0.42
Process Nouns 0.38
coord_conj_phrs 0.32
Cognitive Nouns 0.25

Factor 1 shows the co-occurrence of 8 positive and 4 negative

features. Positive features comprise attributive adjective, all adjective,
topical adjectives, word length, abstract nouns, process nouns and cognitive
nouns. The negative features on factor 1 include human nouns, proper
nouns, third person nouns, and all personal pronouns. The highest load on
positive polarity is achieved by attributive adjectives (0.68) and all adjective
(0.66). Attributive adjective are usually associated with nouns and their
major function is to modify nouns. They are used to qualify both animate

29
and inanimate nouns to denote informational density. Attributive adjectives
accompanied with abstract noun (0.42) and word length (0.53), formulate
an exclusive combination which shows integration of abstract informational
description. Another important linguistic feature co-occurring with this
strong positive group is topical adjective (0.44), which performs the same
function of attributive adjectives. “Attributive adjectives are a more
integrated form of nominal elaboration than predicative adjectives or
relative clauses, since they pack information into relatively few words and
structures” (Biber, 1988, p. 105).
Following excerpt from a local print non-fiction academic blurb text
indicateS the existence of positive and negative features. Positive linguistic
features are focused to perform the function of imparting abstract
information about the contents of a book on medicine and how it would
prove beneficial to meet the requirements of postgraduate examination.
Additional information regarding author’s qualification and expertise in the
specific field of Cardiology has also been described.
Example 1
LPNASSMed.Ahmad.2013.791.
Cardiology Ward Rounds is an open source of Cardiology for young minds
to explore, learn and acquire knowledge in order to meet the needs of
postgraduate examination. This comprehensive anthology of
cardiovascular medicines simplifies diagnosis and management in the form
of bullet or numbered lists, tables and acronyms to make it easy-to-
remember. Dr. Shafique Ahmed is a graduate of Quaid-e-Azam Medical
College, Bahawalpur. He is the associate professor and the head of
department Cardiology at the Bahawal Victoria Hospital Bahawalpur. With
an FCPS degree in Cardiology awarded by the College of Physicians and
Surgeons, Pakistan and advanced training in Angiography/Angioplasty,
Echocardiography and cardiac pacemakers, he is also examiner of FCPS-II
Cardiology and a contributor to renowned journals of Cardiology.
The highest negative weight on factor 1 is attained by all personal
pronouns (0.78) and third person pronoun (0.71). Use of all personal
pronouns reflect a substantial focus on the evaluators’ remarks regarding
book and author. Use of third person pronouns refer to the individuals not
in immediate contact. Third person pronouns are generally used with past
tense and perfect aspect verbs to reflect a narrative discourse. But here on
the negative polarity of factor 1, the use of third person pronoun combined
with proper nouns (with a weight – 0.49) and human noun (with a weight -
0.33) indicate a concern for concrete descriptions of human beings or
characters outside of immediate interaction.

30
 Following excerpt taken from an online fiction blurb by foreign
publisher provides evidence of the incorporation of negative linguistic
features to outline briefly the major moves of leading human characters.
Example 2
FOFNOV.Hanif.2008.181
Intrigue and subterfuge combine with bad luck and good in this darkly
comic debut about love, betrayal, tyranny, family, and a conspiracy trying
its damnedest to happen. Ali Shigri, Pakistan Air Force pilot and Silent Drill
Commander of the Fury Squadron, is on a mission to avenge his father's
suspicious death, which the government calls a suicide. Ali's target is none
other than General Zia-ul-Haq, dictator of Pakistan. Enlisting a rag-tag group
of conspirators, including his cologne-bathed roommate, a hash-smoking
American lieutenant, and a mango-besotted crow, Ali sets his elaborate
plan in motion. There's only one problem: the line of would-be Zia assassins
is longer than he could have possibly known.
In view of shared communicative function performed by the
complementary grouping on this factor, the dimension is labeled as
“Abstract Informational Description versus Concrete Human Focus.”
Factor 2:
Interactive Stance versus Formal Reportage of Facts
Table 3: List of Linguistic Features on Second Dimension of Book Blurbs
Positive Linguistic Features Scores Negative Linguistic Features Scores
All modals 0.81 Past Tense Verbs -0.46
Present Tense Verb 0.78 Prepositions -0.48
Possessive Modals 0.52
Prediction Modals 0.51
Attitudinal Adjectives in 0.4
other Contexts
Mental Verbs 0.38
Necessity Modals 0.34
“That” complement clause 0.31
controlled by verbs
2nd Person Pronoun 0.30
1st Person Pronoun 0.30
Contractions 0.25

Factor 2 comprises 11 positive and 2 negative features. The number

of substantial loading of positive features (8) on dimension 2 is equal to the
number of positive features assembled on dimension 1. These features,

31
hierarchically organized in terms of weight, are all modals (0.81), present
tense verbs (0.78), possibility modals (0.52), and prediction modals (0.52),
attitudinal adjectives in other contexts (0.4), mental verbs (0.38), and
necessity modals (0.34) “that” complement clause controlled by verb (0.31).
Linguistic features having weight equal to cut-off point are 1st person
pronoun (0.30), second person pronoun (0.30), and a little lesser weight
than cut-off point is of contractions (0.25). The features on negative polarity
are prepositional phrases and past tense verbs. Prepositions have higher
negative weight (-0.48) than past tense (-0.46).
Positive linguistic features on this dimension reflect an involved and
interactional expression. High concentration of all modals (0.81) is especially
marked with an interpersonal focus. Possibility modals (can, could, may,
might) are incorporated to pronounce permission and slight probability that
certain event will occur. Prediction modals (will, shall, would) are used to
prophesy in advance that certain event will or will not occur in future. They
demonstrate possible future consequences. Necessity modals (ought, must,
should) indicate obligation or necessity of a specific action. Cluster of
modals generally function to present multiple possible actions and
arguments for or against an option and finally derive toward the most
suitable one to convince the readers.
Along with modals, dimension 2 is characterized by heavy reliance
on present tense forms (0.78). Present tense verb count in Biber’s tag count
includes count for imperatives, uninflected present tense and third person
singular verb. Present tense generally deals with the action and events of
immediate situation. Oches (1979) associated present tense with unplanned
speech style. Weber (1985) explained that cognitive verbs which describe
the mental process of the speaker usually occur in present tense. Mental
verb (0.38) are frequently used to present stance expression, the inner
feelings and attitude of the writer. First person pronoun and second person
pronoun, though occur with lesser weight, tend to co-occur with interactive
features to indicate a less formal, involved style used mostly to share
personal experience. First person pronouns are specifically used to ‘bring
the author, the reader, and often mankind in general into discourse,
creating a sense of interaction and relating points and ideas to the readers
as members of mankind’ (Gray, 2011, p. 160). Overall, the positive feature
on dimension 2 reflect an affective, involved style.
Following text evidence which serves as Example 3 is extracted from
a foreign online fiction (Children book) blurb. Positive features are in
boldface and negative features are underlined. Positive features are utilized
to emphasize interpersonal stance which indicates an informal and involved
style.

32
Example 3
FOFCB.Khan. 2005.382
"Ami loves her chicken better than me. She calls her Bibi, I call her silly."
Rani's mother loves Bibi the chicken more than her. At least that's what Rani
thinks. That silly chicken gets all the attention, and Rani just can't stand it.
Even worse, Bibi seems to know she's the favorite! But when Bibi
disappears one afternoon, Rani realizes how sad her mother is. Will Rani's
jealousy disappear, too? Set in rural Pakistan and illustrated with lively,
expressive illustrations, this original take on sibling rivalry is hilarious and
poignant at the same time.
The negative feature, past tense form and prepositional phrases
reflect an expression which simply depicts reportage of facts and specifics.
Past tense forms are primary surface markers of narrative “removed
situation.” Complementary groups of linguistic features situated on this
dimension may lead to the interpretation of this dimension as Interactive
Stance versus Formal Reportage of Facts.
Following blurb text (Example 4) excerpt is focused to report details
of the notable literary services and distinguished career achievements of a
former foreign minister of Pakistan and the author of a book on history.
Negative features are used more frequently than positive features to
describe past events associated with the life of the author.
Example 4
LONAHHis.Sattar.2013.373.
With a thirty-nine-year career span in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abdul
Sattar was twice Pakistan's Foreign Minister, from July to October 1993, and
from 1999 to 2002. He was Foreign Secretary from 1986 to 1988 and twice
Pakistan's Ambassador to India. He also served as Ambassador to the USSR
and Permanent Representative to the IAEA in Vienna. As a Distinguished
Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace, he wrote a research paper
'Reducing Nuclear Dangers in South Asia' which was published in the
Nonproliferation Review in 1994, and later in Dawn. His other research
paper, 'Shimla Pact: Negotiating under Duress', was published in journals in
Islamabad and New Delhi in 1995. He also contributed the section on foreign
policy in the book Pakistan in Perspective, 1947-1997, published by Oxford
University Press on the fiftieth anniversary of Pakistan.
Factor 3:
Informational Density versus Elaborated Expression
The following table provides details regarding Factor 3:

33
Table 4: List of Linguistic Features on Third Dimension of Book blurbs
Positive Linguistic Features Scores NegativeLinguistic Features Scores
All Nouns 0.94 Pronoun It -0.3
Premodifying Nouns 0.65 Wh pronoun relative clause -0.33
subject position
Normalizations 0.44 all_def_art -0.4
Common Nouns 0.38 All wh relative Clauses -0.44

Positive features on factor 3 show a high preponderance of nouns.

All nouns (.94), pre-modifying nouns (.65), normalizations (.44) and
common nouns (.38) co-occur frequently on this dimension reflecting
informational density. Maximum weight of all nouns (0.94, the highest ever
on any dimension) lead to the assessment of the blurb text in nominal
terms. It is possible to elaborate noun phrases through both “pre-modifiers”
(which come before the head noun) and “post-modifiers” (which come after
the head noun). There are two important kinds of pre-modifiers in English;
Attributive adjectives (for example, specific event, major project) and Nouns
as Pre-modifiers (the traffic jam, the committee recommendation).
Nominalizations (words ending in tion, ment, ness and ity) are used to
condense high amount of information in a fewer words. Use of
nominalizations reflect a compact and lucid style. They generally occur with
passive constructs and prepositions to impart dense informational material.
Following blurb extract has been taken from a foreign print non-
fiction academic book of social science. The blurb describes contextual
information regarding recent international fluctuations which have
transformed the overall world scenario. The information is densely packed
by using positive linguistic features such as pre-modifiers and
normalizations. Positive features are bolded.
Example 5
FPNASSPS.Rizvi.1993.282.
Momentous changes have taken place in the international system
in recent years. The end of the Cold War, the disintegration of the erstwhile
Soviet Union, and the collapse of the socialist bloc have radically altered
the familiar contours of the post-War bipolar international order. These
and related developments will have a profound impact on global security
alignments, regional conflicts and on the patterns of international
economic linkages in the years to come.
The central purpose of this timely book is to examine the
consequences of these developments for South Asia. One of its
distinguishing features is that the issues and problems are examined from
the viewpoint of the region itself as a corrective to the dominant discourse

34
which tends to reflect only the perceptions and preoccupations of Western
scholars.
The negative feature, bearing the highest weight on dimension 3 is
indicated as all ‘wh’ relative clauses (-0.44). ‘Wh’ pronoun as a relative
clause on subject position (-o.33) has weight slightly larger than cut-off
point. Wh relative clauses are generally used for structural elaboration and
explicit reference in planned discourse. They are more typical in written
discourse. Other linguistic feature on negative polarity of this dimension
with lesser weight include Pronoun ‘it’, which is the most generalized
pronoun used to stand for both animate beings and abstract concepts. The
following example text is taken from a foreign online fiction (Novel) blurb,
showing negative features underlined.
Example 6
FOFNOV.Ali.2006.187.
The fourth novel in Tariq Ali's 'Islam Quintet' charts the life and
loves of the medieval cartographer Muhammed al-Idrisi. Torn between his
close friendship with the Sultan and his friends who are leaving the island
or plotting a resistance to Norman rule, Idrisi finds temporary solace in the
harem; but his conscience is troubled . . . A Sultan in Palermo is a mythic
novel in which pride, greed, and lust intermingle with resistance and
greatness. It echoes a past that can still be heard today.
Given the co-occurrence pattern of positive and negative features,
the interpretive label “Informational Density versus Elaborated Expression”
is suggested for dimension 3.
Factor 4
Expression of Personal Stance and Judgment
Table 5: List of Linguistic Features on Fourth Dimension of Book Blurbs
Positive Linguistic Features Scores
to_vb_stance_all 0.87
to_stance_all 0.87
th_vb_stance_all 0.58
th_stange_all 0.56
Infinitive 0.55
vb_all 0.32

The interpretation of Factor 4 is relatively direct and

straightforward, because it comprises only positive features. Negative
features do not appear on this dimension. Linguistic feature with heaviest
loading is indicated as ‘To complement clause controlled by stance verbs
(0.87). Other equally strong representative features include ‘sum stance ‘to’

35
complement clause (0.87). Features with comparatively lesser weights are
‘sum stance ‘to’ complement clause controlled by verbs (0.58), ‘sum stance
‘that’ complement clauses (0.56), infinitives (0.55) and all verbs (0.32, not
including auxiliary verbs). All these features are directed towards expressing
personal stance and judgment about a specific individual or entity. Heavy
representative co-occurrence of stance features in book blurb text
characterizes it as a discourse full of personal feelings and expressions.
The following blurb excerpt contains a number of instances
indicating stance expressions:
Example 7
FOFNOV.Abdullah.2009.317.
"Saffron Dreams" is a tale of love, tragedy, and redemption from
the award-winning author of "Beyond the Cayenne Wall." From the darkest
hour of American history emerges a mesmerizing tale of tender love, a life
interrupted, and faith recovered. ArissaIllahi, a Muslim artist and writer,
discovers in a single moment that no matter how carefully you map your
life, it is life itself that chooses your destiny. After her husband's death in
the collapse of the World Trade Center, the discovery of his manuscript
marks Arissa's reconnection to life. Her unborn son and the unfinished novel
fuse in her mind into one life-defining project that becomes, at once, the
struggle for her emotional survival and the redemption of her race. "Saffron
Dreams" is a novel about our ever evolving identities and the events and
places that shape them. It reminds us that in the midst of tragedy, our
dreams can become a lasting legacy.
In view of shared functions performed by the distributional pattern
of co-occurring features on dimension 4, the label “Expression of personal
stance and judgment” is used.
Factor 5 does not fulfil the criteria required for interpretation of any
factor (five independent features). Factor 5 appears with only four features,
(all passives, split auxiliary, coordinating conjunction clauses and all
conjunctions). Although the loading of all passives (0.86) is much higher than
the cut-off point (+/-30) but loading of rest of the three features is lower.
Therefore, factor 5 is found to be relatively uninterpretable.
Conclusion
The study identified linguistic characterization of Pakistani book
blurb register on textual dimensions. A multidimensional analytical
approach was used to mark distributional patterns of co-occurring linguistic
features employed to perform shared communicative functions. Four
unique interpretable dimensions were generated resulting from applying a
new factor soluion matrix to a comprehensive blurb corpus. The study

36
concluded that Pakistani book blurb register possesses a distinct and unique
linguistic structure diverse from registers of other domains.
Factor 1 showed the co-occurrence of 8 positive and 4 negative
features. Positive features comprised attributive adjective, all adjective,
topical adjectives, word length, abstract nouns, process nouns and cognitive
nouns whereas the negative features on factor 1 included human nouns,
proper nouns, third person nouns, and all personal pronouns. In view of
shared communicative function performed by the complementary grouping
on this factor, the dimension was labeled as “Abstract Informational
Description versus Concrete Human Focus.” Factor 2 comprised 11 positive
and 2 negative features. Positive linguistic features on this dimension
reflected an involved and interactional expression. The negative feature,
past tense form and prepositional phrases reflected an expression used to
depict reportage of facts and specifics. Complementary groups of linguistic
features situated on this dimension led to the interpretation of this
dimension as “Interactive Stance versus Formal Reportage of Facts.” Heavy
loading of “nouns” as co-occurring positive features on factor 3 reflected an
overall trend of informational density, whereas the high frequency of “all
wh relative clauses" as negative features on factor 3 echoed an elaborated
style of expression. Given the co-occurrence pattern of positive and
negative features, the interpretive label “Informational Density versus
Elaborated expression” was suggested for dimension 3. The interpretation
of Factor 4 was relatively direct and straightforward, because it comprised
only positive features. Negative features did not appear on this dimension.
Heavy representative co-occurrence of stance features in book blurb text
characterized it as a discourse full of personal feelings and expressions.
Factor 5 was not interpretable because it did not fulfil the criteria
required for interpretation of any factor (five independent features). Factor
5 appeared with only four features, (all passives, split auxiliary, coordinating
conjunction clauses and all conjunctions), therefore excluded.
The findings of present study may prove to be helpful for the
researchers working in the field of register analysis in general and book
blurbs in particular. The findings may also provide substantial insight to the
researchers who want to apply multidimensional analytical approach to
characterize other registers in linguistic terms. The new dimensions
generated in the present study may be exploited to establish linguistic
characterization of other similar registers.
The book blurb corpus built by this study can be maneuvered to
examine diachronic evolution of blurbs in different decades in order to cater
for the changing demands of readership and the ever expanding book

37
industry. The results of this study may be utilized and compared with other
multidimensional studies in native and non-native contexts.
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NUML Journal of Critical Inquiry Vol 15(II) December, 2017 ISSN 2222-5706

Frozen: A Postmodern Fairy Tale through the Lens of

Intertextuality

Mehwish Ali Khan1

Bahramand Shah2
Abstract
This study examines the movie Frozen released in 2013.
Intertextuality is used as a lens in this regard to highlight the postmodern
elements found in the aforementioned film. Postmodernists give
importance to plurality and relativity. The postmodern writers utilize the
tool of Intertextuality to disrupt the oppressive nature of truth and
knowledge. Intertextuality breaks the ideals and notions based on
hierarchical authority. Intertextual connections running across the texts
fulfill the purpose of many postmodernists. The researcher takes the
methodological framework of Intertextuality by adopting the eight
elements of intertextuality proposed by Kevin Paul Smith (2007) in his book,
The Postmodern Fairy Tale: Folkloric Intertexts in Contemporary Fiction, to
highlight the postmodernist aspects present in the contemporary American
fairy tale movies. The elements of intertextuality as proposed by Smith trace
the connection with the older version of the tale through the title, text,
characters, and re-visioning of the old tales. It also traces the architextual
objects and symbols related particularly to the genre of fairy tales. Some
elements of Intertextuality as proposed by Smith provide the ground for
commentary and criticism on the older versions fulfilling the aim of the
postmodernists. Postmodernist trends become evident through analysis
based on these elements. It is revealed that old authoritative ideas are
shunned, the old tales are revised and presented with new perspectives,
which give voice to the marginalized characters like Snow Queen and also it
breaks the domination of royal heroes by making an Iceman, Kristoff, as the
real hero of the revised tale.
Keywords: postmodernism, intertextuality, Films, fairy tales.
1. Introduction
The present paper focuses on an emerging genre of Literature, i.e.,
Films, which until now has been ignored or, at least, not given much
importance. Due to the nature of its scope, this study gains twofold
importance. Firstly, it focuses on the Fairy Tales which were not much in
focus of the researchers in Pakistan; secondly, it deals with films which were
not given importance at par with novel, poetry or drama in literary research
projects. Fairy tale films in the contemporary period are quite famous. The
contemporary American fairy tale films are revising the older versions of

41
fairy tales. Frozen is also one of the popular fairy tale films released in 2013
by Walt Disney pictures. Frozen is a revised version of a fairy tale, The Snow
Queen by Hans Christian Andersen (1966). Frozen released in 2013 is a story
based on sisterly love of Anna and Elsa (Buck & Jennifer, 2013).
The present study examines the intertextual links between these
two versions of the tale and aims to highlight the postmodernist objective
of the contemporary American fairy tale movie makers. The researchers’
motive behind this examination is to bring forth the notion that the
contemporary movie makers are deliberately rejecting the meta-narratives
and encouraging the pluralist perspective. The theoretical framework
adopted for the study is postmodernism which is propagated by Lyotard
focusing on how the pluralist ideals must be encouraged and totalizing
modes must be rejected (1984). It also works further on the theory of
intertextuality proposed by Julia Kristeva who calls the present texts as the
continuous process of the older texts. The researcher has used the
methodological framework of Intertextuality proposed by Kevin Paul Smith
in his book The Postmodern Fairy Tale: Folkloric Intertexts in Contemporary
Fiction used particularly for the analysis of fairy tales (2007). These elements
help the researcher in answering the question of bringing out
postmodernist trends in these movies.
2. Literature Review
Contemporary movie makers have presented the old tales in a
newly revised fashion. These alterations are according to the postmodernist
trend and are highlighted through the examination of intertextual elements
linking different versions of stories. Postmodernism is a trend propagated
by philosophers like Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Jean- Francois
Lyotard, and Richard Rorty. The postmodernists asserted that western
civilization has wronged the world by dominating the world under the
propaganda of truth and reality that is why they deconstructed the notion
of truth, reality, and knowledge. They were against the traditional beliefs
and fixing of things. They are anti-reality because they believe that when
human beings form a group, they construct reality according to the notions
of the particular group and those ideals assert their dominance on an
individual’s perception and personality. This creates conflicts and the
majority always has dominance in such cases. This is the reason why
postmodernists advocate the rights of the marginalized (Hicks, 2004).
Postmodernism was founded by French literary theorist, Jean-
François Lyotard. In his book The Postmodern Condition, he asserted a
narrative which was against the enlightenment. He rejected all kinds of
metanarratives and grand narratives and considered Knowledge as an
oppressive force and a tool for power. He took knowledge as a means to
propagate totalized thoughts, and to make people think likewise, so that a

42
particular social, political or cultural ideal is imposed. Postmodernists are
against the totalitarian perspectives because the grand narratives are no
more credible, they have lost their authority. It was the beginning of a new
period, a postmodernist period. Lyotard was of the view that knowledge is
nothing but a tool of enforcement over the oppressed. The knowledge is
used to totalize their specific ideals and notions through the use of power
into the minds of people (1984). This enforcement of ideals is always a
deliberate attempt of imposing cultural and political ideals and changing the
mind of the masses. He wanted to “wage a war against totality” (p. 82).
Postmodernist literature portrays contemporary life and culture. It
highlights a way of life which is a decentered concept of life. Postmodernists
do not take any art as a distinct piece as they don’t believe in isolated works
of art instead they conceive objects of art as related to each other through
many different ways (Sharma & Chaudhary, 2011). The writers of
postmodernism experiment with the earlier works and alter their structure
or narration. They break the old works and present them in a re-
contextualized manner. They alter the past modes of representation. Being
pluralist and relativist, they reject the concept of unified truth (Crews,
1999). There is a strong belief of skepticism among postmodernists, they are
doubtful of their times. They speak about every difference which they come
across and they raise their voices on political, social, religious and all sorts
of other issues (Barret, 1997).
Björnsson asserts that postmodernists react “to the authoritarian
hierarchization of culture by subverting conventions, blurring previously
distinct boundaries and rejecting traditional aesthetic values” (p. 5). Today
the pluralist perspective is the reality of the world. Postmodernists have
moved away “from the monolithic theories to more synchronic ones” (p.
372). A similar postmodernist trend is visible in the theory of Intertextuality
(Kehinde, 2003). It has become a second name for postmodernism (Pfister,
1991) but Intertextuality has also appeared in the earlier texts, it is not only
bound to postmodernism.
Ferdinand de Saussure, is one of the prominent French theorists
who is believed to have originated the ideas that gave rise to the concept of
intertextuality. He gave definition of sign and studied society through
interpretation of signs, he called it Semiology. It was through Semiology that
Structuralism was initialized. The concept of structuralism was based on this
idea of semiology, which was also grounded on redefining society through
signs. It is often called as the derivation of the theory of intertextuality (as
cited in Allen, 2000).
A prominent theorist of Intertextuality is Julia Kristeva who owes to
Bakhtin for whatever she puts forth. She also says that texts cannot exist in

43
an isolated form, they have imprints of past experience and every text is in
a way or other related and connected to the other texts. The text always
created a connection between the writer, the reader and the text itself
(Kristeva, 1980). She brings forward the definition of intertextuality that it
is “a mosaic of quotations; any text is the absorption and transformation of
another” (p. 85).
Barthes asserts that texts are “a multidimensional space in which a
variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash” (p. 144). He is of
the view that one voice is related to many other voices. Writers have always
been credited a lot in literature but Barthes deprives them of this position.
He gives more importance to the language rather than the writer because
he asserts that a text does not belong to one writer rather it is constructed
out of many writings belonging to different cultures and times. He also puts
forth that the texts are in a form of dialogue with each other. He believes
that more importance must be given to the reader for which he believes in
the birth of the reader resulting from the death of the author (1977).
Intertextuality is useful to highlight the main idea the writers are
attempting to convey, a study on the novel of Siddhartha proves that it is
due to the analysis through intertextuality that the critics can highlight all
the factors which were previously not given much importance in other
theoretical grounds (Jamil & Yuchen, 2012). Hence intertextuality opens up
new dimensions of looking at the texts and helps to analyze them with a
new lens. Scholars of Intertextuality are of the view that texts evolve and
are connected in a form of a web. Every text is connected with another one,
which in turn is connected with a different one. The postmodernists use this
interconnection to change the preconceived roles, stories and characters in
contemporary fairy tale films (Lundin, 1998).
Apart from written text, intertextuality also plays its role in
connecting the texts with visual works such as painting, television or films
(Landwehr, 2002). There is recently a lot of work being witnessed in mingling
different fields of arts. Intertextuality, quite similar to postmodernism itself,
is removing barrier and blurring the boundaries between different forms of
arts (Morgan, 1985). Although Literature has always had an impact upon
Cinema and is one of the prominent emerging genres in Literature but had
not been the focus of Research scholars much. However, recently a shift is
seen towards films.
In addition to films, there is also an inclination towards scholarship
based on fairy tales. Moreover, the theory of intertextuality is also not only
viable in other literary texts but also in fairy tales. A prominent scholar when
discusses the fairy tales, s/he asserts that the contemporary writers have
interconnected the previous fairy tales in a way that they revise and

44
deconstruct the tales. They use different tools like irony, parody, etc. They
also turn the roles of characters, the plots are turned upside down, the role
of narration is given to such narrators who were not very credible, who
previously had no voice in the stories. The themes, motifs, and symbols are
also changed. The heroes and heroines of these intertexts are quite
different from typical heroes and heroines of previous tales (Benson, 2008).
Such changes can be highlighted conveniently through a framework of
intertextuality. After the analysis of such tales and particularly the fairy
tales, the postmodernist trends quite evidently show up in them. The claims
of the postmodernists to challenge the totalitarian perspectives of the
authoritative ideals can be explicitly examined through this method. Thus
an intertextual analysis of Contemporary American films fills the gap of
missing scholarship on the postmodern retellings of the fairy tales. It also
highlights upon the fact that there must be further analysis so as to reveal
that films based on fairy tales are not only meant to portray happy endings
and improvise only which is intended by the controllers of media. The
reshaping of classical fairy tales is breaking the norm. They are changing the
roles performed by women, even going to the extent of making them the
protagonists of the same tales where they were since long being loathed as
the antagonists (Zipes, 1999).
3. Methodology
The researcher has adopted the methodological framework
suggested by Kevin Paul Smith. He has used eight elements of intertextuality
particularly the ones for the revised versions of fairy tales. By using these
eight elements Smith highlights the postmodernist aims of the
contemporary movie makers. By using this methodological framework the
researchers have also dug upon different strategies of intertextuality. It has
also helped the researchers to keep things in a uniform manner in an
otherwise vast arena of intertextuality. The movie is analyzed through these
eight elements. However, it is to be noted that it is not pertinent for all the
elements to be present in one particular contemporary version. Some films
can have few elements present in them while others can have other
elements. All the eight elements may not necessarily be present in one film
(Smith, 2007). Frozen is a revised version of The Snow Queen by Andersen
(1966). It is analyzed by constructing intertextual links between these two
versions.
The eight elements are as follows:
3.1 Re-vision
One of the most important intertextual element used repeatedly by
almost all the postmodernists in order to fulfill their aim is the element of
Re-Vision. It is the element where things are looked upon from a different

45
lens and a different perspective. Although fairy tales have been revised in
almost every period, what makes these recent revisions worth scrutiny is
their unique engagement with the characters and their roles. The
revisionists assert that they revise the contemporary tales according to the
norms and customs of today (Zipes, 2012). Revising the old tales has been a
consistent practice in Hollywood movies because they continuously
retaliated against dominating rules. Revising an old tale into a new one has
always had a motive behind. When the stories were revised in the 1970s,
they had a potent feminist point of view to propagate, they questioned the
male dominance in the society (Smith, 2007).
The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen is also revised
completely and undoubtedly with a strong motive behind the revision. In
Andersen’s version Snow Queen is a mute character whose role is visible
only through her actions, she casts a spell on Kay, without any motive
behind it and keeps him captivated in her castle. She is represented as an
evil character. There are two play mates Kay and Gerda, Kay the boy gets
splinters in his eyes and heart and he turns hateful towards everyone. Gerda
finally resolves to bring her friend back and she breaks the spell cast on Kay.
Frozen, while continuing with the threads of some fragmented themes from
The Snow Queen is based on two sisters’ love, they are the play mates. One
of them is Elsa who also happens to be the Snow Queen because she has
magical powers of turning everything into Ice. Although there are many
differences in both the versions, they are connected with a similar theme of
existing in the world with weakness and with fears.
Postmodern writers have worked specifically on the character of
Elsa the Snow Queen: she is kind, loving and benign. She also turns things to
ice but the postmodernists have turned the story by justifying not only her
actions but also that of her predecessor i.e., the Snow Queen in Andersen’s
tale. She does not want to hurt anyone but has fears of not being able to fit
in the society because of having a supernatural power which makes her
accidentally turn everything to ice. Postmodernists reject totality and they
give voice to the marginalized. They open up a pluralized version of an
opinion and do not centralize the opinions and perspectives. Elsa does not
remain an outcast in the movie because the postmodernists celebrate
difference and they do not believe in one unified truth.
The characters of Prince, Princess, Kings, and Queens have been an
integral part of fairy tales. Although they are present in Frozen, the typical
prospective prince is no more present in it. Prince Hans who is initially
shown as a prospective suitor for Anna turns to be the antagonist of the play
who attempts to take over the kingdom of Elsa. The real hero present in the
film is Kristoff. He is a lowly Iceman, belongs to a low class but is handsome,
caring and has all the charms of a prospective suitor. The only thing missing

46
is his being a prince. Again the postmodernists take the charge here by
breaking the previous ideals and specifications belonging to the genre of
fairy tales and by rejecting the meta-narratives. They have introduced those
unheard characters of society who can also be the heroes. They propagate
the pluralist perspective.
The roles of the characters are transformed. The female characters
are strong and vocal. They change the course of action in the movie whereas
the male characters are shown to be relatively weak and dependent on the
female characters for causing the course of action.
Anna, the princess is entirely different from the princesses present
in the fairy tales. She is active and the decision maker. She does not depend
on any male character and even takes the lead when she sets upon bringing
Elsa back from isolation. She wants to set things right. It presents a marked
difference in the characters of previously submissive and passive princesses.
Fairy tales present women as passive characters whose only purpose of life
is to be married to a prince. It clearly supports patriarchal domination in the
society. Making females fit only for the purpose of romance and marriage
(Rowe, 1979). The role of women has been changed deliberately by the
postmodernist thinkers and they are not shown as victims any more (Zipes,
1986). Anna is an explicit example of postmodernist ideals. The previous
marginalization is challenged and rejected completely in Frozen.
3.2 Fabulation
One of the important intertextual links is the element of
Fabulation. This element refers to the rewriting of the older version of the
fairy tale into an entirely new version. There are certain particular elements
which persist in the new version but the story is written in a new form. One
of the most important features of postmodernism regarding fabulation is to
disagree with the previous versions of tales and to oppose the binaries. The
older versions are questioned and the new versions are presented with a
new perspective (Smith, 2007).
Frozen falls appropriately under the element of fabulation. The tale
of Snow Queen is changed entirely in the new version. It is the presence of
Snow Queen which makes it relatively easier for the audience to trace back
an intertextual link with the previous version. Trolls were also present in the
earlier version but their roles are entirely different in the contemporary
version. The story is completely different. The characters are different and
new. The previous characters if present have different names such as Elsa.
The major new characters are Prince Hans, Kristoff, and Anna. The theme of
playmate exists but it does not exist between a girl and a boy but two sisters
who share sibling love and affection. The character of Elsa is also given a

47
new perspective. She is not evil but is misunderstood as evil when she
accidentally turns everything to ice and runs away.
A postmodernist trend is highlighted when Frozen is examined
through this element of Intertextuality. It reveals their aim of propagating
pluralist perspectives. Elsa, the Snow Queen is presented differently
because previous Elsa was known only in the perspective of other
characters, her opinion was never taken, and she was only presented as an
evil character. The reality of her being evil was never questioned nor was
the possible reason for her being so sought for. It is this marginalization of
her character that she is brought forth with a justification. In the
contemporary version, she is shown completely benign but is considered as
evil and extremely dangerous, however this perception of other characters
present in the movie is gradually made to change so as to imply that Elsa
was wrongly assumed to be dangerous and evil, in reality she is nothing of
the sort. In fact she is kind, caring and courageously takes back her country.
3.3 Allusion
The allusion is one of the most important intertextual elements as
it encompasses various subsections. It refers to the quotations, the
character names and their descriptions, and many motifs and structure
patterns to associate the hypertext with the hypo-text (p. 19). There are
many symbols also present in different versions, they can also be traced
through the subsection “unconscious of the text” (p. 33) in both the versions
of the tale.
3.3.1 Quotations
Quotations are the intertextuality links used for connecting with the
older versions of the tale. In written texts, they are separated by inverted
commas but being in dialogue form they are not easily distinguished in the
contemporary versions. However, there are many such dialogues which
hold an iconic position in the history of fairy tales and they are easily
recognizable but Frozen does not repeat any of the dialogues from the tale
of Snow Queen. It is the presence of Snow Queen which connects both the
tales.
3.3.2 Character Names
Character names have an important allusive link with the previous
versions. The tales are immediately recognized if the similar names are
repeated in the contemporary version. In Frozen, the main character is the
Snow Queen who also has a different name. Almost all the characters have
different names. Kay and Gerda the main characters of the previous version
are not even present in the contemporary version. In such a case, the
readers have to probe more deeply to unveil the obscure connectivity with
the previous tale (Smith, 2007). One must have some knowledge about the

48
earlier versions to create this connection. In this version, the Snow Queen is
named Elsa, and her sister Princess Anna who also happens to be her
childhood play mate. The theme of childhood playmate is present in the tale
but the characters are different in person and in names. There are some
added characters in the new versions such as the Prince who is named Hans,
although he is not the hero in the film. Kristoff, an Iceman is another
character who plays the role of hero because Princess Anna falls in love with
him and he also helps her in pursuit of her journey. A snow man is also
added in the new tale with the name of Olaf, It brings comic relief to the tale
when the tale gets serious.
It is the presence of Snow Queen which creates a link with the
previous version but here the queen is named, Elsa, whereas in the previous
version she was known only as the Snow Queen. Previously the fairy tales
had only descriptions of characters like Princess, Prince, Witch or
Stepmother. Particularly, the negative characters were never named,
instead, they were generally known by their character traits. It is only
recently that these characters acquired names. The character of Elsa was
also considered evil in the earlier version. It is in the contemporary period
that the names are given importance. The postmodernists give great
importance to every individual that is why they give importance to
characters too by assigning names to them. In contemporary Western
society names are given importance. They give value and respect to the
personality (Finch, 2008). However, the names are new and they cannot be
connected intertextually with the version of The Snow Queen.
3.3.3 Character Description
The descriptions of characters have always attained great
importance in the history of fairy tales, the characters are recognized
immediately on the basis of their description only. Some characters are
recognized easily through their description. The Snow Queen who is the
antagonist of the tale by Andersen is easily recognized in the movie Frozen.
The trolls are also present in both versions. The description is similar in both
the versions but they play different roles in the present version. The trolls
act as magical helpers in the movie Frozen, they are no more evil characters
as posed in the version by Andersen. Elsa is no more an evil character but
she is misunderstood to be one. Postmodernists have deliberately
attempted to alter the roles of negative characters and have presented
them as better ones. But, if they persist to be evil in the contemporary
versions the postmodernists have brought forth a justification and a
confession on their behalf which tames down the degree of cruelty posed
by them. The presence of Trolls and Snow Queen having the same
description as the previous version creates an Intertextual connection of
Frozen with The Snow Queen.

49
3.3.4 Pattern Recognition (Structure)
The structure of fairy tales follows a similar pattern, it is simple; the
story revolves around one plot. There are characters from the royal family,
the prince and princess are wedded in the end and the tale finishes with a
happy ending turning it into a comedy. There are some deviations but
generally, the structure is same in all the fairy tales. Hence it is an apt
element to trace back intertextual links with the older versions. The
folklorist Propp is of the view that there are multiple types of fairy tales and
folk tales. He is of the view that the action of characters is same and there
are some basic structural patterns followed (as cited in Smith, 2007).
The postmodernists have made quite drastic changes in the
structure of the fairy tales. The film Frozen has taken only some fragments
from the story of The Snow Queen. The Snow Queen is based on seven parts,
whereas the film Frozen is based on a single part. There are some thematic
structures followed in the contemporary versions too such as the themes of
play mates, one’s coldness towards the other and the feeling of desolation
among them. Kay when gets splinters of the mirror in his eyes, he feels angry
and cold towards everyone and then when he is taken away by the Snow
Queen, Gerda sets on the journey to free her from the shackles of the queen
(Andersen, 1966). In Frozen, the two playmates are the two sisters Elsa and
Anna, Elsa also goes aloof when she accidentally hurts her playmate and
sibling Anna. She is accused of sorcery and is shunned away when she
accidentally turns everything to ice. Anna goes out to rescue her sister (Buck
& Jennifer, 2013). The pattern of the story is similar but the roles are
somewhat altered according to the postmodernist notions.
3.3.5 Patterns or Motifs: The Aarne Thompson Index
Another element of intertextuality is that of looking at the motives
present in the fairy tales. It has been made easier by the Folklorists Aarne
and Thompson who have introduced a system in which they have
catalogued all the fairy tales of the world from different cultures and times
(Smith, 2007). However the tale of The Snow Queen by Hans Christian
Andersen is not indexed in the catalogue, the tale itself is present on the
website but it is not categorized distinctly. Although there is a category ATU
703 Snow Maiden under which Frozen and The Snow Queen both come. Its
description is not given to match it with these versions. The researchers
though put it under the category of ATU 703. The motifs of both the tales
are as follows: C30 Tabu: Offending supernatural relatives, M400 Curses,
M404. M404. Unintentional curse or blessing takes effect. T121.3.1 Princess
marries a lowlyman and W 32 bravery. When put in tables the motifs
present a comprehensive detail of the motifs. Table 1 only records the
presence and absence of the motifs in both the versions and table 2 explains
in detail the pattern in which they are used in both the versions.

50
 Table 1: The Presence of Motifs in The Snow Queen & Frozen.
Motifs The Snow Queen Frozen
C30 Yes (Partially) Yes
D735 Yes No
M400 No Yes
M404. M404
T121.3.1 No Yes
W 32 Yes Yes

Table 1 presents 5 motifs: 3 are present and two are absent in The Snow
Queen. It also highlights that 4 motifs are present and 1 is absent in Frozen.
Table 2: Detailed Analysis of presence of motifs in The Snow Queen &
Frozen
Motif Snow Queen Frozen
Elsa is offended when Anna,
C30 Tabu: Kay is the play mate, not her sister, is persistent to
Offending relative who is offended marry Prince Hans whom she
supernatural and angry because of had met only then. Elsa has
relatives the magic spell. supernatural powers to
change everything into ice.
Gerda when reaches the
Palace of the Snow
D735 Queen, she finds Kay
Disenchantment laying Frozen on the N/A
through kiss Lake, she kisses him to
break the enchantment
that he is bound into.
Elsa has some supernatural
M400 Curses powers. When she gets
M404. M404. offended by Anna she
Unintentional N/A accidentally curses, her
curse or blessing whole kingdom due to which
takes effect. a deadly frozen weather
supersedes all the kingdom.
T121.3.1 Princess Princess Anna marries a
There are no Princesses
marries lowly lowly Iceman and rejects the
in the tale.
man prospective Prince Hans
Gerda is brave, she takes
Anna and Elsa both are very
all the journey only to
brave but it is actually Anna’s
save Kay from the spell
W 32 bravery, character who is very brave,
of Snow Queen. She is
she fights to get her sister
persistent until the end
and her kingdom back.
and does not give up.

51
Table 2 further elaborates on the motifs present in Table 1. The explanation
of the motifs explain how there is deviance in the perspective presented in
the classic and contemporary fairy tales. Motif T121.3.1 presents a Princess
marrying a lowly man, which is evident in Frozen. In contemporary tales the
heroes need not be prince necessarily.
3.3.6 The Unconscious of the text
This element of intertextuality refers to the hidden symbols present
in the tales. Smith has placed his analysis of the unconscious to the Freudian
theory of condensation and displacement in dreams (as cited in Smith,
2007). Frozen (2013) has a theme connected indirectly to it. It is not
explicitly traced rather it is present in the unconscious of the text that
weaknesses are a part of our life and our personality. One cannot run away
from them. Although, society makes it difficult to exist in such
circumstances, it is the determination in one’s personality that can break
these norms of the society. It reveals the notion that everyone does not
need to be fixed according to the criteria of society. There are no exact
binaries as their boundaries are most of the times blurred. Every situation is
not based on absolute truth but has much relativized. Graff points it out
aptly that postmodernist literature presents a consciousness which is
separated from objective reality in a way that it does not even identify it as
a separate entity (1995). Elsa is different; she is unique which makes the
society shun her, but she is brought back in the society and is welcomed,
despite her difference, by her sister Anna who makes everyone believe that
being different does not mean the person should be made an outcast, rather
everyone must be valued for his/her uniqueness. Hence, it is a hidden
message which is revealed gradually in the story.
3.4 Architextuality
Some elements of intertextuality do not link any two particular tales
rather they create a connection with the genre in general - here the genre
of fairy tales. Architextuality is one such framework which deals with the
similarities of a given work with the genre in point and not with the other
tale/s, for instance the tale of The Snow Queen. The interconnectivity can
be traced to different events or different objects such as the magical
objects. This element is divided into two categories:
3.4.1 Images
The first sub category of Architextuality is the presence of different
objects or images. The presence of castles is one of the important features
of fairy tale genre. There are two castles in the movie Frozen whereas, in
The Snow Queen there is only one. In Frozen there is the castle of the king
which remains closed to the people throughout the story and then there is
a castle made of ice which also remains isolated (Buck & Jennifer, 2013). In
Snow Queen too there is one castle of Snow Queen where she keeps Kay

52
captivated. It is possible that the chronotopic objects appear quite
differently in the recent retellings but they do create an intertextual link
with the objects of previous tales. However, in Frozen, the setting and
objects are quite similar to older versions because the time setting shown
in the movie is indefinite and the place also does not exist on the map of the
world, quite typical of fairy tales.
3.4.2 Events
Another category of architextuality is the presence of events which
intertextually raise affiliation with the genre of fairy tales. Todorov (1973),
presents three different categories in which the third category relates to an
intermingling of realism and the magical world together (as cited in Smith,
2007). Frozen is a realist story with a real world having real characters but
with a tinge of magic due to the presence of trolls and of Elsa having magical
powers. The story of Andersen is also a mixture of the real and the magical.
The story otherwise has everything which is based on reality but the
presence of Snow Queen and trolls make it magical. Smith also calls fairy
tales to be part of magical realism because it has a mixture of magic and
reality: Elsa having the powers to turn everything to ice is magical, trolls
having healing powers are magical, Olaf speaking is magical, and Elsa
creating evil snowmen out of ice is magical. On the other hand, people of
Elsa’s kingdom not accepting these magical incidents or objects is real, Anna
and Kristoff being shocked to see Olaf talking is real, and finally accepting
Elsa with her uniqueness of having magical powers or being different is quite
real and quite contemporary and postmodern. The Postmodernists accept
everyone who is different, in fact they celebrate the difference rather than
rejecting it.
3.5 Authorized
Authorized is the element of Intertextuality which is related to title
and it is a direct reference to the title of the previous version. The readers
and audience construct an immediate connection with the previous version.
Here the title Frozen does relate to the title of The Snow Queen referring
connotatively to everything being frozen and ice like but as the version by
Andersen is not popular among fairy tale followers, it does not create an
immediate relationship with them. It is the second element which creates
an apt intertextual link suggested by Smith (2007).
3.6 Writerly
The element of Intertextuality that refers to the title, is different
from the element that is authorized only in matters of degrees. It is
described as an indirect reference to the previous tales. It does not
necessarily repeat the previous title. In fact, it can use any object, character
or event as the title of the new version. Moreover, writerly along with title
can also be traced in trailer or on the front cover of the film. These indirect

53
references relate to the previous version and establish a connection in the
readers’/audiences’ mind. Frozen relates indirectly to the theme of The
Snow Queen by Andersen. It refers to how things got frozen physically as
well as some characters turned spiritually frozen. When Kay gets splinters
of broken mirror in his heart and eyes in the earlier version, he turns rude
and cold towards everyone, including his childhood play mate Gerda. He
turns spiritually frozen whereas in Frozen, Elsa turns her kingdom into a
frozen situation accidentally and she also turns spiritually cold towards her
sister Anna and her people due to the fear of hurting them unconsciously.
The trailer of the film Frozen also throws light on the element of
writerly as an intertextual link. The trailer presents the Snow Queen who
has turned the whole country into a frozen state (Buck & Jennifer). This is
what The Snow Queen of Anderson also does. She turns people’s hearts into
ice which makes them cold and bitter towards others. An immediate
intertextual link is established which makes the audience wrongly assume
Elsa - the Snow Queen - as the antagonist of the tale, quite similar to the
Snow Queen of Anderson. However, in the course of the story it is revealed
that Elsa is not a negative character rather she, in fact, is wrongly accused
of being evil only because she is different.
Conclusion
The analysis of the movie reveals that among eight elements of
Intertextuality, only five elements are present in Frozen which intertextually
connect it with The Snow Queen. Frozen is one unique and different fairy
tale. The theme of The Snow Queen is different which is why it had not been
a favorite among the fairy tale writers. It is only in the contemporary period
that this fairy tale is touched otherwise; it was not revised or reused by any
other writer, at least there is no evidence of it. This is the reason it is also
not visible in the catalogue of folktales Index. However, the contemporary
movie makers did not take the complete story and revived it rather they
took some fragments from the previous tale and transformed them into a
new and a modified one. For instance, the concept of Snow Queen is present
who has been given a chance to speak her side of the story. The playmates
are no more a boy or a girl rather they are siblings who share a strong bond
of love. The movie presents all the concepts of the contemporary period, it
has delimited the typical stories of fairy tales and has turned them into
stories other than love stories. It has also broken the concept of a man or a
prince being an ideal hero and protecting the princess. Overall Frozen which
turned out to be the biggest hit of its period shattered all the earlier ideals
and concepts.

54
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NUML Journal of Critical Inquiry Vol 15(II) December, 2017 ISSN 2222-5706

Ideo-Cultural Hegemony of Euro-Americans:

Analysis of Presentation of Different Cultures in ELT
Books in Pakistan
Nazak Hussain Mughal1
Muhammad Safeer Awan 2
Abstract
In history, the powerful have subjugated the powerless through
their ideo-cultural hegemony. The present age has witnessed this
phenomenon in the most strenuous form by the Euro-Americans. Though
there are other methods also that have been applied for this affliction, the
one that they have been using is the source of ELT books. Euro-Americans
depict themselves and their environment in these books in such a striking
manner that the learners are allured to their point of view. This is done
implicitly and hence is most insidious as it is most difficult to detect. The
present study analyzes the books used for ELT purpose at IGCSE/O’ Level in
Pakistan. The main objective of the study is to explore the ideological
representations of Euro-Americans and Non Euro-Americans (especially of
the third world). It also compares the discourse strategies used for this ideo-
cultural depiction of the former group as well as of the latter. The framework
used for the purpose of this analysis comprises of three analytical
approaches: Content Analysis, CDA and Semiotic Analysis. The study
concludes that there is an all pervasive positive Self-presentation of Euro-
Americans in all the four books, whereas, a very limited representation is
given to African, Indian and other cultures. Only one book out of four gives
some representation to Pakistani culture and even that is given in a
derogatory way. The ideo-cultural representation of the other third world
regions, are also made in a denigrating manner. The study recommends
indigenization of ELT books for better comprehension and to avoid ideo-
cultural marginalization of the third-world regions. The study is useful for
curriculum designers, course book writers, teachers and the English
language learners.
Keywords: hegemony, subjugation, neo-colonialism, ELT books
Introduction
English language is regarded as a status symbol in the educated
circles of Pakistan. The reason behind this is its advantageous position as
the language used in power corridors, courts, international communication
and above all as the compulsory subject at school level both in public and
private sectors of education. In private elite class educational institutes, the
importance of it is raised almost to the first language which is the insignia
of foreign cultural assimilation as well. The success of English language in

57
these institutes is the result of educational apartheid manipulated in the
education sector of Pakistan before and after the independence. This
success got impetus in Zia’s regime with the permission to appear in O & A
Level system in foreign institutes (Rahman, 2005, p. 27). Rahman (2005) is
also of the view that after this formal approval a mushroom growth has
been seen of the private-sector institutes offering O & A Level. These
institutes charge heavy fees in the name of “English Medium Schools.” Some
of these institutes have been developed into systems of schools
countrywide and across the borders. Rahman (2005) asserts that since the
colonization of the subcontinent, English has been the language of power
and has been “an elite preserve in South Asia. Moreover, it is still available
to the elite of money and power” (Rahman, 2002, p. 300).
These schools adopt ELT books written by foreign authors which
bring wholesale influx of foreign ideological content. Some of these books
project a more hazardous and denigrated picture of the indigenous culture.
This ideo-cultural content is mostly in contradiction to Islamic injunctions.
Ministry of education, which is regarded as the custodian of the
preservation and promotion of the ideology of Islam, is helpless before the
influential status of the stakeholders of these school systems to bring any
change in the syllabi of these schools. Though the ministry designs the
curriculum of indigenous education under the strict scrutiny of Ideology of
Islam up to SSC level, it laments, in Education Policy (2009), of its failure to
put any ideological check on the ELT syllabus of elite schools. This failure of
the corridors of power before foreign cultural invasion results into the ideo-
cultural hegemony of the Euro-Americans in Pakistan.
The present study investigates the extent to which the selected
books give ideo-cultural representation to different regions and if at all
there is any representation of the Non-Euro Americans, it explores how that
culture is presented to the learners.
Literature Review
The world has witnessed several epochs of domination by different
nations at different times in history. These periods have been termed as
colonial periods. With the passage of time, a unitary consciousness has
evolved among nations for the rights of every individual nation. They get
united for the common interest of the nations to avoid subjugation of one
nation by another through physical conquest and they have made laws
under UNO to avoid the catastrophic ends of the world wars. However, this
has given way to a form of neo-colonialism or neo-imperialism by the ex-
colonial powers. In modern times, the forms of power and domination have
been reshaped. Ideology and culture are used as the tools of hegemony
which is maintained through discursive practices i.e., through “changing
practices of language use” (Fairclough, 1995, p. 219). Van Dijk (2008) also

58
regards controlling discourse as the first major form of power that helps
establish hegemony. This new wake switched the lust for domination to the
ideo-cultural hegemony through “hegemonic educational practices” and by
creating “an élite (comprador) class to maintain aspects of colonial control
on their behalf” (Ashcroft, Griffiths & Tiffin, 2007, p. 57). The purpose and
the agenda behind this new form of colonialism or imperialism is to suppress
the weak to obey and serve the interests of the powerful in both social as
well as economic fields.
The powerful nations i.e., Europeans and Americans have joined
hands to promote their bilateral interests. The interests of both are the
same as are mentioned in Philipson (2009). He exposed America’s interests
by propagating that “From the time of the USA declaring its independence,
it has seen itself as a model for the world, with a divine mission to impose
its values.” About the Britain’s interest, he refers to a key policy document
by British council in 1941 for the post-colonial age which tried “to lay the
foundations of a world-language and culture” (p. 31). To realize their
dreams, a unilateral war of ideo-cultural hegemony has been launched by
these two countries and they have made an alliance with other European
countries for fulfilling this dream (Apple, 2004). Along with the other means
they have been exploiting the field of ELT to subdue the minds of the
learners of the third world. ELT books are heavily imbued with the colors of
Western society and “the writers of these books consciously or
unconsciously transmit the views, values, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings of
their own society – usually the United States or the United Kingdom” (Shah,
Afsar, Fazal-e-Haq & Khan, 2012, p. 166).
This mental subjugation is the worst form of hegemony as it results
into self-annihilation and depreciation of the indigenous culture as Thiongo
(1986) had propounded and a day comes when it becomes difficult to “free
ourselves from ourselves” as was opined by Eagleton (1991). The oppressed
people, then, “accept dominance, and act in the interest of the powerful out
of their own free will” (Gramsci, 1971, as cited in Dijk 1993, p. 255). This
Neocolonialism is more insidious as it is “more difficult to detect and resist
than the direct control exercised by classic colonialism” (Ashcroft, Griffiths
& Tiffin, 2007, p. 146).Moreover, it proved more effective to serve the neo-
imperialistic designs of the neo-colonizers (Gramsci, 2009).
Different researches have been carried out in the field of ELT which
claim that ELT books are ideology laden (Abdollahzadeh & Baniasad, 2010;
Dijk, 1993; Seargeant, 2008). ELT has been developed into an industry in
which the power houses like, Oxford and Cambridge etc., are involved in
maintaining the hegemony of the Center, i.e., of Euro-Americans, in the
form of neocolonialism (Al Hosni, 2015).

59
 For the purpose of conquering minds of the people of third world
and nurturing the spirit of self-annihilation and self-depreciation in them,
the powerful have developed certain myths about their “Self”, i.e., about
their superiority, wisdom, power and industriousness and the natural
inferiority of the “Other” i.e., of the people and regions of the third world
countries as was pointed out by Freire (2005) and Olynyk (2013). One of the
recurrent myths, according to Fanon (2004), is the formulation of the
colonized mentality. For the purpose, the colonized were made to believe
that their territory was underdeveloped and needed major social and
economic reforms. These myths find expression in ELT books so numerously
that the learners find no other way than to be overpowered by the idea of
the superiority of the Euro-Americans. Moreover, the learners accept these
foreign beliefs because they do not have, “the knowledge and beliefs
needed to challenge the discourse or information they are exposed to” (Dijk,
2008, p. 92). A very little amount of indigenous beliefs finds expression in
these books. Even this little representation is given in a denigrating way
which serves the purpose of “drawing up a system of comparative
evaluations in which one culture could be set off and measured against the
other” (Viswanathan, 1989, p. 30) and results into the development of an
attitude of self-depreciation in the learners of these books who belong to
the third world. Moreover, it breeds “discontent among learners with their
own culture” (Rajabi & Ketabi, 2012, p. 707).
The case of Pakistan is more sensitive in this regard as it is purely an
ideological state. Its foundations have been laid on the ideology of Islam.
From the first constitutional document, i.e., the Objective Resolution, which
was passed in 1949, to the present constitution that was passed in 1973,
Islam has been declared as the state religion. To preserve the ideology of
Islam has been taken as the responsibility of every designator of Pakistan
i.e., from the judges to the president. They take an oath on this pledge when
they take charge of their office. The education policies also stress on the
need of preservation and promotion of this ideology. Education policy 2009
holds the Ministry of Education responsible to keep an eye on the syllabus
so that any un-Islamic ideology may not pass into the syllabus of the schools.
In spite of these restrictions and precautionary measures, the
private elite schools adopt some ELT course/text books that are overloaded
with foreign ideologies, which are mainly liberal and secular. The teaching
of these books results into undermining the love for homeland and
promoting a longing for foreign cultural assimilation (Waseem, 2009;
Rahman, 2005). Waseem (2009) and Rahman (2005), therefore, suggest the
government to be cautious of this ideological incubation. Yaqoob (2011), on
the other hand, holds the view that ELT books published by Punjab Textbook
Board for SSC level and those published by Oxford University Press for O’

60
Level, are replete with their representative ideologies which lead to a clash
in the worldviews of the students from both the streams. He, therefore,
recommends that the textbooks in both the streams may be free of any
cultural representation and may present learning material that should be
neutral and value free. We, however, disagree with this stand point of
Yaqoob (2011). We are unable to comprehend that how an ideological state
whose very foundations are laid in the ideology of Islam and the
preservation and promotion of Islamic ideology is held responsible for every
representative of the state. Moreover, it is also important to understand
that it cannot fulfil this primary responsibility to its citizens until this
ideology is not promoted through the Ideological State Apparatuses, the
main among which are the educational institutions. Expunging the
indigenous ideology from the indigenously published books is no solution to
the problem of foreign ideological invasion through imported books. The
indigenously published books are published to acquaint the students with
their indigenous worldview and provide them a safeguard from foreign
ideological aggression. In case of abolition of Islamic ideology from the
textbooks, the young learners would be vulnerable to the foreign views
because they would be bereft of the indigenous i.e., Islamic worldview
which provides them shield against this foreign ideological invasion. Van
Dijk (2008) is also of the same view when he writes, “The recipients accept
foreign beliefs because they don’t have “knowledge and beliefs needed to
challenge the discourse or information they are exposed to” (p. 92). It is,
therefore, necessary that we must be very careful about this war of
ideologies and should not lose our own ground by abolishing our own
worldview from the indigenous books.
The present research brings to light the ideological content of the
selected ELT books and the frequency of ideo-cultural representation of
different regions. It also brings to light the discursive techniques employed
by the foreign authors to maintain their ideo-cultural hegemony. This
phenomenon has been thrown light upon from multiple aspects using
multiple approaches which were partially carried out earlier.
Methodological Perspectives
The elite schools in Pakistan usually make selection from the
following books for the purpose of ELT at IGCSE/O’ Level:
• First Language English (4th ed.) by Marian Cox
• Oxford Progressive English 9 by Rachel Redford
• Oxford Progressive English 10 by Rachel Redford
• Step Ahead 2 by Heather Jones & Robyn Mann
• Step Ahead 3 by Heather Jones & Robyn Mann

61
• English Alive Book 1 by Ben Wetz
• English Alive Book 2 by Ben Wetz
• General Certificate English (Fourth edition) by Alan Etherton
• The Essential Reader: Stories from Pakistan Volume 1& 2 by Amra Raza
• Cambridge O Level English Revision Guide (Glover)
• Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

For the purpose of this research, Oxford Progressive English 10, henceforth
OPE; Step Ahead 3, henceforth SA 3; First Language English, henceforth FLE
and General Certificate English, henceforth GCE are used as sample data as
they are the commonly used books at IGCSE/O’ Level in Pakistan. As far as
the methodology and framework is concerned, this research is both
quantitative as well as qualitative. It used a multimodal approach for the
purpose. The framework applied three models for seeking answers to the
research questions. These are as follows:
• Content Analysis by Krippendorff (2004)
• Critical Discourse Analysis by Fairclough (1989 & 1995)
• Semiotic Analysis by Kress and Leeuwen (2006)

Necessity of the multimodal approach was felt as the question of hegemony

can be catered only when the phenomenon is looked from different aspects.
And these aspects could be covered by the application of different models
on the data available. Moreover, application of multimodal approach is the
latest trend in text analysis as is identified by Weninger & Kiss (2014, p. 5).
The following questions were posed for the purpose of this
research:
1. To what extent do the ELT books give the comparative presentation of
the Euro-American ideology and culture and that of other regions,
especially, of Pakistan?
2. How are the ideologies and the cultures of different regions
represented in these books?

The following section presents the findings of the research as a

result of Content Analysis, CDA and Semiotic Analysis. There is also a brief
discussion that ensued those findings. The frequency of occurrence of
different ideo-cultural representations is mentioned in numerical figures
and simple percentages.

62
Table 1: Comparison of the Euro-American ideo-cultural presentation and
that of other regions, especially, Pakistan in different text/course books
Region/Country FLE GCE OPE 10 SA 3 Total
No. No. No. No. No.
Euro-American 58 19 18 14 109
Pakistani × × 8 × 8
Indian 3 × × × 3
Chinese × × 3 2 5
Japanese or Korean 1 1 1 2 5
African 3 4 1 × 8
Singaporean × × × 13 13
Thailand × × × 1 1
Russian 2 × 1 × 3
General/Neutral × × × 11 11
Total 67 24 32 43 166

100.00
90.00
80.00
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
Japan
Gene
Euro- ese Singa
Pakis India Chine Afric Thail Russi ral/N
Amer or pore
tani n se an and an eutra
ican Kore an
l
an
FLE 86.57 0 4.48 0 1.49 4.48 0 0 2.99 0
GCE 79.17 0 0 0 4.17 16.67 0 0 0 0
OPE 10 56.25 25 0 9.38 3.13 3.13 0 0 3.13 0
SA 3 32.56 0 0 4.65 4.65 0 30.23 2.33 0 25.58

Fig. 1: Comparison of ideo-cultural representation of Euro-American and

other regions, especially, Pakistan in different texts/course books
(%)

63
 The table and the figure show a very bleak picture of comparative
presentation of different cultures in the selected books. The Euro-American
culture has got hegemonic control on the large scale as it is all pervasive
with very little representation of the other cultures. Though the ratio of
Euro-American cultural representation is different in different books but it
constitutes the major part of every book. FLE leads the rest of the three in
this respect as it allocates 86.57% of the total space to Euro-American ideo-
cultural representation and leaves only 13.43% representations to the other
cultures. GCE stands second as 79.17 % of the space in it is allocated for the
depiction of the Euro-Americans and leaves only 20.83 % for the rest. OPE
10 which is the most commonly used book in elite schools in Pakistan comes
at third position in this order of representation as it gives forth to 56.25 %
of the ideological space to the Euro-Americans and leaves the rest of 43.75
% to other regions among which Pakistan shares 25 % of the total space. But
the CDA and Semiotic analysis of this representation bring forth very
denigrating picture of Pakistan and the Pakistanis. SA 3, however, keeps a
balance to some extent in these representations. It is the book
recommended by Ministry of Singapore for the purpose of ELT in Singapore.
Some of the elite schools in Pakistan have also adopted it as part of their
syllabus. It gives forth only 32.56 % to Euro-Americans, Singapore gets
almost the same portion whereas 25.58 % was the neutral content that did
not have any strong inclination to any particular ideology. This almost equal
representation of the indigenous as well as Euro-Americans was perhaps the
result of the Ministry of Singapore’s strict hold on the syllabus. But the
internal biaseness is still visible in this book as the indigenous cultural
representation is made in a denigrating way at some places.
Seeing the ideo-cultural representation of Euro-Americans and that
of Pakistan in comparison to each other was an important concern of this
research. In this regard, we found that it was only OPE 10 that depicted
Pakistan and its culture, the other books did not have any reference to our
indigenous culture. The point of concern in this regard is that whatever
representation of Pakistan and of Pakistanis was made, it was denigrating
enough to produce the spirit of self-depreciation in Pakistani readers.
CDA and Semiotic Analysis of Text/Course Books
Though these books are replete with positive Self-presentation and
a number of cases of negative Other-presentation but it is not possible to
give in detail the analysis of the whole of the books in a paper from both the
CDA and Semiotic perspectives, therefore, a brief analysis is presented here
of some of the parts from two books only: First Language English and Oxford
Progressive English 10.
These books present Euro-Americans as very conscious of the
environment and present their environment as calm, serene and inviting for

64
everyone. There is not any dark aspect of this environment depicted
anywhere in these books as is depicted of the regions other than the Euro-
Americans. Some of the cases of their environment consciousness, beauty
and attraction are presented here for reference:
1. The picture accompanying the text on FLE, page 34 shows the young
white women going to some educational institutions. All are
wearing Western dress (FLE, p. 34, Article about choosing where to
go for higher education (See Fig. 7, in appendix).
2. “After climbing the New York Times Building in New York City on 5th
June 2008, he unfurled a banner with a slogan about global warming
that read ‘Global warming kills more people than 9/11 every week’”
(FLE, p. 47, Spiderman Climbs Sky High).
3. “Situated on the unspoilt southern coast of the beautiful Pacific
island of Tamara, only 20 km from the lively capital of Santa Barbara,
the Paloma hotel complex is the ideal location for an exotic holiday
at any time of the year” (FLE p. 67, Hotel Paloma).
4. “And now I was on my journey, in a pair of thick boots and with a
hazel stick in my hand. Naturally, I was going to London” (FLE, p. 82,
Extract from an autobiography).
5. “As a child, when we visited my grandparents, I would sense the
beginning of that magical country through the sweet smell of
burning turf. From the car window I watched the smoke curling from
the chimneys of isolated cottages . . . I remember the distant
shimmer of the sea against low clouds and then the road pushing
inland . . .” (OPE, p. 130, The kingdom) (See Fig. 4 in the Appendix).
The above references contain depiction of the environment and cultural
ideologies of Euro-American people as smart people, conscious of their
responsibility to their environment and the Euro-American places as having
calm and serene surrounding. The detailed analysis under CDA and Semiotic
lenses is presented in the following.
The first reference is of a picture of young girls going to some
educational institution. It is an “Offer” picture. It serves here as an object of
contemplation; it seems as if the Western woman is presented here as a
specimen in a display case. The picture describes the calm and serene
environment of the European countries for ladies. The depiction of the
picture from the High Angle is representative of the achievability of this
environment for the women belonging to other parts of the world. Though
given at the bottom, as “less important” yet the picture serves as
foregrounding with regard to its Framing, Modality and Salience, as an
object of contemplation for the ladies of the third world.

65
 The second reference tells of the adventure of an American of
climbing the New York Times Building – quite a task, to catch the attention
of the public as well as of the authorities to bring awareness about the
hazards of global warming. Foregrounding of the adverbial gerund “after
climbing” speaks the pains and labor involved in the process to highlight the
spirit of the Americans in serving the humanity in general that is
represented by the adjective “global.” The verb “unfurled” is representative
of the victory symbol quite similar to unfurling of a flag after victory. In this
way, this description serves as the representation of the positive view of
“Us.” Moreover, it also gives voice to what Kipling propounded “White
man’s burden” to alleviate suffering from the world. The reference to 9/11
itself contains the negative view of the “Other” as this date reminds the
destruction of the World Trade Centre and is associated with
fundamentalism of the Muslims as they were charged with the
responsibility of this destruction. Though the sentence, “Global warming
kills more people than 9/11 every week” gives the harms of global warming
but “who the global warmers are?” is missing through hiding the agents of
this activity, the major among whom are the Euro-Americans themselves.
Thus the generalization of the hazards of global warming is also an attempt
on the part of the writers of these books to hide their own weaknesses. By
generalizing this problem they want to involve the rest of the world share
the burden. The rest of the three references depict the serene and alluring
picture of the Euro-American land and the landscape. This depiction was
made through the use of striking adjectives like, “unspoilt,” “beautiful,”
“ideal,” “exotic,” “magical,” “sweet,” etc., as is found in reference 3 and 5
above. Visiting the Euro-American places has been depicted as “natural
desire” as if the poor and rough people are to go to these places if they have
to prosper and enjoy their life as is presented in reference 4 above. These
books introduce some of the Diasporas as well highlighting their
achievements that would not have been possible if they had stayed in their
native lands.
On the other hand, the third world countries are depicted as full of
difficulties and the barren landscape, like the one presented in “Why the old
woman limps” along with the picture describing the old African woman and
her plight.
6. “She goes to fetch water in the morning
And the well is five miles way,
She goes to fetch firewood with her axe
And the forest is five miles the other way” (FLE, p. 37)
The picture ascribed to it is of an old African woman in rags, with a bundle
of firewood on her back and a hand stretched out as if begging alms (See
Fig. 8 in the Appendix).

66
The whole poem describes a pathetic picture of the old African woman. The
use of third person pronoun “she” generalizes the misery to all African
women. The verb “goes” involves labor she has taken upon herself as an
obligation. Reference to the time of morning as the time of starting this
business also hints at the long stretch of time that involves labor of the
miserable woman. The distance of five miles on the one side and the other
five miles on the opposite side, that she has to travel, shows the long and
laboursome distance she has to travel daily. There are some other
household chores mentioned in the poem that involve the African woman.
If read from feministic point of view, the repetition of generic pronoun “she”
adds into the idea of victimization of the African women at the hands of the
system in which women are not spared to rest even at the age of sixty. Seen
in the context of previous pages of the book in which English women are
depicted enjoying the luxuries of life, the misery, inferiority and
backwardness of the African woman deepens. The semiotic analysis of the
appended picture also supports the view. The text of the poem is at the left
side of the page whereas, the picture is positioned at the right side of the
text which projects it as the “New” information deserving special attention
of the viewer. The picture of the black woman in rags is foregrounded,
whereas on the background is the barren land. From the perspectives of the
Frontal Angle, the image, like a “Demand” picture, gives out the idea from
the Blacks’ point of view that “What you see here is part of our world,
something we are involved with. The presentation of it from the Horizontal
Angle, gives it the coloring of objectivity (Kress & Leeuwen, 2006, p. 140).
The Framing of the picture in full figure as Medium Long Shot is suggestive
of the Close Social Distance. All these signs counted together, present the
picture as a representative of the abject poverty of the Africans.
Some other denigrating references of the third world especially of
Pakistan and India, contained in these books, are presented below:
7. “Never have I seen such a storm. In half an hour we know it’s no
use. We are exhausted and sick, our skin raw from the sand, our
voices gone from shouting and gulping in dust I close my burning
eyes and let Baba lead me home.”
“‘Allah, Allah,’ he says softly, tears streaking through the dust on his
cheeks. ‘There’s water enough for a day or two, until we find
Grandfather. We’ll survive.’” (OPE, pp. 34, 36, Storm in the Desert:
a story from Pakistan (See Fig. 3 in the Appendix).
8. “Viraf’s father was in bed, lying on his back, with a tube through his
nose. There was a long needle stuck into his right arm, and it glinted
cruelly in a thin shaft of sunlight that had suddenly slunk inside the
darkened room.” (FLE, p. 76, Of White Hairs and Cricket.)

67
Reference 7 above depicts Pakistan as a land of poverty, misery and
primitivity. This depiction is carried out with the use of coarse and piercing
verbs like, “yanks,” “pierced,” “howling,” “struggles,” and “manage,” etc.,
which describe the land as a hard area in which the inhabitants are struggling
for their survival (OPE, pp. 34-36) (See Fig. 3 in the Appendix). The picture of
an old nomadic man on a camel facing brunt of the storm in the desert also
supports the view. The Medium Long Shot picture covering the upper half of
the page tells the importance of the picture and “Newness” of the
information. The description in this way, ultimately creates fear and
abhorrence in the mind of the readers with the land. Reference 8 describes
India in the same way. The dark and gloomy environment of an Indian home
with a patient with all the apparatus studded in his body as if someone is in
the ICU ward of a hospital.
Such poor pictures of the third world countries with coarse verbs
and abhorring adjectives lead the learners of ELT towards an attitude of Self-
depreciation when they compare these depictions with those of illuminating
Euro-American environment. Sometimes this contrast is presented in the
same passage through word picture as well as visual illustration. One of the
examples is presented here of the environment and mode of travelling of
the Westerners and that of Africans:
9. (While the caravan is resting in the darkness after a day’s travelling
they,) “. . . hear a rapidly approaching vehicle and a high pitched
drone in the sky above us. It proves to be pair of French paragliders
. . . After two or three low passes over the camp this surreal figure
hits the ground to a burst of spontaneous applause.” “Francois
manages to get his craft airborne and the morning’s travelling is
enlivened by his appearances over the dunes, sweeping down across
the camel train, filming with one hand, steering with the other”
(OPE, p. 39, Sahara) (See Fig. 2 in the Appendix)
The picture of the French man in paraglide, in the air, crossing pass the camel
train, like an “Offer” picture, compels the attention of the viewer towards
the superiority of the French over the native people. The mechanical
development of Europeans is boasted of in the text with introduction of the
vehicle and the paraglide. The primitiveness of the Africans is highlighted as
they are travelling in camel caravan – the traditional mode of travelling for
centuries. This traditional travelling is “enlivened” by the appearance of the
French’s flying tricks in paraglide diving this way and that.
Not only the environment but also the people and products of Euro-
American region are depicted in the same pattern of positive Self-
presentation and those of the third world, in the pattern of negative Other-

68
presentation. The earlier are represented as advanced, role model, honest
and reliable. Some of the examples of this phenomenon are as under:
10. “The annals of the Mercy Ship are filled with poignant stories of lives
transformed by simple surgery, some of which would take a mere
ten minutes in a typical modern western hospital” (FLE p. 38, Africa
Mercy).
11. “Francois . . . has flown his machine all over the world . . . He talks
about the paraglider like a boy with a new toy . . . Yesterday they
were in Paris” (OPE p. 39, Sahara).
12. “How an 18-year-old computer whiz-kid from the UK became an
international ‘Global Leader of Tomorrow Tom Hadfield began using
computers at the age of two and founded his first website when he
was 12, . . .” (FLE p. 32, Internet Global Leader)
13. “A weight loss pill company has offered him a marketing deal worth
$5,000,000, but Steve’s integrity is intact. He has turned it down”
(OPE, p. 62, Fat Man Walking).
14. “The British-built Bedford truck with its seven-foot paneled sides
became the truck of choice because of its indestructibility . . . When
Vazhall stopped production of the Bedford trucks in the early
Nineties, Japanese imports like Hino and Nissan supplanted them,
but despite their superiority, drivers are nostalgic about the old
Bedfords” (OPE, p. 20, Kaleidoscopes on Wheels).
The 10th reference above is taken from a passage describing the Europeans’
achievements as philanthropists who have built a hospital in a large ship to
treat the infectious diseases of Africans on an African coast. Even the name
of the ship “Mercy Ship” represents and establishes the Europeans as great
humanitarians, full of the spirit of serving the humanity, irrespective of cast
and color, as the ship is serving the blacks in Africa. The word “annals” refers
to the volumes of the record maintained by the administrators also hints to
this point of view. The phrase, “poignant stories” refers to the stories of the
blacks suffering from the most infectious diseases. Moreover, the reference
to modern Western hospital is the reference to the modernity achieved by
the Westerners and it also establishes the advancement of the Euro-
Americans in the field of medical science. The 11threference presents
Francois, a French man, as naturally talented, as the machine (the
paraglider) is just a toy for him and he can fly with it all over the world. The
picture supporting the idea (See Fig. 2 in Appendix) depicts the paraglider
flying past the caravan of camels which is the traditional mode of travelling
of Arabs and the Africans. The 12th reference establishes an 18-year-old
computer whiz-kid from the UKas naturally talented, as he becomes an
international “Global Leader of Tomorrow” in such an early age. The
presentation of this advancement of Euro-Americans in contrast with the

69
traditional and backward mode of living of the third-world people is an
attempt of the writers of these books to establish the mental and
technological superiority of the Euro-Americans. The 13threference
establishes the integrity of the Euro-Americans that cannot be bought by
monetary temptations. The 14th reference establishes the reliability and
superiority of their products and people’s affiliation with them.
On the other hand, people of the third-world – the Other, are
represented as inferior, primitive, thieves, cheaters and criminals. Some of
the references extracted from the passages of the selected books that are
representative of this ideology are presented below:
15. “A group of giggling school children hot-foot around enormous steel
rigging bolts, as if each one is a piece of burning coal, before
plunging headlong into the pool” (FLE, p. 38, Africa Mercy),
16. “It’s practical, too. The taj helps to protect our loads from the eyes
of the police. The police are less likely to stop a well-painted truck,
he added” (OPE, p. 20, Kaleidoscopes on wheels) (See Fig. 1 in the
Appendix).
17. “Some girls shared their money with those who did not have any,
but nobody shared with Rukhsana. I saw her join a crowd of girls
around one stall and take one of the bottles of cola and run back to
the bus” (OPE, p. 54, Comparing two written reports).
18. The scarcity and abundance of food is depicted through the visual
illustration in the unit 4, with the title “Food” (Fig. 5). The passage “A
Beijing Childhood” (OPE, p. 57) depicts the scarcity of food in China
and “Fat Man Walking” (OPE, p. 61) depicts the abundance of food
in America (See Fig. 6 in the Appendix).
These extracts present a denigrating picture of the people of the third world,
of Africa, India and especially of Pakistan. In the 15threference, the African
children are depicted as if they are devoid of even the human identity. They
are represented as inferior as the pieces of burning coal, not human beings.
Just compare it with the above extracts in which the Westerns are depicted
as superior, the torch bearers of modernity, honest, technical and reliable.
The 16thextract, here, depicts Pakistanis as cheaters and thieves. Pakistani
drivers are shown as if they use the taj of the truck for hiding the overload
from the eyes of the police and they influence the police by rich decoration
of the truck to give away the message as if the truck belongs to some
influential person, stopping which may put the sergeant in some difficulty.
So the police do not dare to stop it. The 17threference, from two written
reports, depicts Pakistanis as financially weak and hence prone to cheating
and stealing things. This could be compared with the integrity of the
character of a White American in Reference 13 above. In this way, the books

70
establish “natural” inferiority of the people of the third world and “natural”
superiority of the Whites or the Euro-Americans.
The depiction of calm and serene environment of the Euro-
American regions serves as a bait for the people of the third world to come
and assimilate into that culture. This objective is not left on its own to be
achieved rather an implicit and sometimes an explicit attempt is made to
bring the learners round this aim. The explicit attempt is made to bring the
learners round this opinion sometimes through the activities appended to
these texts. At another time, the books present the dark and denigrating
picture of the environment of the third word. The purpose behind this
inclusion, according to Viswanathan (1989), is to draw up “a system of
comparative evaluations in which one culture could be set off and measured
against the other” (1989, p. 30).
Conclusion
The ELT books adopted in elite schools of Pakistan are replete with
biased representation of Euro-Americans and the people of the third world.
A strong current of racism is running through the passages of these books.
The main strategy the writers have adopted in writing these books is to
present one-sided illuminated picture of the Euro-Americans. This
phenomenon is dominant in all the selected books. There is sprinkling of the
representation of the environment and people of the third world as well.
But the point to be noted is that wherever this depiction is given that is so
depressing and humiliating that the learner may develop an attitude of
discord and discontentment with that society and culture. He/she then runs
to integrate into the alternative culture that is magnified in his/her eyes
through the positive Self-presentation of the Euro-Americans. The biased
attitude can also be deciphered in these books in the matter of inclusion
and exclusion, as was also pointed out by Varzande (2015). The matters of
interest, regarded high in the estimation of the Euro-Americans, were
depicted in these books and the environment and the people of the third
world were examined only from those standards whereas the points of
interest of the third world were totally ignored. The result of this politics of
selection and rejection was obvious in the form of establishment of Euro-
American ideo-cultural hegemony in these books. Seen in the wide scenario
of the world politics, this is a sheer example of neo-colonial or neo-imperial
attempt of subjugating the mind of the third world through the major icon
of the ideological state apparatus i.e., schools.
This politics of establishing ideological supremacy of the Euro-
Americans in Pakistan through ELT books is infectious to the ideological
state of Pakistan which has its own ideological standards to be met by the
denizens of this ideological state. These ideological standards are totally
independent of the Euro-American ideologies and hence any attempt to

71
relegate these standards is unbearable for most of the Pakistanis. The
structure of the Euro-American ideological building stands on the pillars of
hedonism, materialism, consumerism, commercialism, adventurism,
rationalism, and racism, etc. Islam, on the other hand, wants to promote the
philosophy of Taqwa (piety – fearing Allah’s wrath and doing the right),
spirituality, simplicity, straightforwardness, Ikhlaas (doing every right deed
for winning Allah’s favor), equality, fraternity, and a blind belief in Allah. In
addition, it also wants to promote the spirit of following the Sunnah
(tradition) of the Holly Prophet (PBUH), Namaz (prayer), Roza (fasting), Hajj,
Zakat, etc. However, the Westerners, mainly, the Euro-Americans’ attempt
of establishing superiority over the rest of the world through the depiction
of their technological advancement, is merely an endeavor to make the rest
of the world, especially the Muslims, realize that the reason for their
bereavement is their distance from the scientific and technical education
which is the result of their steadfastness with their religion. This is totally a
wrong notion. Islam does not hinder its followers from attaining scientific
education rather it encourages them to do so. Moreover, as Asad (2004)
made a stand that science is neither Eastern nor Western, it stands on the
experiences of the past, therefore can be borrowed from the Western world
without any feeling of the humility. He further recommends in “Islam at the
Crossroads” (1982) that Muslims should adopt only science not the culture
of the West as the West had adopted science and not the culture of the
Muslims once, back in history.
There is the need to supplant these ELT books with those which
have unbiased and neutral language learning material like the one found in
functional English. Shah et al. (2012) have narrated examples of Saudi Arabia
and Turkey where ELT syllabus is free from Western hegemonic influence.
ELT syllabus may also be indigenized which may also result into better
learning of this language as is suggested by Kasaian & Subbakrishna (2013).
Therefore, following these examples, we can also indigenize ELT syllabus in
Pakistan as well.
On another plane, there is a severe need of critical pedagogy in the
subject of ELT so that the learners may not be convinced by the one-sided
world view of the Euro-Americans and may not start thinking their past as a
wasteland. Both the teachers and the taught may be trained to understand
and unmask the hidden relation of power exemplified in binary oppositions
in these texts as was visualized by Berten (2014) and they must be able to
activate their critical antennas or, more properly, what Frank (2013) said,
“cultural antennas” whenever and wherever any foreign contradictory
ideological signal passes through their senses. They must be acquainted
with CDA which may produce critical thinking ability in them “to detect
hidden agendas of the language use” (Rahimi & Riasati, 2011, p. 111). Al-

72
Quaderi and Al Mahmud (2010) also propose such a “post-colonial
pedagogic system” for English language teaching in order to offset the
effects of neo-colonialism.
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 Appendix
List of Figures

Fig. 1 Kaleidoscopes on wheels (OPE, p. 20) Fig. 2 Sahara (OPE, p. 38)

Fig. 4 The kingdom (OPE, p.130)

Fig. 3 Storm in the Desert (OPE, p. 35)

Fig. 5 A Beijing Childhood (OPE, p. 57) Fig. 6 Fat Man Walking (OPE, p. 61)

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Fig. 7 Choosing where to go for higher edu. Fig. 8 Why the old woman limps (FLE, p. 37)
(FLE, p. 34)

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 NUML Journal of Critical Inquiry Vol 15(II) December, 2017 ISSN 2222-5706

Critical Metaphor Analysis:

Nawaz Sharif and the Myth of a Golden Time
Lubna Umar1
Sarwet Rasul2
Abstract
This paper explains how metaphorical language activates
conceptual metaphors that help identify myths in discourse produced by
politicians. Narratives weaved in political discourse help identify the stance
taken by political leaders as mythical discourse affects political practice by
imbuing language with power, legitimizing policies and driving the audience
to act. The study aims to explore how different metaphors used and
structured in cognition and discourse by Nawaz Sharif in both Urdu and
English speeches give rise to conceptual metaphors to expose the speakers’
ideology and reveal underlying narratives and political myths. For this
purpose, the researchers selected five speeches of Nawaz Sharif and
employed Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA) approach provided by
Charteris-Black (2005) according to which a complete analysis of metaphor
integrates its semantic, pragmatic and cognitive dimensions to reveal the
underlying conceptual metaphors and narratives. Sharif activates the two
myths that is, Myth of a Golden Time and United We Stand. The Myth of a
Golden Time is the dominant myth generated by drawing attention to plans
of good governance, promises of a glorious future and the current state of
destruction while the United We Stand Myth is generated by making an
appeal to the nation for support in challenging times. It is observed that
political journey, political promises and socio-economic development are
the target domains that are identified and explained as Sharif largely draws
upon source domains of journey, light and building in order to evoke an
image of progress through the use of linguistic metaphors.
Keywords: metaphors, ideology, myth, political discourse
Introduction
Myths have come to be known as fantastic narratives that include
the story of supernatural forces present since historical times while
describing and propagating concepts of community. Lincoln asserts that
myth is an ideologically weighted narrative concerning figures and events
from a remote past which shapes contemporary ideologies and can be
traced back to seven century BC (1999, p. 3). The ability of the myth to carry
within it the ideological matter is what makes it stand out from other
narratives. This provides it with an exalted status and associates it with
sacred narrative. Barthes describes a myth as representing fictional tales
that carry a timeless and universal appeal and truth that is seen as a picture

78
of the world that is historical and ideological in nature. Charteris-Black, on
the other hand explains it as another kind of a story that provides
explanation about everything that needs to be explained such as all
mysterious things including the origin of the universe, life and death and so
on thus providing a narrative-based representation of intangible evocative
experiences that are linked to emotions such as sadness and happiness, etc.,
(2005). Therefore, it is by conveying the unconscious through narratives that
both myth and ideology work to persuade the audience. The point of
departure for both is seen in the medium that they manifest in.
Ideology circulates through language while myth does not
necessarily require language to be communicated, that is, it is “not text-
bound as ideology is” (Charteris-Black, 2005). We can be aware of the
effects of ideology more than we can be of myth as origins of myth are
partially rooted in language. In case it manifests in language, myth heavily
draws upon metaphors and other such rhetorical devices, therefore, the
study of metaphors has the ability to reveal myth behind language. A myth
is used as a form of symbolism which can be defined as something visible
that stands for something elusive thus revealing certain aspects of reality
that would normally remain hidden. Myth is autonomous in character, that
is, it is self-justified and does not require an outsider to verify it, however, it
is in a continuous process of being refurbished, also termed as
demythologizing with the passage of time but does retain its fundamental
and basic structures. It is through this symbolism that myth shapes itself
upon the human psyche. It can be strongly structured and logical, or
historical and pre-logical; a revelation or deception; true or fiction;
archetypal or stereotypical, but what makes a difference is how myths are
interpreted in thought in a social context.
Charteris-Black asserts that both ideology and myth are similar as
they require language to contribute to social cognition (2005). This provides
a system of representation of members of a certain group based on a long
term use of the representation realized through conventional language.
According to scholars, in order to reveal myth, not only the text, but the
context along with the intent of the author or writer need to be analyzed. It
is through the use of metaphor that the relation between cognition and
emotion, ideology and myth can be studied.
Political myths are narratives of the past, present and predicted
political events that the tellers communicate to the audience through
narrating stories such as; exploits of cultural heroes; story of rebirth and
renewal; eschatological stories, etc., that help link them up to the myths of
those societies (Flood, 1996, p. 42). “Political language can evoke a set of
mythic beliefs in subtle and powerful ways” (Edelman, 1998). Political myths
in modern secular society do not have a sacred status but are nevertheless

79
accepted as the truth by a social group. Lincoln asserts that they should,
however, carry sufficient authority that they hold a paradigmatic value as a
“model of” and “model for” reality among its believers (1999, p. 24).
In any analysis of political discourse, political myths are a crucial
part. Metaphor analysis is essential as it “enables us to identify which
metaphors are chosen and to explain why these metaphors are chosen by
illustrating how they create political myths” (Charteris-Black, 2005, p. 28)
since there is no concept of objective and absolute truth, therefore truth is
understood in the backdrop of a conceptual system (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980,
p. 185). Thus, the conceptual metaphors generated in this study provide a
base for revealing political myth in the data drawn from speeches of Nawaz
Sharif.
The extensive use of metaphorical language in everyday life
indicates that we not only talk in metaphors, but most of our thinking is
done through them too. Thus, metaphors are a part of our conceptual
system that is an essential element of our language. Metaphors have
persuasive power as they represent an entirely different manner of viewing
things and as a result provide a brand new perception of ideas. This is done
by forming conceptual frameworks that give birth to novel ideas and also
provide new lexical expressions by filling lexical gaps. Metaphors play a
pivotal role in developing ideologies especially in areas such as politics
where influencing ideas become a primary objective due to the presence of
different groups in opposition to each other with power and interests at
stake. In order for them to compete, these political groups need to be
ideologically conscious and organized, thus the political process is
essentially an ideological process.
The main question this paper aims to address is, how different
metaphors used and structured in cognition and discourse by Nawaz Sharif
in both Urdu and English speeches give rise to conceptual metaphors to
expose the speakers’ ideology and reveal underlying narratives and political
myths? This study contributes to the field of metaphorology in language
used in the Pakistani context in terms of theoretical knowledge and practice.
It provides knowledge about the metaphoric expressions used as an
underlying conceptual system by politicians in general and Nawaz Sharif in
particular. Analyzing the role of metaphors in both Urdu and English
explores how meaning is created in different languages. Also, how the
identification of the schemas arising from the study gives an insight into the
social practices in Pakistan, thus revealing how ideology gets perpetuated
through the non-literal linguistic devices. It also provides better
understanding of the meaning making process and the underlying patterns
which are otherwise not visible.

80
Theoretical Framework
The present study adopts Black’s (2011) critical metaphor approach
as a theoretical framework that is inspired by Lakoff’s (1980) Conceptual
Metaphor Theory (CMT). According to CMT, metaphors are a matter of
thought, thus focusing on cognitive and semantic domains. Critical
Metaphor Aanalysis (CMA), however, draws on pragmatics and on cognitive
approach developed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980). A complete analysis of
metaphor will integrate its semantic, pragmatic and cognitive dimensions
(Black; 2005, p. 2), therefore, this study aims to address the cognitive,
semantic and pragmatic attributes of metaphors by using CMA. Cognitive
semantics and CMA, according to Black (2011) are important linguistic
contributions towards a theory of rhetoric and persuasion for political
communication (p. 49). CMA provides us with a methodology for analysis
and interpretation of ideology and illustrates how rhetoric is used for
purpose of legitimization (p. 48).
The research method adopted for analysis of discourse in this paper
is qualitative in nature as the study aims to view text as a window into
broader social and cultural processes. It examines text as an object of
analysis to provide a detailed investigation, looking at the specific structure
of discourse and interaction to understand how shared meanings are
socially constructed.
Method and Procedure
This study while employing the Critical Metaphor Analysis approach
aims to activate the underlying myth in the political discourse generated by
Nawaz Sharif through the analysis of metaphorical expressions and the
conceptual metaphors that they generate. For this purpose, five speeches
of Nawaz Sharif are selected spanning over a time period of two years after
he became the elected Prime Minister starting from 2013 to 2014. This
includes a total of three speeches in Urdu and two in English language. The
speeches selected for analysis are on the basis of themes that include
Address to Nation, National Assembly (NA) address, National Day, UN/US
address, Election campaign and Terrorism. These themes cover all subject
areas that a Pakistani political leader would speak on in the Pakistani
context. These six themes are covered by Sharif in the selected (two English
and three Urdu) speeches. Apart from addressing the international
audience, most of Nawaz Sharif’s speeches are in the Urdu language. Since
the data was collected in 2014 and Nawaz Sharif became Prime Minister in
2013, therefore, only a period of two years is selected.
The selected speeches are taken from the official website of the
Prime Ministers’ Office and metaphorical expressions drawn from them,
interpreted and explained. Metaphorical expressions are taken out and

81
written/transcribed by the researcher using the Metaphor Identification
Procedure (MIP) provided by Praggle jazz group (2007) (See Appendix I for
details). Once the metaphors are identified and classified into their source
domains, conceptual metaphors arising from them are provided and
discussed. The identified metaphors and source domains assigned to them
are attached in Appendix II. Both English speeches are combined together
as well as three Urdu speeches before source domains are allocated prior to
analysis. Tables of metaphors identified are presented in Appendix II in
combined source domain tables. According to the key applied for marking
every metaphorical expression, S is used to identify speech number while
metaphorical expressions in English are marked as C and those in Urdu as K.
The study then provides interpretation on how conceptual
metaphors activate schemas that further provide the underlying myth that
runs throughout the text. Explanation is provided regarding establishing
their ideological and rhetorical motivation through identification of their
function in discourse. The motivation comes from the context of the
expressions rather than from intuition of the researcher. The image
schemas drawn are taken under consideration for better understanding of
the cognitive process that reveals underlying ideology and activating
political myths.
The metaphorical expressions provided in the Analysis and
Discussion section are presented with a one-inch indentation and the
metaphorical words or phrases are in bold letters in order to make text easy
to understand. For the Urdu speeches, the transcription key developed by
Rasul (2006) (See Appendix III) is used and the metaphorical linguistic
expressions are transcribed accordingly. The Urdu metaphorical expressions
are italicized to differentiate from the English data, whereas the translations
are not. Further, conceptual metaphors are shown in uppercase letters.
In some cases, metaphor translation poses a big challenge as it is
difficult to translate concepts from one language to the other, however this
study does not require to give conceptual translations. Newmark (2008)
advocates that in the process of translating metaphors, choice of the way of
translation depends upon many factors including the type of text, number
of metaphors used and the translators’ decision to use figurative speech in
the translated text. In this case the translator is the researcher and is a
native Urdu speaker and a teacher of English language. A literal translation
of the metaphors is provided by her depending upon the requirement of the
study so that the essence of the meaning is not lost. The metaphors are
translated in a literal manner since the study analyzes the metaphorically
used lexicons and expressions and does not require metaphor to metaphor
translation in order to maintain original concepts and to keep domains
intact.

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Analysis and Discussion
Nawaz Sharif in his political discourse uses metaphors to evoke an
iconographic image of change. Future plans, promises and challenges that
comprise a larger chunk of his target domains builds up a narrative of hope
that is synonymous to change. This is done by using metaphors that draw
from a source domain of journey, building and light.
Metaphors of Journey
The most frequently used metaphors by Sharif in his Urdu speeches
use journey as a source domain, however the most interesting aspect here
is that journey is used with light and building metaphors to evoke an image
of progress. Charteris-Black uses the terminology nested metaphors “for the
rhetorical practice of placing a metaphor from one source domain within
the metaphor of another source domain” (2005), while explaining how light
and fire metaphors can be nested together, he asserts that, “there is no limit
to the number of metaphors that can be connected in this way.” In Sharif’s
data the metaphors of journey, light and building are nested together and
since they are linked together they must be analyzed together too. Nesting
indicates that an element of inappropriateness or overelaboration can be
found in this style as it is not a conventional one, but falls into the category
of poetic style because of the novelty of the image that it gives rise to
(Charteris-Black, 2005). Conventional metaphors are those found in
everyday language and are thus neither seen as novel nor categorized as
such whereas the metaphors that do not conform to conventional standards
are those that are termed as novel due to this divergence. Features such as
inappropriateness and overelaboration therefore, lend novelty to the
metaphor that becomes a key feature of metaphors used by Sharif.
In his analysis of Churchill’s speeches Charteris-Black (2005)
discusses how often metaphors are nested to heighten the persuasive effect
by creating an interaction between a number of source domains. This can
be viewed from the following metaphors by Churchill:
History with its flickering lamp stumbles along the trail of
the past, trying to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its
echoes, and kindle with pale gleams the passion of former
days. What is the worth of all this? The only guide to a man
in his conscious; the only shield to his memory is the
rectitude and sincerity of his actions . . . (12 Novemebr,
1940)
Sharif has used the three source domains separately as well as in association
with each other. This can be viewed from the following example taken from
the data:

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 Jamhūriat ki roshan rāh pe chalnaey ke siwā hamāraey pās
koi rāsta nahi, hum pīchaey mūr kar dekhain tau jā bjā
tabāhi kaey wo khandar dikhāi detaey hain jo tawīl
āamriyaton ki wajā saey hamāra mūqaddar ho gaey (S2K6)
We don’t have a path other than to walk on the illuminated
path of democracy, if we turn and look back we shall see
the ruins of destruction everywhere that has become our
fate due to prolonged dictatorships.
It is interesting to note that this kind of nesting is not found in Sharif’s
English speeches, though he has made generous use of the three domains
of journey, light and buildings in English. The use of roshan rah represents
democracy as a journey based on POLITICS IS A BUILDING blended with the
concept already activated by international politicians analyzed by Charteris-
Black that is, “HOPE IS LIGHT” and “STOPPING IS BAD” (2005). The previous
military takeovers and regimes are presented as death and destruction. All
these domains are connected with the basic underlying metaphor POLITICS
IS A JOURNEY realized by the use of words such as rāh, rāsta and pīchaey.
Journey metaphors in the political discourse are employed to present
change and evoke a sense of a new beginning (Koteyco & Clarke, 2009)
which is why they are the most frequently employed metaphors in Sharif’s
speeches as his rhetorical intension of gaining a position in the international
world politics as a newly elected Prime Minister of the member state of the
United Nations.
The journey metaphor is among the most pervasive source domains
used as it emerges from a pervasive, everyday human experience. This has
been elaborated by Lakoff and Johnson (1989, pp. 60-61) as:
Our understanding of life as a journey uses our knowledge
about journeys. All journeys involve travelers, paths
travelled, places where we start, and places where we have
been. Some journeys are purposeful and have destinations
that we set out for, while others may involve wandering
without any destination in mind, consciously or more likely
unconsciously, a correspondence between a traveler and
person living life, the road traveled and the “course” of a
lifetime, a starting point and a time of birth, and so on.
It is seen that anything that is rooted in our experience makes more sense
and is easy to understand whereas, anything that violates the basic human
experience is difficult to understand (Langston, 2002). Understanding the
dynamics of buildings too requires previous knowledge that is, as a structure
providing shelter, made of concrete or wood, having doors locked by keys,
windows, rooms etc. Building as a source domain in Sharif’s data is realized

84
by the word khandar that is “ruins of a town or house” defined by the
Oxford Urdu-English dictionary. This building has turned into ruins where no
life is found. The state of the country is explained through the term that
evokes an image of destruction and degradation where people cannot
survive. This stark imagery arouses self-pity and sympathy in the audience
thus proving to be highly persuasive. The expression roshan rāh pe indicate
the presence of light on the political journey undertaken by the Nawaz
government and since HOPE IS LIGHT therefore the democratic journey is
the journey of hope.
Awaam . . . ghar se niklay aur jamhūriat ki tārīkh ka roshan
bāb raqam kiya (S2K4)
Public . . . came out of their houses and penned a shining
chapter of history.
Example (S2K4) presents history as a book with illuminated chapters which
provide a positive evaluation of the journey and light metaphors. The term
roshan bāb is understood as the people’s decision to come out and vote to
elect their desired representatives and is explained via the conceptual
domain of the most illuminating chapter of Pakistan’s democratic history so
far. This exaggeration heightens the rhetorical appeal by providing a positive
feedback to the audience. Again the use of the phrase roshan bāb provides
the concept that elected parliament is a chapter of hope. The schema of
history according to Sharif, has chapters that is connected with the political
journey thus giving rise to the metaphor POLITICAL JOURNEY IS A BOOK OF
HISTORY. The discussed examples also give rise to the conceptual metaphor
DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED GOVERNMENT IS HOPE. Sharif uses the phrase
roshan Pakistan for the state of the country that shall become once the
politically elected government completes its tenure. The use of such words
arouse the emotions and elicit a state of hopefulness for the future. Further,
damak, būnyād and sang-e-mīl are words from all three source domains
that are nested together in examples (S2K14) and (S2K32). Roshan Pakistan
can be defined as brightly lit Pakistan that is a symbol of hope and is
associated with the concept HOPE IS LIGHT. The word damak is defined as
glitter or brilliance used for understanding the future of Pakistan under
Sharif’s governance. This brilliant Pakistan has a būnyād or the
foundation/groundwork as a fundamental ingredient in the construction of
a building. Pakistan therefore is seen as a building under construction, thus
activating the conceptual metaphor PAKISTAN IS A BUILDING.
Pānch baras bād jab hum rūkhsat hontau aik roshan,
khūdār, khūshāl aur khūdmūkhtār pakistān dūnya ke ūfaq
per āftāb ki tarāh damak raha ho (S2K14)

85
 After five years when we depart, a bright, proud, happy and
independent Pakistan should be shinning like a sun upon
the horizon of the world.
Aik roshan pakistān ki manzil keliye tabdīli kaey amal ka
aghāz ho chuka hai (S2K32)
The process of change has begun for the destination of a
bright Pakistan.
The same underlying concept that explains the political journey of building
up Pakistan as one that is brightly lit is found in the word manzil in (S2K32)
defined as the destination. Journeys according to the Quranic teachings
offer two paths where one is dark and leads to destruction while the other
is illuminated and leads to rewards and paradise. Thus the continued
reference to roshan symbolizes, not only hope attached with progress in the
right direction, but also represents paradise and eternal happiness. tamīr-
e-watan in (S2K3) is a journey of constructing the nation, thus the metaphor
PAKISTAN IS A BUILDING is activated. This becomes the underlying
conceptual frame in almost all the metaphors of journey, light and building
used in Sharif’s data.
Mūjhay bhi yaqīn hai ke wo tamīr-e-watan ke is mission mai
hamesha meray shāna bashāna rahen ge (S2K3)
I am sure that they will always remain shoulder to shoulder
with me in this mission of nation building.
Sharif uses the words bala dasty, mohim joi ke tamām darwāzaey, manzil
and pāon pay kharā that largely draw from the journey source domain. bala
dasty indicates direction where bala means up and dasty means relating to
the hands. Therefore, the target domain of status of the constitution is
understood via the up direction where UP IS GOOD. Doors in any journey
signify the beginning in mohim joi ke tamām darwāzaey which can be
defined as doors of (rebellious) movements have been closed by the Sharif
government.
Smāji aur tajārti sargarmiyon ko farogh daey ker kafālat ki
aisi manzil hasil karni hai ke Pakistān apnay pāon pay kharā
ho sakay (S2K26)
Through social and trade activities a destination of
guardianship needs to be achieved where Pakistan can
stand on its own feet.
manzil here signifies the goal of the journey of economic development that
Sharif’s government is bent upon initiating to make the nation progress. The
journey of politics is seen in separate segments that join together to form

86
the frame POLITICS IS A JOURNEY which may entail ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT IS A JOURNEY.
Journey of Change
Sharif draws upon the source domain of journey of change
frequented through Urdu metaphors on the status of a slogan. The need to
build a new and brilliant nation is seen as an underlying schema throughout
his speech. The conceptual metaphor these metaphorical expressions
generate is PML-N RULE IS A JOURNEY OF CHANGE realized by the
expressions Tabdīli kay safar, safar ka har sang-e-mīl, aghāz-e-safar, nai
dūnya abād, naey safar ke liye zād-e-rah, Tabdīlion kay safar, and naye
dareechay khulain gaey. The metaphor GOOD GOVERNING IS CREATING,
provided by Charteris-Black (2005) while analyzing metaphors in Clinton’s
speeches can also serve as a broad underlying frame for all the metaphorical
expressions in journey of change source domain.
The phrase nai dūnya abād has idiomatic underpinnings and can be
understood as creating a new world not physically but one that is better
than the previous one we inhabit. Similarly, naey safar indicates the same.
A journey that aims to build new structures entails the presence of building
material or equipment. Sharif refers to this equipment as Humaray dāman
mai āaj bhi itna kuch hai and zād-e-rah that is used to understand perfect
mixture of the youth population of Pakistan, the nuclear assets and the PML-
N government that is the recipe for successfully achieving the goal. This
presents the initial roadmap of the journey of change. Charteris-Black
(2005) asserts that using a large variety of creation metaphors such as in the
case of nai dūnya abād by Sharif, creates not only a discourse style for the
politician but also provides positive evaluations of the actions and purposes
of the government. The linguistic forms employed in such positive
reifications are active verbs with first person plural subjects that allows the
electorate to identify with the government as an active force. This can be
seen in the use of hum, humaray, and mujhay in sharif’s speeches.
To add to the moral dimension of the journey of change, Sharif’s use
of the term sang-e-mīl which are milestones in the course of a journey and
are indicators of how much distance has been travelled as well as keep the
traveler informed that he is on the right track. These milestones are used as
indicators of the good intensions PML-N government harbors. They are
instruments measuring distance covered in terms of good governance and
bear witness to the moral righteousness of Sharif’s policies. This is done by
the use of the phrase hamāray jazbā-e-amāl defined as the intentions
motivating action, the term marhala indicates the journey is viewed in
different phases of action.

87
 Is safar ka har sang-e-mīl hamāray khūlūs ki gawāhi daey
ga (S2K31)
Every milestone of this journey will vouch for our honesty.
Sharif uses the future tense to indicate how the journey of change shall be
and how it will affect the people of the country. This rhetorical strategy is
highly persuasive and keeps the audience interested and waiting for such an
extraordinary event. Another phase that Sharif talks about is the one where
doors of opportunities shall be opened up for everyone. Given that
unemployment and inflation has had every one in its grips in Pakistan, and
where employment opportunities are only for those who are influential, the
possibilities that he offers awakens and arouses desires among the masses.
The conceptual frame underlying the metaphorical expressions is NEW
POLICIES ARE DOORS.
Agar hum ūnko paish-e-nazar rakhain tau naey azm ke sāth
aghāz-e-safar ker saktay hain (S3K11)
If we keep them in front of our eyes then we can begin our
journey with a new resolve.
The term aghāz-e-safar or the beginning of the journey is associated with
discarding old values and policies devised by previous regimes. The
conceptual metaphor that arises is DISCARDING OLD PRACTICES IS A NEW
JOURNEY. The concept “being on the same page is movement” indicates the
same underlying thought of being able to move forward by involving the
parliament to work together and form roadmaps that may lead to a better
time ahead.
Tabdili kaey is safar mai mūjhay is pārliment ka sāth
chāhiye hai (S2K35)
In this journey of change I require the closeness of this
parliament.
NEW POLICIES ARE DOORS can also be understood antithetically as old
policies are closed doors. It is only the process of closing old doors that can
lead to opening of new ones that ultimately lead to a changed destination.
For this the path that the previous government had adopted is based on the
underlying concept of DISCARDING OLD PRACTICES IS A NEW JOURNEY that
is also in resonance with BAD GOVERNING IS DESTROYING (Charteris-Black,
2005). That the need by the PML-N to act as an impediment to the
movement against opposition political parties becomes essential. This
further presents Sharif and his political party as having courageous and
patriotic sentiments. Sharif, through the use of journey metaphors evokes a
magnified sense of change that is associated with breaking with a past that

88
is represented as destructive. Embarking on a new journey is the best
possible solution as he urges the nation to move ahead towards a new
beginning.
Metaphors of Light
Sharif’s use of metaphors of light is unique in the way it presents an
iconographic image of the nation as a light source that is apparent from its
systematic use in his speeches. Further, nesting light source domain with
that of journey and creation adds to the persuasive effect of the light
metaphor. They are also an integral part of the Quranic text and anything
related to religion is seen with great authority and reverence and is a part
of our fundamental conceptual makeup.
Sharif uses the expressions chirāgh, roshan, ujli qiyādat, roshni har
shab-e-tāriq ka ilāj, tābnāk māzi, roshni, tābnāk kiran, sāye mandlā rahay,
roshan ravāyat, and roshan Pakistān ka damakta hua chehra that signifies
the light source domain. The word chirāgh defined as a lamp has the
capacity to be lit and thus give off light. It is also seen as a light source that
helps people find their way. Freedom is understood as a lamp as a light
source for others but for it to burn and give off light it requires fuel or some
kind of energy. The efforts (energy) of the politicians allow the lamp
(freedom) to burn and give off light (hope/direction/knowledge) to the
people that are in darkness (after effects of bad governance of previous
regimes).
Azādi ka chirāgh yūnhi roshan nahi hota (S3K1)
The lamp of freedom is not lighted for nothing.
The phrase roshan ravāyat is used by Sharif to explain the political culture
that the new government has introduced for empowering other political
parties despite having the power to rule. This culture of devolution of power
is understood as a culture that is bright. The conceptual metaphor that
underlies these expressions is GOOD GOVERNANCE IS LIGHT. And if GOOD
GOVERNANCE IS LIGHT then LEADERS ARE LIGHT SOURCE as it is through
them that good governance is experienced. This is realized by the phrase ujli
qiyādat and Kirdār-o-azm ki roshni in the following examples:
Aisi ujli qiyādat sach ye hai ke kisi qoum keliye atyā-e-
khūdāwandi se kam nahi (S3K2)
Such a bright leadership in true words is nothing less than a
gift of God for any nation.
Kirdār-o-azm ki roshni har shab-e-tāriq ka ilāj hai (S3K4)
The light of character and resolve is the cure for every dark
night.

89
ujli is defined as radiant and shinning by Oxford Urdu-English Dictionary.
Kirdār-o-azm are two words meaning character and intensions that are the
most important traits in a person. The leaders are individuals who shine in
life. They are gifts from God to humanity. Also, their character and
intensions illuminate the lives of others in such manner that every shab-e-
tārīq that is, dark night is cured by it. Thus, the light/hope radiating from the
leaders is healing energy serving as cure for bleak and hopeless times that
are associated with darkness of the night. Light and darkness source
domains are used together antithetically by Sharif. The words of light and
darkness are used alternatively in the Quran indicating difference of faith
and faithlessness. The metaphor of light is repeated 25 times in the Quran
that revolves around the basic concept that the one who believes in God
and His word will live in light. The metaphor of darkness is repeated 8 times
and metaphorizes disbelief and faithlessness. It is noteworthy that Sharif
also uses the same pattern in this example that the Quran contains that is,
“In every Quranic verse every mention of light is followed in the same verse
by the mention of darkness” (Mohamed, 2014, pp. 642-3).
The conceptual metaphor arising from the metaphorical expressions
used in the Quranic analysis of light and darkness metaphors by Muhamed
(2014) is BELIEF IN GOD IS LIGHT and since “God Himself is metaphorized as
light and as a source of light” (Mohamed, 2012 p644) the metaphor GOD IS
LIGHT used by Charteris-Black (2005) is applicable here too. Considering the
metaphors Sharif uses, the underlying metaphor LEADERS ARE LIGHT
SOURCE also provide a framework of LEADERS ARE GODLIKE.
Hum aik aisi falāhi riyāsat banāna chāhtay thay jis ki taraf
tamām dūnya kaey insān roshni ke liye rūjū karaey (S3K10)
We had wanted to make such a welfare state towards which
all people would refer to for light.
Humāray pās wo roshni hai jo māyūsi ki tārīki ko ūjālay mai
tabdīl kar sakti hai (S3K12)
We possess the light that can transform the darkness of
hopelessness into light.
Hum sahi faisla kernay ki ahliyat rakhtay hai, ye bhi ūmid ki
aik tābnāk kiran hai (S3K14)
We possess the faculty of taking the right decision; this is
also an illuminated ray of hope.
The examples given above employ words roshni and tābnāk kiran which are
defined as light and a bright ray of light. Light is used to explain knowledge,
experience and wisdom towards which the world looks up for guidance. The

90
Pakistani youth and its position in the future is understood through the
concept of “hope is a light ray,” thus the metaphors KNOWLEDGE IS LIGHT
and HOPE IS LIGHT provide a broader framework for such expressions. The
light source domain is used in collocation with the darkness domain that
defines future and youth as light and hopelessness of bad governance as
darkness. This light is dominant over darkness as it has power to overcome
it. History is explained as a ray of light that keeps shining upon the future
to provide guidance and hope to the generations to come.
Moreover, developmental projects initiated by the Sharif
government are seen as lamps and light sources that are burning
continuously to provide light to all. The Gwadar project is the lamp, the fuel
is the government efforts, the light that it emits is opportunities for the
people and the long term generation of revenue is the continuity of its light.
(gawadar project) aisa chirāgh hai jo mūsalsal lau de rahā
hai (S3K16)
It is such a lamp that is continuously giving light.
Extremism is understood through the expression sāye mandlā rahay
defined as shadows hanging overhead. Shadows block the light and gives
rise to darkness. Since darkness is associated with despair and hopelessness,
therefore, extremism is also hopelessness. This presents a stark contrast
between the light that Sharif’s governance gives and the darkness of
terrorism that was a part of previous governments.
Sharif’s data from English speeches shows that journey metaphors
are the most frequented ones and comprise a total of 25% of the
metaphorical expressions identified. Journey source domain is realized
through the use of terms such as stood, anchor, roadmap, step, goals,
mobilizing, move, embarks, go beyond, move forward, landmark, step up,
cusp, goal, and driver.
Sharif sees journey not only as a forward movement, but makes use
of other elements of a journey that includes taking “step” as in example
(S1C21) where it indicates the process of walking that is a means of covering
any distance. The purposeful movement from A to B indicates an
achievement that may range from reaching the fridge to get something or
for years long pilgrimage. It is therefore seen that we systematically employ
the journey schema to understand through conceptualizing the continued
quests we undertake in life (Forceville, 2011).
The Geneva conference will be a big step in ending the crisis
in Syria (S1C21)

91
Sharif further explains key political concepts as target domains such as
political journey, political promises and socio-economic development and
challenges faced by his government.
Political Journey as Target Domain
Sharif highlights his political journey that has been a difficult one
through words and phrases such as a new dawn, I stood firm, vibrant, and
lower our guard as he has had to stand firm without lowering his guard lest
democracy be compromised. A prospective threat to democracy is used to
create an emotional appeal to legitimize his coming to power the third time.
Political Promises as Target Domain
The most employed target domain explained by Sharif is the
multitude of political promises that he made at the global level during his
meeting at the United Nations Security Council. Promises of global, regional
and national peace through policy reforms were made along with promises
of improving relations with the neighboring India and Afghanistan. Further,
promises of eradicating extremism and aiding the reconciliation process and
promises of pursuing goals of nuclear disarmament and nuclear
proliferation were being made to pacify the international audience. Given
below are a few examples of those promises:
We can build on the Lahore Accord signed in1999 which
contained a road map for the resolution of our differences
through peaceful negotiations (S1C15)
We will work together with Afghanistan . . . establish and
reinforce regional trade energy and communication
corridors (S1C16)
We hope that soon Palestine will join this body as a full
member state (S1C17)
We appeal to the Syrian government and opposition groups
to move to the negotiating table in Geneva to prepare a
road map for national reconciliation (S1C18)
Socio-Economic Development as Target Domain
Sharif successfully draws upon the source domains of building,
disaster and instrument to explicitly elaborate the phenomenon as he
reveals developmental goals. Further, international assistance and
understanding is what he seeks from the international community. This is
elaborated in the following examples:
We are building a new Pakistan with a robust economy
(S1C31)

92
 We intend to use education as a key driver of socio-
economic development of Pakistan (S1C32)
By investing in their education and skills, we aim to tap into
this demographic dividend (S1C33)
Myth of a Golden Time
Sharif’s political journey, best described as rocky with two tenures
annulled - first by a civilian president and then by a military dictator – over
severe corruption charges and a series of scandals, ultimately resulting in
his dismissal from office, necissited a revised future plan. In order to build
credibility and gain support, Sharif’s rhetoric activates the myth of a golden
time. Sharif employs four strategies that activate the myth of a golden time.
These include drawing attention to the faulty policies and actions of others
(how the nation has been robbed of its wealth), drawing attention to the
challenges faced by the government that is an appeal not to have high
expectations, drawing attention to plans of successful governance made by
his team and ultimately wait and persevere for a golden time ahead.
Sharif represents a picture of a devastated nation that is robbed of
its wealth and energy by previous governments. Energy shortage and the
issue of the circular debt are highlighted. The nation is displayed as a
plundered land symbolized by the term khandar thus evoking images of war
and destruction at the hands of the military government of Musharraf. In
her analysis of political discourse of Pakistani politicians, Iqbal asserts that
Nawaz Sharif repeated the word amreyat (dictatorship) to stress upon its
drawbacks for the development of the country (2015). Wounds given to the
country in the past 14 years makes the country lose its mobility and it is at
this point the new government comes in with a renewed resolve and
policies. Knowing that the old style of politics is out of vogue after Imran
Khan raised the slogan of “change,” the Sharif government also took the
opportunity to adapt it according to their needs.
Sharif makes appeal to the nation and the members of parliament
for their support thus activating the “United We Stand” myth. Drawing
attention to the difficulty in process of change that would require everyone
to stand together and fight the common problems that is the enemy which
is symbolized as fighting a war. This war myth where the forces of good are
pitted against the forces of evil ultimately culminates in a sure victory of
good. The stage is set as bipolar and everyone supporting the cause of the
good are with the government and the opposition is everything wicked. The
post 9/11 war on terror has created the myth of the beneficial war that is
fought to attain peace and stability.
Sharif makes promises of a bright and prosperous future by
highlighting the initiation of developmental projects, paying off of circular

93
debt in order to solve the energy crisis, open avenues for young people,
build infrastructure, resolve old issues such as Kashmir issue etc. this is build
up linguistically by:
Tabdīlion kay safar ka har marhala hamāray jazbā-e-amal
ka sabūt deay ga (S2K30)
Is safar ka har sang-e-mīl hamāray khūlūs ki gawāhi daey
ga (S2K31)
Aik roshan pakistān ki manzil keliye tabdīli kaey amal ka
aghāz ho chuka hai (S2K32)
Meri ānkhain aik roshan Pakistān ka damakta hua chehra
daikh rahi hain (S2K33)
Sab ke liye imkanat ke naye dareechay khulain gaey
(S2K34)
Tabdili kaey is safar mai mūjhay is pārliment ka sāth
chāhiye hai (S2K35)
The analysis of Sharif’s metaphors, therefore, exemplifies how the myth of
a golden time as the dominant myth is built and it runs throughout the
discourse he produces along with the less obvious united we stand myth.
Conclusion
The analysis of metaphors in discourse in both Urdu and English
generated by Nawaz Sharif reveals that the most frequented source domain
is that of journey. Its significance in politics is evident from the fact that they
provide a very clear cut schema that one can easily draw upon from
everyday experiences. Through journey Sharif evokes a sense of change,
breaking up from the past, especially when the past is associated with
destruction. The conceptual metaphors generated from the linguistic
metaphorical expressions provided in the study help reveal the underlying
cognitive process of the politician that helps generate language. Further, it
reveals the ideological position of Sharif through which his government aims
to govern and formulate policies. The conceptual metaphors help
understand the mental framework of Nawaz Sharif and can be used further
for exploration of political discourse. Also, the conceptual metaphors in the
Pakistani political discourse is generated for the first time which gives an
insight into the local context. Further, this study employs both languages for
analysis and reveals that in most cases the mental framework underlying
different metaphorical expressions corresponds in both languages. This is
exemplified by the fact that in both Urdu and English data the most
frequently used source domain is journey. Further, the Myth of a Golden
Time generated through an analysis of metaphors used by Sharif allows us

94
to understand the ideology that paints a picture of a brilliant future where
everything will be perfect. What the future will not hold is the destruction
of the previous governments and for this reason the audience is persuaded
to have trust and patience in his government.
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http://admin.umt.edu.pk/Media/Site/journals/SubSites/llr/FileMa
nager/DiscourseAnalysis-of-Prominent-Politicians.pdf
Mohamed, M. T. (2014). The metaphor of nature in the Holy Quran: A critical
metaphor analysis (CMA). Journal of Arabic and Human Sciences
Qassim University, 7(3), 83-100. Retrieved from
http://publications.qu.edu.sa/journals/6/articles/904/submission/
copyedit/904-1512-1-CE.pdf
Newmark, P. (2008). A textbook of translation. Harlow: Pearson Education.

95
Pragglejaz Group. (2007). MIP: A method for identifying metaphorically
used words in discourse. Metaphor & Symbol, 22(1).
Rasul, S. (2006). Language hybridization in Pakistan as socio-cultural
phenomenon: An analysis of code-mixed linguistic patterns.
(Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from
eprints.hec.gov.pk/2513/1/2426.htm
Steen, G. (2011). Metaphor in language and thought: How do we map the
field? In M. Brdar & Z. Milena (Eds.), Converging and Diverging
Tendencies in Cognitive Linguistics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

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 Appendix I
Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP)
1. Read the entire text–discourse to establish a general understanding of the
meaning.
2. Determine the lexical units in the text–discourse
3. (a) For each lexical unit in the text, establish its meaning in context, that is,
how it applies to an entity, relation, or attribute in the situation evoked by
the text (contextual meaning). Take into account what comes before and
after the lexical unit.
(b) For each lexical unit, determine if it has a more basic contemporary
meaning in other contexts than the one in the given context. For our
purposes, basic meanings tend to be
—More concrete; what they evoke is easier to imagine, see, hear, feel, smell,
and taste.
—Related to bodily action.
—More precise (as opposed to vague)
—Historically older.
Basic meanings are not necessarily the most frequent meanings of the lexical
unit.
(c) If the lexical unit has a more basic current–contemporary meaning in
other contexts than the given context, decide whether the contextual
meaning contrasts with the basic meaning but can be understood in
comparison with it.
4. If yes, mark the lexical unit as metaphorical.
(Pragglejaz Group 2007, p. 3)

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 Appendix II
Table 1: Combined Source Domain Table for Data of English Speeches of Nawaz
Sharif
Source Domain Numbers
1. Journey/direction 16
As the elected prime minister of pakistan for the third time. I feel exonerated as
my supporters and I stood firm in our struggle for democracy (S1C2)
Pakistan is an ardent supporter of the United Nations which is an anchor of
peace and a beacon of hope for all nations (S1C5)
We appeal to the Syrian government and opposition groups to move to the
negotiating table in Geneva to prepare a road map for national reconciliation
(S1C18)
The Geneva two conference will be a big step in ending the crisis in Syria
(S1C21)
As a responsible nuclear weapon state, we will continue to pursue the goals of
disarmament and non-proliferation and adhere to the policy of Credible
Minimum 4 Deterrence, without entering into an arms race (S1C22)
The monsoon floods in Pakistan have killed hundreds of people . . . We are
mobilizing all our resources and ingenuity to provide relief and to ensure
recovery (S2C1)
The international community should intensify its efforts to move from
awareness to commitments to actions on climate change which is playing
havoc with the economies (S2C2)
This is a defining moment for the United Nations, as it embarks on the task of
transforming the lives of billions of people (S2C3)
We are setting ourselves a vital target of eradicating poverty by 2030. To do
that, we need to go beyond the Millennium Development Goals (S2C4)
It is our earnest hope that these landmark processes would culminate in the
emergence of a stronger, more stable, and unified Afghanistan (S2C13)
We also hope that the process of inclusive Afghan-led and Afghan-
owned reconciliation would move forward (S2C14)
Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan and other states in the region, together with the
UN, should step up their efforts to fight this menace (S2C20)
In the past thirteen years, as a frontline state, we have given enormous
sacrifices in blood and resources (S2C25)
We meet here today on the cusp of a new era for the international community
(S2C34)
Never before has the United Nations embraced such lofty goals to banish
poverty, stimulate development, protect environment and foster peace, as it
will during this session (S2C35)

98
 We intend to use education as a key driver of socio-economic development of
Pakistan (S1C32)
2. Light 05
I stand here today before this assembly soon after my country has seen a new
dawn (S1C1)
we now have a strong parliament, an independent judiciary, a free media and a
vibrant civil society (S1C3)
The United Nation needs reforms but it should be a reform that reflects the
interest of all not the ambitions of a few (S1C6)
The security council’s composition should be made more representative,…its
work more transparent (S1C7)
We support a reform of the Security Council that would reflect the interests of
all members’ states (S2C32)
3. Building 08
We can build on the Lahore Accord signed in1999 which contained a road map
for the resolution of our differences through peaceful negotiations (S1C15)
We will work together with Afghanistan . . . establish and reinforce regional
trade energy and communication corridors (S1C16)
our challenge is to overcome a volatile security environment, correct structural
imbalances in the economy and bring an end to energy shortages (S1C30)
We are building a new Pakistan with a robust economy (S1C31)
Energy is key to economic development (S2C6)
It is my government’s aspiration and effort to build a peaceful neighborhood by
pursuing a policy of constructive engagement (S2C7)
Pakistan is convinced that we must remain engaged in the dialogue process for
settling disputes and building economic and trade relations. Let us not ignore
the dividends of peace (S2C8)
The future of our planet hinges on our decisions (S2C36)

Table 2: Combined Source Domain Table for Data of Urdu Speeches of Nawaz
Sharif
Source Domain Numbers
1. Journey/light/building 21
Awaam. . . ghar se niklay aur jamhūriat ki tārīkh ka roshan bāb raqam kiya (S2K4)
Mūjhay bhi yaqīn hai ke wo tamīr-e-watan ke is mission mai hamesha meray
shāna bashāna rahen ge (S2K3)
Jamhūriat ki roshan rāh pe chalnaey ke siwā hamāraey pās koi rāsta nahi, hum
pīchaey mūr kar dekhain tau jā bjā tabāhi kaey wo khandar dikhāi detaey hain jo
tawīl āamriyaton ki wajā saey hamāra mūqaddar ho gaey (S2K6)

99
Pakistān mai Jamhūriat mazbūt ho, āain ki bala dasti, qānūn ki hukmarāni qāim
ho aur mohim joi ke tamām darwāzaey hamesha keliye band ker diye jaeyn
(S2K9)
Meri ārzū hai ke ye aiwān is mūlk ki tārīkh ka roshan bāb banay (S2K13)
Pānch baras bād jab hum rūkhsat hontau aik roshan, khūdār, khūshāl aur
khūdmūkhtār pakistān dūnya ke ūfaq per āftāb ki tarāh damak raha ho (S2K14)
Hum ne iqdār ki siyāsat ka aghāz kernay ke liye naey roshan pakistān ki būnyād
dāl di hai (S2K15)
Tabdīli kay safar ka āghāz KPK saey hūa jahān hum nay apni hakūmat ka moqa
hotay hūaey bhi maidān tehreek-e-insaaf kay liye chor diya (S2K16)
Naey roshan Pakistān aur tabdīli kay amal ka dūsra sang-e-mīl Baluchistān mai
rakhā giya . . .
. . . governor ka mansab dūsri jamāton ke liye chor diya giya, ye hai wo culture
jiski hum bunyād dāl rahāy hain (S2K17)
Smāji aur tajārti sargarmiyon ko farogh daey ker kafālat ki aisi manzil hasil karni
hai ke Pakistān apnay pāon pay kharā ho sakay (S2K26)
Is safar ka har sang-e-mīl hamāray khūlūs ki gawāhi daey ga (S2K31)
Aik roshan pakistān ki manzil keliye tabdīli kaey amal ka aghāz ho chuka hai
(S2K32)
Mai samajhta hūn kaey Baluchistan keliye pehla qadam jo ūthāya gaya hai . . .
tarīkh mai aik naya bāb likha giya hai (S2K39)
Kharbon rūpay ki adāigiyān sār per khari hain so mai kisi khiyāli jannat ka naqsha
paish nahi karon ga (S2K24)
2. Journey 08
Agar hum ūnko paish-e-nazar rakhain tau naey azm ke sāth aghāz-e-safar ker
saktay hain (S3K11)
Humaray dāman mai āaj bhi itna kuch hai . . . ke hum inshaallah nai dūnya abād
ker saktay hain (S3K23)
Hum is kaefiyat se niklain gaey aik naey safar ke liye zād-e-rah humaray pas
mojūd hai (S3K24)
Us ke liye aitemād ka rasta roka, ūs per kari tanqīd ki laikin āmriyat ke asār
mitānay aur musbat āaini taramīm (S2K18)
Tabdīlion kay safar ka har marhala hamāray jazbā-e-amal ka sabūt deay ga
(S2K30)
Sab ke liye imkanat ke naye dareechay khulain gaey (S2K34)
Tabdili kaey is safar mai mūjhay is pārliment ka sāth chāhiye hai (S2K35)
āaj se hum ne aqraba parwari aur bejā nawāzishāt ka bāb band ker diya hai
(S2K28)
3. Building 01
Gawadar port …ki būnyad meray hāliya dorā-e-chīn mai rakhi gai (S3K15)

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 4. Light 11
Azādi ka chirāgh yūnhi roshan nahi hota (S3K1)
Aisi ujli qiyādat sach ye hai ke kisi qoum keliye atyā-e-khūdāwandi se kam nahi
(S3K2)
Kirdār-o-azm ki roshni har shab-e-tāriq ka ilāj hai (S3K4)
Ye din . . . humaey apnay tābnāk māzi ki yād dilātaey hai (S3K6)
Hum aik aisi falāhi riyāsat banāna chāhtay thay jis ki taraf tamām dūnya kaey
insān roshni ke liye rūjū karaey (S3K10)
Humāray pās wo roshni hai jo māyūsi ki tārīki ko ūjālay mai tabdīl kar sakti hai
(S3K12)
Hum sahi faisla kernay ki ahliyat rakhtay hai,ye bhi ūmid ki aik tābnāk kiran hai
(S3K14)
(gawadar project) aisa chirāgh hai jo mūsalsal lau de rahā hai (S3K16)
Badqismati se hum per āaj intihā pasandi aur dehshatgardi ke sāye mandlā rahay
hain (S3K20)
Hum hakūmat mai āa ke bhi nai roshan ravāyat (S2K20)
Meri ānkhain aik roshan Pakistān ka damakta hua chehra daikh rahi hain (S2K33)
5. Up 03
Hum nay mulk mai qanūn aur āain ki bāla dasty (S3K17)
Zāti mufadāt se bālatar ho ker mulk ki taraqqi aur khushāli mai apna hisa dālna
hai (S3K18)
Humaray irāday būland hain aur hum nay nihāyat khūlūs se durūst simt ka tāiyūn
kia hai (S3K19)

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 Appendix III
Transcription Key for Urdu Data
 The pronunciation key for certain symbols in the transcription of Urdu words
is as follows:
 ā symbol is used in the transcription for the long /a:/ sound as it is
produced in ‘park’. For instance gāri and ehsās will take long /a:/ sound
like park. Thus in aman-o-amān the first ‘a’ sound before ‘n’ would be
short while the second would be long while in the word ziādati first ‘a’
will be pronounced long and the second short.
 ū symbol stands for two almost alike sounds. One sound is as it is
produced in rule or rupee for instance pūri, and sūrat. The other sound
is comparatively less longer as is produced in push for instance ūnko,
mūjhay, and ūs. Those who know Urdu, while reading the transcription,
will not find it difficult to identify at what place which of these two sounds
is required so to avoid unnecessary complexities in transcription one
symbol was used for both the sounds. Basicallly this symbol is used to
differentiate these sounds from another sound as produced for u in us.
This helps in avoiding the confusion in us and ūs. It also helps in the
pronunciation of certain words such as zurūrat where in the first place it
is pronounced as in ‘run’ and in the second place as it is in ‘rule’.
 ī symbol is used for a long /i:/ sound such as in feel. For instance the word
fīsad takes a long /i:/ sound. It helps avoiding confusion in words like kisī
where in the first place it will take a short /i /sound like fill and in the
second place it will take a long /i:/ sound as in feel.
 Since in Urdu two types of /k/ sounds are produced, k and q symbols are
used to distinguish between these sounds as produced in kurna and
qismat in Urdu. Thus, k stands for the sound that is produced from the
front of the mouth while q refers to the sound that is produced from the
back of the mouth cavity. k in English is a plosive sound, and sometimes
is produced as glotalized plosive when followed by another consonant
sound for example in actor. Thus this English sound is nearest to Urdu
sound indicated by q in Urdu word qismat though it has no equitant in
English. (Rasul, 2006, Appendix A, p. i-iii)
Nawaz Sharif’s Speeches Retrieved from: http://pmo.gov.pk/pm_speeches.php

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 NUML Journal of Critical Inquiry Vol 15(II) December, 2017 ISSN 2222-5706

Social Meaning Making of Preschoolers through

Animated Videos: A Multimodal Social Semiotic Analysis

Syeda Aniqah Sabahat1

Behzad Anwar2
Abstract
The concept of literacy is continuously evolving in the era of digital
modern technology. Now literacy is studied in terms of dynamic entity of
multimedia technology especially for the children learning in preschools.
This study aims to find out young children's meaning-making through
animated videos in a preschool background. It points out that
communication and meaning making through multiple modes (gaze,
gestures, sounds and body movements) is not restricted to words only. A
multimodal standpoint asserts that language “is not as some directly
independent entity but as a part of complex sets interconnecting forms of
human semiosis” (Christie, 2002, p. 3). The present article tries to address
the gap of modern multimedia use and its significance in the field of literacy.
It advocates the notion of applying innovative technology for literacy
purposes in the field of education in the form of moving visuals and
animations. 40 children of age group 2-3 years were randomly selected from
district Mandi Bahauddin and were shown three animated videos. All three
videos were analyzed on the basis of three categories of Ideational,
Interpersonal and Textual metafunctions presented by Kress and van
Leeuwen in 1996. Observation and Interviews were especially utilized as
research instrument for data collection. The results showed that children
derive multiple meanings through their interaction of moving visuals used
for literacy purposes in pre-school setting. This study found that when these
videos were used for literacy purposes, they gave exemplary results
especially for young children. The researchers in this study also found that
young children after learning and making meaning through animated video
try to communicate and perform the actions through verbal interaction,
gaze, body movements and gestures.
Keywords: animated movies, preschool children, social semiosis
Introduction
With the advancement in technology, the ways of communications
and meaning making have also been evolved into multidimensional subject
of study. The analysis of different modes of meaning making and
communication by young children is also a new field of study. The analysis
of young children’s communication and meaning making through gaze,
gestures, sounds, actions and body movements have also broadened the

103
scope of study. This new dimension is termed as “multi-semiotic systems”
(Matthiessen, 2004) which also has a second name as multiple literacies. A
multimodal standpoint asserts that language “is not as some directly
independent entity but as a part of complex sets interconnecting forms of
human semiosis” (Christie, 2002, p. 3). There is a growing need of study
“fundamental separation of human social behavior into verbal and non-
verbal aspects both on conceptual and functional grounds” (Beattie, 1981
as cited in Moerman, 1990, p. 1). Recently some literacy scholars (Jewitt &
Kress, 2003; Kress & Leeuwen, 2001) have suggested a new theory of social
semiotics by taking into consideration the limitation of semiotic theory.
They point out Halliday’s idea of language as a social semiotic. Halliday
objects the Saussure’s structural theory of language as it does not take into
account the language used in specific sociocultural context and when it is
used, it represents ideational function as well as social (Interpersonal)
function of it. “Language as a social semiotic” means “interpreting language
into particular sociocultural context in which the culture itself is interpreted
in semiotic terms” (Halliday, 1978, p. 1).
Kress opines that by focusing only on verbal mode means “an
overlooking of other communicational and representational modes and
resultantly the suppression of theoretical basis of such modes” (2000, p.
157). Thus it is not enough to consider language as a robotic function but it
represents itself in social semiotics. There is an expanding popularity of
multidisciplinary consensus to move beyond linguistics in the field of literary
practices. Researches in the field of multimodality have indicated how
different modes (visual, gestural, mimetic, spatial, kinaesthetic as well as
verbal) are used in combination for communication and meaning making in
particular sociocultural context which is actually multimodal social semiotic
analysis of meaning making by young children. The present study
investigates the young children’s meaning making with special reference to
animated movies shown for literary purposes in preschool context. “The
multimodal social semiotic analysis does not mean to negate the
importance of linguistic modes of language or elevate the theory of
semiotics but the interconnectivity of both in the face of media” (Franks &
Jewitt, 2001, p. 201).
The present study shows that children make different types of
meaning through animated videos and communicate these in multiple ways
during the screenings. These meanings are made in many different ways and
are communicated through various factors. The social interaction of the
young children with their peers, school teachers and parents plays a key role
in meaning making. The young children also make meanings on the basis of
previous experiences of moving images and through the familiarity of
stories. The study also observes that young children are highly competent

104
in practicing literary skills through animated films by the interpretation of
these films in various ways.
Research Questions
The present study tries to find the answers of the following questions:
1. How are meanings made and communicated by young children
through animated videos?
2. What kind of social interaction of young children can be found with
peers and preschool teachers during the screening of animated videos?
Literature Review
Communication is a diverse form of language and in order to study
it in all its diversity and versatility, different modes in combination of
sociocultural context are necessary. Researchers studied communication in
various forms until recent theory “multimodality” emerged in the field of
linguistics. Multimodality is originally rooted in Hallidayan social semiotics
(Halliday, 1978), and is elaborated by Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) in the
visual realm. Kress and Leeuwen (1996) call multimodality as combination
of different modes in particular semiotics. Multimodal analysis is “analysis
of communication in more than one semiotic code” (Kress & Leeuwen, p.
183).
Multimodal analysis applies to both written text and moving
images. Kress and Leeuwen (2006) explored the interactive relationship
between image and viewer and the meaning making process as well. Kress
and Leeuwen differentiate between grammatical and lexical approach of
semiotics and also highlight the multimodal features, structures and
relations between social structures and forces.
Jewitt & Carey (2009) also observed in their study of multimodal
analysis that multimodality not only takes into account different types of
modes in combination but it also emphasizes the social context of a specific
text. Jewitt, Carey, Kress & Gunther (2003) pointed out that literacy has
gone beyond the traditional teaching methodologies restricted to teachers
and peers only. The modern technology has changed the classroom
practices into multiliteracy digitalized education.
Siegel (2006) evaluates different contemporary approaches
towards multimodality and multiliteracy in his research of “reading the
signs.” He points out that multiliteracy combined with multimodality brings
holistic improvement in the comprehension of young children and their
mean making.
Haggerty (2011) researched the children’s multimodal meaning
making and this study focused children’s meaning making through dramatic
play and videos. The children were observed during and after watching the

105
videos and the children’s teachers and parents were also interviewed
afterwards to check comprehension of the children. The study showed that
videos and moving images provide diverse semiotic and multimodal literacy
to children in their meaning making and communication.
Educationists have emphasized on the need of further study to use
visual images and the effects on the minds of young children in Pakistan
(Daniyal & Hassan, 2013; Hassan et al., 2015; Ikram, 2015; Malik & Nasir,
2014). The present study tries to fill the gap of research in the field of
animations used for literacy purposes of young children in Pakistan. The
study also endeavors to explore the process of meaning-making of young
children after watching the animated videos for literacy purposes.
Methodology
The present study is qualitative in its approach because this study
proposes a deeper insight into the actions (verbal interaction, sounds,
gaze/eye movements, gestures and position) of young children which is a
salient feature of qualitative research method (Marcus, 2001). Animated
videos are true example of multimodal genre as these include not only
moving pictures but also language in the form of dialogues and music. Thus
the multimodal analysis also takes semiotics in the form of language with it
(Lemke, 2003). Music, video-games, films, cartoons, television and
computer programming also constitute multimodality in terms of social
semiotics (Kress & Leeuwen 2001; Thibault 2005).
Animated videos for educational purposes are becoming popular
for young children in the field of education. The benefits of digital
storybooks for young children in the field of education are enormous (Chess
& Booth, 2014) and the analysis of such stories needs multimodal aspects in
them. The video 1 is a short animated video of alphabet song by British
Council and its highly recommended video for literacy purposes at
preschools. Its time duration is about 2.02 minutes and frame width is 640
and frame height is 360. The video is colorful and attractive for young
children. The second video is also an educational video of British Council
Pakistan. This video is not musical and is in form of moral story. Its time
duration is 2.07 minutes. Although the description of scenery and the
colorful setting of the video was attractive but the young children showed
quite a different reaction and that is visible in analysis of interactive
meaning of the video. The third video is very short, musical and interesting
video of British Council Pakistan for young children. Its time duration is 1.36
minutes. As the video is very joyful and brief and the content of the video
is also appealing for young minds so the children became excited and
because of its innovative style and poetry they imitated it during watching
the video. All three videos are analyzed on the basis of three categories of

106
Ideational, Interpersonal and Textual metafunctions presented by Kress and
van Leeuwen in 1996.
Sampling
The present study involves collection of data from two different
sources: one is from selected participants and other is through selected
short animated videos. This research includes young children at different
preschools of district Mandi Bahauddin. The required sample is collected
after random sampling technique in which only 3 schools were selected out
of total 14 schools with the facility of multimedia. 1 out of 3 schools was
selected randomly for proper study of preschoolers’ behavior and thus this
study is based on fair distribution of participants throughout the district
without any discrimination and equal probability of all schools with the
facility of multimedia. 40 children in the ages from two to four participated
in the study. They watched the videos in groups of four to six children.
Screenings are recorded with video cameras and mp3 recorders. This study
also kept in mind the importance of parents and presents data
interpretation in triangulation. The screenings are combined with the
comprehensive interviews of 12 parents which were selected through
random sampling technique in order to ensure objectivity of the research.
This study includes three educational videos of different kinds in order to
explore the meaning making process of the preschoolers. The recordings of
the classroom students were further analyzed by detailed interviews of the
parents. This triangulation further elaborated the conclusion and it adds
authenticity to the present research.
Research Instrument
The present approach employs different types of techniques and
instruments, i.e., “observation and interviews” (Kress et al., 2005) to
interpret the problems, thoughts and actions more comprehensively. Young
children were observed during screening of series of animated films. The
teachers and parents were interviewed in order to check the
comprehension of young children, their meaning making and
communication after watching the animated movies in order to check their
understanding and communication after watching these videos. Semi-
structured interviews were conducted to gather the opinion and remarks of
the parents and teachers about the behavior of the children after watching
the videos.
Data Analysis
All video material is transcribed multimodally and analyzed by means of
the social semiotic and multimodal framework. Aspects attended to
specifically in the transcriptions include verbal interaction, sounds, gaze/eye
movements, gestures, position and body motions. Kress & van Leeuwen

107
(1996) proposed an interactional model and the preschoolers were analyzed
on the basis of that model. These videos show that according to the analysis
of interactive meanings the young children when they interacted with the
videos, their social distance was minimized and because of high modality
markers, the attention of the young children was not diverted.
Data Interpretation of Video Screenings
The three videos were shown to the 40 pre-schoolers in different
schools with the availability of computers. The students were very excited
when the videos were displayed in front of them. The researchers observed
the young children during broadcasting of videos and also recorded the
expression, gestures, gaze and body movements for further analysis. The
teacher only guided the students about videos in order to grasp their
meanings effectively. The videos were shown to the young children on three
different days in order to analyze each video comprehensively. Thus the
interpretation of three videos is presented separately and the concluding
remarks include whole commentary on effectiveness of three videos.
Interpretation of Video 1
Video is described in detail on the basis of three metafunctions of
multimodal social semiotic analysis of Kress and Van Leeuwen (1996, 2006).
The description shows that video 1 is a musical alphabetical poem in which
the main character is Chimpanzee. The main character is presenting the
meanings to the kids in following form:

chimpanzee

ideational interactive
textual meanings
meanings meanings

major
transactional high modality salienced
process

centralized
superordinate smiling gaze
information value

medium sized
unity of frame
frame

Full figure

Figure 1. Chimpanzee as Meaning Making Resource

108
 The above mentioned figure is a clear description of how
Chimpanzee caught interest of the young children as intended by its
producer. The children immediately responded to the information value
presented in the video. They expressed their joy by smiling at the main
character because of its highly interactive features. Thus it is very clear that
the young children are not only attracted towards animated visuals
(Attewell & Smith, 2014; Daniyal & Hassan, 2013; Haggerty, 2011; Siegel,
2006) but they also try to imitate the actions, gestures and expressions of
the animated characters (Anglin et al., 2010; Malik & Nasir 2014; Mawson,
2013; Waller, 2009; Walsh, 2006). Moreover, the children also tried to
behave in the same manner with the musical rhythm as in this video the
children read the alphabets in musical form and enjoyed mimicing the
chimpanzee.
Interpretation of Video 2
Video 2 is also described on the basis of the multimodal social
semiotic analysis of Kress & Van Leeuwen (1996, 2006). This video is a story
in digital form in which the change of seasons is depicted through colorful
imagery. The main character is Ali who has peculiar qualities.

Ali

ideational interactive
textual meanings
meanings meanings

major non-
transactional High modality salienced
process

smiling centralized and

superordinate gaze marginalized
information value

medium sized
frames mixture of frames

Full figure

Figure 2. Ali as a Meaning Making Resource

The above tree diagram shows that 2nd video is a bit different from
1st video. Here the description of changing seasons with the change of areas
has been given. The video is in narration form and has the longest duration
of all the videos. The frames are mixed and come one by one to describe

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particular season and Ali is also non-transactional image in the video who
just describes the different scenes.
The routine/usual story narration becomes a source of boredom for
the young children (Eagle, 2012). Although digital story presentation is eye-
catching for young children (Eagle, 2012), yet the presentation of the story
along with the musical videos divert the children’s attention to musical
videos (Waller, 2009). It is also clear from figure that the children do not pay
heed to the lengthy description of the seasons and interpret the meanings
through the exciting imagery and visuals more than the plain and dull
presentation of a story (Mckenney, 2010).
Interpretation of Video 3
The 3rd video is quite simple and the shortest of all. This video has
only one performer which presents the action in quite appealing way for
young children. After the description of this video according to Kress and
Van Leeuwen (1996, 2006), following characteristics are observed:

Panda

ideational interactive textual

meanings meanings meanings

major
transactional High modality salienced
process

centralized
superordinate smiling gaze information
value

medium sized mixture of

frames frames

Full figure

Figure 3. Panda as a Meaning Making Resource

The above description of the video creates an interest for the young viewers
and the kids showed excitement to see little panda performing different
actions in an interesting way.
This excitement of the main actor “Panda” created an environment
of fun and joy in the actions of the kids also and they tried to imitate the
actions of the main character while watching the video. The same is obvious

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through the images and recordings of the young children where their
gestures and expressions show a clear picture of enjoyment, entertainment
and thrill. They not only watched the video but they also wanted to behave
in the same manner. Moreover, the children also demanded the replay of
the same video time and again.
The musical video combines actions and lyrics in such harmonious
way that the children instantly comprehended the actions of panda.
Therefore, it becomes obvious that a combination of music and actions
motivate the young audience to a great extent (Daniyal & Hassan, 2013,
Eagle, 2012; Haggerty, 2011) and the children show great inclination to
perform the actions of the animated visuals (Anglin et al., 2010; Malik &
Nasir 2014; Norris, 2011; Waller, 2009; Walsh, 2006).
They not only paid attention towards these alphabets and actions
of panda in video 3 but they also tried to perform in the same manner. They
remembered the alphabets and actions because of their movement,
speech, music and rhythm and thus it became effective for positive meaning
making in the minds of young children. Video 2 proved a bit boring for the
young viewers because of its long commentary and consecutive scenery.
The children diverted their attention and did not watch the video with so
much enthusiasm as they did during the screenings of the other two videos.
Results and Discussion
The interpretation of the observation of the young children during
the video screenings and the meaning making process has been described
above but the screenings of the videos include the interpretation of some
specific aspects of the young children. These aspects are verbal interaction,
gaze/ eye movements, sounds, gestures, position and body movements as
presented by Kress & van Leeuwen (2006) in their study of moving visuals.
Here is graphical presentation of the aspects of 40 children shown in the
screenings:

111
 45
40

35
verbal interaction
30
sound
25
gaze/eye movements
20
gestures
15 position
10 body movements
5

0
video 1 video 2 video 3

Figure 4. Graphical Representation of Young Children’s Involvement in

Animated Videos
The above graph shows that the 3rd video appealed almost all of the
40 children and the children expressed themselves with highest level of
verbal interaction towards it. The sound appealed 37 students and 37 pre-
schoolers attended the video with fixed gaze. The gestures of 35 students
were quite involved and they tried to perform the actions through body
movements while almost 100% of the students were positioned to watch
the video.
The next most effective video was 1st video where 36 students
interacted verbally, 38 students responded to its music and sound, 37
students showed gestures and fixed gaze while 100% were positioned on
their seats to watch the video.
The 2nd video, as it is obvious from graphical representation,
showed low quality interaction as compared to the remaining two videos.
Only 25 students showed verbal interaction and were fixed at their positions
to watch the video. Only 15 kids showed some body movements and those
were also not active movements. 20 children responded to the sound of the
videos. Here is an interesting thing to note that despite being bored during
the video, 30 kids tried to show different types of gestures and gazed at the
video in short intervals. This thing suggests that the children also tried to
grasp the difficult text that was marginalized and whenever bubble of text
appeared on the screen, they became attentive towards the screen. The rich
involvement of almost all the children also made it easy to record the exact

112
number of preschoolers showing less or no attention towards the videos
during the screenings.
Data Interpretation of Parents’ Interviews
The parents are an important agency in facilitating and observing
Young Children’s learning at home. No child can hide his/her feelings and
actions in front of the parents. Thus no research can be completed without
taking into account the observations and suggestions of the parents about
young children. This study also takes care of the importance of the parents
and presents data interpretation in triangulation. The screenings are
combined with the comprehensive interviews of 12 parents which were
selected on the basis of random sampling technique in order to ensure
objectivity of the research. The interviews were recorded and the
researchers also took notes. The transcription of the interviews provides
detailed interpretation of the parents’ observation of their young children
after screenings of the three videos at school.
The interactive features which were discussed in interviews can be
categorized into four types based on their data presentation and interaction
with the preschoolers. These are music, actions, text and characters. The
parents gave different views about different factors which are discussed one
by one.
Music
Kress & Leeuwen (2006) stated that interactive meanings of the
visuals are communicated through multiple modality markers. Out of these
modality markers, the representations of texts in the form of motion, dance
and music is an important feature. Rhythmic contents in the visuals make
these visuals attractive for young children and they become more interested
in the information present in visuals (Kieff & Casbergue, 2000).
The parents also noticed the effectiveness of music for educational
purposes at preschool level. The parents’ observation about music is
transcribed in following words:
The children learn differently after watching different videos. The
learning from/trough musical videos is at peak. The children take musical
alphabets and rhythmic actions with utmost attention and they react
towards the music by performing the actions of the characters in the videos.
They tried to pronounce the alphabets in musical form and also jumped in
the manner of panda time and again. They performed alphabets lyrics most
of the time. The actions of hopping and jumping in rhythmic form were so
frequent that they performed the same rhythmic actions even at breakfast
table. Thus the learning of the new terms by musical rhythm was imprinted
on the minds of the children after watching these in actions form on moving
visuals.

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Actions
Kress & Leeuwen (1996, 2006) described the actions of moving
visuals through the representations of image, gaze and facial expressions.
All these actions are represented on the scale of high modality as presented
by Kress and Leeuwen (1996, 2006). They also opined that the actions that
involved high modality markers are of greater significance for young
children. The actions which were present in the videos were analyzed and
observed by the parents of the preschoolers. The parents expressed their
opinion about performing the actions of the characters in following words:
The children are fond of watching cartoons at home and
they also take interest in watching musical TV commercials
designed for kids. The children also imitate the different
characters of cartoons and they copy those characters with
the siblings. As they already have interest in cartoons so
when the three videos were shown to them, they were
highly excited after coming back to home. The children
imitated the actions of “Chimpanzee, Ali and Panda” which
were shown to them in their classrooms. The Children
repeated the alphabets in the same way as “Chimpanzee”
does in the videos. They also performed the actions of
“Panda” in the third video. They told about two or three
seasons which were present in the second video.
Texts
The textual meanings are presented by Kress & Leeuwen (1996,
2006) on the basis of salience, framing and information value present in the
visual images. The parents opine about the interpretation of text through
the videos differently in the following words:
The children at young age do not pay attention to the
comprehension of texts or deep under lying meanings of
videos. They perceive only what is performed in front of
their eyes. They try to copy the performances more than
they understand the performances. Out of three videos, the
children are least interested in the texts presented in the
second video. Shy children tried to memorize the texts of
the visuals rather than performing with the actions. But one
thing is clear that the children learn fast by watching the
things online rather than reading on picture books. Long
videos were not so attractive for the kids and they could not
remember the video text even after watching it many times
at school.

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Characters
The characters of the visuals are represented as two types:
subjective and objective. The characters are the life line of the visuals and
play a significant role in videos (Kress & Leeuwen, 2006). Parents view the
characters of the videos as under:
The children learn more from watching the things and visual
online and try to perform it in their lives. After the
screenings of the video, the children uttered the alphabets
in rhythmic form and they forget to read it normally. They
think themselves in a brave new world and try to act like the
characters present in the videos. Thus the characters
become the source of inspiration and sometimes the
children think of themselves as one of those characters
present in the videos. The involvement of the children with
the protagonists of the videos is of great interest.
The above transcription of the interviews reveals the actions and
communication of the kids after watching the animated videos and their
meaning making process as well. The learning and meaning making of the
young children through the interaction of three videos is graphically
represented in the following table:

animated videos

21%
31% music
actions
11%
texts
characters

37%

Figure 5.Graphical Representation of Parents’ Response to Animated Videos

The above table shows that 37% parents view action based
animated videos as best for young children’s learning. Music takes the next
position as it involves the children effectively according to the 31% of the

115
parents. 21% parents give importance to the characters for meaning making
process and only 11% vote for the texts. Therefore, it is clear that the actions
and the music for the young children make their learning speedy and
effective (Eagle, 2012; Genc, 2014; Merchant, 2015; Skaar, 2007; Nikken,
2014).
Conclusion
Animated videos are quite diverse in nature and provide a wide
range of implications and points of study. When these videos are applied for
literacy purposes, they give exemplary results especially for young children.
In the present study it is argued that when the question of literacy and
children’s meaning making comes, it is necessary to include versatile
semiotic modes as young children are more attracted towards animated
visuals (lifelike objects) than written texts and picture books. Walker,
Sproull, & Subramani (1994) advocated this notion in their studies. The
researchers also observed that children become excited to watch the visuals
moving and acting in front of their eyes.
Children derive multiple meanings through their interaction of
moving visuals used for literacy purposes in pre-school setting. The
derivation of meaning by young children has many characteristics:
a. The children learn more by the musical videos.
b. The children pay more attention to the short and concise videos.
c. Long videos distract attention of children and they start to feel
boredom after sometime.
d. Colorful images and scenes attract children more towards the
videos.
e. High modality markers like framing, size of the image, expressions
and gestures of the image also play crucial role in meaning making
process of young children.
f. Children pay more attention towards the actions of the performer
than that of text.
g. Long videos compiled in the form of narration have less attraction
and the young children do not learn much as a result.
h. Children learn different words and actions like alphabets, names of
seasons and actions like jumping and hopping and use these words
with actions in their social settings like school and home.
Children also communicate these meaning after receiving them through
watching the animated videos. The children try to imitate the actions of
moving visuals and perform in the same manner as the performers in the
videos do (Daniyal & Hassan, 2013; Habib & Soliman, 2015; & Hassan et al.,
2015). The researchers in this study also found that young children after
learning and making meaning through animated video try to communicate

116
and perform the actions through verbal interaction, gaze, body movements
and gestures.
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NUML Journal of Critical Inquiry Vol 15(II) December, 2017 ISSN 2222-5706

Effect of Outdoor Education on the Concept Attainment

of Science at Elementary Level

Ishrat Siddiqa Lodhi1

Muhammad Shakir2
Zahid Hussain3
Rubia Abid4
Abstract
The main purpose of conducting this research study was to analyze
the effect of outdoor education on the concept attainment at elementary
level Science subject. It was hypothesized that outdoor education has a
significant positive effect on logical concept attainment of scientific
processes in Science at elementary level. The objectives of the study were
to explore and investigate the concept attainment of scientific processes in
Science and student level of participation in an interactive social experience.
The population of the study was 8th grade students of elementary level. The
Educators school was conveniently selected and 60 students from 8th grade
comprised the sample of the study. Two groups were formed; one was
designated as control group awhile the other as experimental. The
researchers conducted a pretest before teaching the selected topics. The
experimental group was taught using the outdoor education method and
they were exposed to a natural environment for practical learning of the
selected concepts while control group was taught through the traditional
method of teaching. After 12 days of teaching to both the groups, the
researchers administered a posttest to both the groups. The t-test was
applied on the raw scores of bthe groups which showed that there was a
significant positive effect of outdoor education on the student learning. It
was observed by the researchers that the students of the experimental
group took more interest in the leaning process as compared to the control
group. Keeping the results in view, it can be recommended that practical
activities and learning through nature can be made an integral part of
teaching at elementary level so that students show more interest in learning
science.
Keywords: Outdoor Education, Science Education, Elementary level
1.1 Introduction
The term Outdoor Education came into being in the early 1940s.
Outdoor Education can be carried out in multiple environments that enable
the learners to maximize their potential to the full in a wide range of
experiences. Within the field of education, outdoor education and

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environmental education are separate but still closely related areas of study.
A type of contextual learning involves field trips, excursions, journeys and
doing field studies. In the United States, during the late nineteenth century,
some educators who took their students out of the class to help them learn
appropriate thoughts, abilities, attitudes, and values could improve
substantially in their education. Outdoor Education is a general term used to
embrace different types of activities undertaken by primary and secondary
level students in a range of different contexts including outdoor and
residential visits; field work; outdoor adventurous activities; outdoor
pursuits and “outward bound” activities (Brune, 2002). Outdoor educators
use camp settings to meet their academic objectives and to improve
students' social development and leisure skills during the regular school
year. Because outdoor education activities were usually tangled thoroughly
to the school curriculum, the field has modified to early-twenty-first century
modifications affecting the broader educational field. Coyle (2010) stated
that there are some practices in outdoor education and environmental
education in which multiple programs do overlap. Although both the fields
are interdisciplinary but one principal difference is that outdoor education
can be applied to the discipline that is to be effectively taught and learned
outside.
There is a positive effect of outdoor education on society as the
main foci of outdoor education is to build stronger bonds and relations
between societies by means of personal as well as social development.
Relevant to this context, Ward (2012) has rightly said that the society seems
to be more fearful every day. Outdoor education, therefore, can be
extremely useful. Science is a subject that has commonly been taught
through outdoor education; keeping in view the importance and value of
outdoor learning in science, the researchers decided to conduct their study
in science. This research would identify why there is a need to teach science
by the outdoor education method. Students feel difficulty in learning the
concepts presented to them theoretically only, especially when it comes to
the science subjects. As another option, they can also be taught better
through using a rational environment as a piece of concrete evidence. The
problems, some of them listed above, illustrate why students face so many
problems in learning of science and comprehension of scientific concepts.
Science is a subject that has nothing to deal with the abstract.
Majority of the concepts are concrete if taken so in their true sense.
Unfortunately, our school systems have adopted a very wrong approach
towards the teaching of science that is badly affecting the concept building
of the school children. If nature of children is used as a source of information
gathering and learning, it can have more long-lasting effect on the
students/learners. The present study is based on analyzing the effect of

121
outdoor education and the acquisition of the scientific processes to help
students learn and understand science better at elementary level.
1.1.1 Hypothesis
Outdoor education has a significant and positive effect on logical
concept attainment of ‘the scientific processes’ in science at elementary
level.
1.1.2 Null Hypothesis
There is no effect of outdoor education on the concept attainment
of ‘the scientific processes’ in science at elementary level.
1.1.3 Operational Definition of the Outdoor Education
An outdoor education is the education that can be developed into a
natural study ground for learners, students and anyone interested in a
natural environment of learning. Outdoor education also provides
alternatives for all to gain a better knowledge of what natural resources are
and to understand and appreciate the interconnectedness of these
resources. Outside every school building, there exists a blossoming world of
“natural studies” with all types of structures that can do a better job of
teaching than video tapes and computers, because children often seem to
learn best by “doing.”
1.1.4 Concept Attainment of the Scientific Processes
The concept attainment of the scientific processes is a teaching
strategy which requires students to use inductive reasoning to figure out a
concept. Some such concepts, for example, may be heat and light, rainbow
making, reflection, radiation, convection, conduction, acids, bases and pH of
water. These are just a few of the examples in which scientific processes are
involved that were taught to the students in order to help them build better
concepts of what they may have or come across in science. All this was done
by teaching through the outdoor education method. The topics were taken
from 8th class book of Cambridge University Press. The researchers checked
the concept attainment of the topics in the form of post test scores.
1.1.5 Objectives
(a) To find out the level of concept attainment of science by using the
outdoor education/teaching methodology
(b) To investigate the effectiveness of hands on activities in learning the
scientific concepts
(c) To explore the students’ level of participation in an interactive social
experience
(d) To examine the students’ sense of using natural resources for the
learning purposes
(e) To have a comparative effect of the outdoor education and the
traditional method on the concept attainment of students

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1.2 Theoretical Framework
Friedrich Wilhelm Frobel (1782-1852), influenced by the Swedish
preschool system, was also influenced by the well-known philosopher Jean-
Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) for his interest to the nature. He was the first
one to recognize childhood as a separate age in life and in his book about
the young boy Emile, he shows how a child can learn from nature instead of
learning just from the formal bookish knowledge. He states that physical
activity is very important in the education of a child. They are curious, he
claimed, and this curiosity should be utilized to the fullest. Rousseau
preached that education should be more sensory and rational; less literary
and linguistic. Rather than learning indirectly from books, children should
learn through direct experience. He emphasized that teachers are our feet,
our hands and our eyes. Man has lived for centuries in harmony with nature.
Such symbiotic relationship with nature has shaped human development
until the beginning of the industrial era.
Another philosopher Johann Henrick Pestalozzi (1746-1827)
emphasized the use of direct, firsthand experiences and real objects, also.
According to him, practical skills such as farming, housekeeping, spinning
and weaving should be taught in addition to reading, writing, and
arithmetic. He used to use yards for lessons in nature study and geography.
Pestalozzi, a follower of Rousseau, urged teachers to take their pupils out of
the classroom. His approach was actually based on the certainty that the
learner would use these beginning experiences at a later time to direct
principles and generalizations on his own. Man’s capacity to adjust his
relationship with the natural and man-made environment, and to transfer
experience gained to practical knowledge, passes through various phases:

Figure1. Kolb’s Theory of Reconstructing of Thought

The experiential learning cycle in the figure focuses on the steps or
processes. Initially it begins with experiences. An experience involves the
students through direct contribution in an activity. It usually consists of
psychomotor domain. The second step of the experience is based on
reflecting and the person discusses/thinks upon the encountered
experiences. Third step involves interpreting in which the person takes
reflection and discussion to another level, while the fourth step involves the

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application phase in which the person utilizes the experiential knowledge
into his practical life (Bowles, 2004).
1.2.1 Teaching Outdoor Classes
Outdoor entertaining activities are outstanding educational tools for
integrating experiential teaching methods and interdisciplinary lesson
design because they turn their focus the students’ whole self. It involves the
three dimensions i.e., physical, mental and emotional. The physical self is
based on the movement and activity, the mental self refers to as the
questioning and the thinking part and the emotional self includes feelings
and connecting the physical with the mental processes (Bunting, 2006).
Outdoor education enhances the academic achievements, for
instance, through field work and the physical as well as social development.
The school can organize various kinds of educational activities, for instance,
a visit to a local community set up in the school playground. Whereas there
are many schools which provide a healthy learning friendly environment and
organize various kinds of well planned activities which contribute essentially
to teaching and learning processes. However, we should not deny the fact
that outdoor education may be encompassed with hazardous problems. It
may also have problems with some resources and findings (Dietz, 2000).
Outdoor education program should be carried out properly and it should be
well prepared by the teacher and the teacher should also consider safety
and health issues of the students. Due to this and such other reasons,
teacher training is the most essential component of the outdoor education
system. It is therefore an obvious requirement that the outdoor education
programs should be carried out with well qualified people (Meldrum, 2001).
The young minds are stimulated to have a meaningful awareness
about the natural environment which connects them with effective
knowledge that will enable them to take wise decisions and provide an
essential reward for the years of hard effort and training of the outdoor
teacher (Hammerman, 2003). Through an effective planning and purposely
structuring the learning condition, new generations of children may learn
responses, likings and skills connected with the forms of outdoor recreation
which need not be the same as those of the initial generations (Ferris, 2007).
Galloway (2000) stated that the wilderness programs in education have
positive correlations on the retention of first-year students, higher grade
point averages, and greater levels of student development than those
students who do not participate in such orientation programs. The study
relates to a positive idea of providing meaningful learning experiences. A
study conducted by Haluza-Delay (2001) inspected the experience of eight
teenage participants on a 12-day adventure trip through observation and
semi-structured post-trip interviews. The researcher found that the teen
participants conceptualized nature as being undisturbed, natural, and

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unfamiliar, without people, relaxing and being with a sense of freedom.
Although the research was not focusing on meaningful learning experiences,
the study indicated that the participants found the experiences more fruitful
than their experiences one may have in a traditional classroom setting
because there was a sense of no limitations or inhibitions to their levels of
self-discovery.
1.2.2 Teaching and Learning Science
The constructivist view of learning contrasts with the behaviorist
view of teaching and learning which advocates a passive view of the mind
where learners accumulate knowledge provided by the teacher. This view of
teaching underlies the traditional approach to teaching. In traditional
education, science can look to the learner like a body of knowledge that
cannot be challenged, and whose learning leaves little opportunity for a
constructive and creative involvement. In constructivist education, the
teacher plays the role of a facilitator rather than a transmitter of knowledge.
The teacher probes the students' understanding and helps them resolve
conflicts between the scientific concepts and their prior knowledge.
Constructivism does not advocate that students discover everything for
themselves. Rather, constructivist instruction focuses on relating new
knowledge both to previously learned knowledge and to experiential
phenomena so that students can build a consistent and accurate picture of
the physical world.
According to Orion and Hofstein (1994), “science education is
conducted predominantly in three types of learning environments: the
classroom, the laboratory, and outdoors. The outdoor environment is most
neglected by teachers, curriculum developers, and researchers” (p. 1097).
Segal et al. (2002) stated that physical activity is important for maintaining
social life and increasing the peer relations by catching and meeting up
physically. They stated when they are doing activities; if they have no social
life it can give them difficult time while doing and coordinating activities.
School children with special needs often receive help through public school
system and they also focus on their academic skills. He stated that students
not only with normal needs need to have social life, but also students with
special needs making up social life such that they overcome academic
hurdles too. Outdoor classes help students to sort out the problem by
coordinating with each other. In 1983, a psychologist Howard Gardner
identified different ways that people perceive and understand the world. He
categorized these perceptions and abilities as different intelligences. He
determined eight different types of intelligences which all relate to the
outdoor education in their own perspectives.
Outdoor Education focuses on and utilizes all the eight intelligences
presented by Gardner. Gardner determined that intelligence can be defined

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as having a set of abilities. These abilities are grouped based on the premise
that each individual is mostly different from the other individual/s, each
individual has a different way of processing information according to his/her
personal experiences and abilities, each individual has a different set of
developmental stages and every individual has different historical roots.
Knott (2009) has said that science is a practical subject. Science, in essence,
is a way of finding things out about the world. Young children are naturally
curious about the world and will, if left to their own devices, find out about
the world by playing. So science is a playful subject for children. Teachers
can exploit this natural tendency and encourage playfulness as a powerful
aid to learning. Outdoor classroom setting allows the pupils’ time to play
with science equipments, as students are the real magicians. Simply
providing them the material of any type and letting them make something
creative and innovative with them, will ultimately lead them to come up with
a miracle. So outdoor education provides major help to the students in
science to learn each and every concept clearly and when the base is made
strong, the higher concepts become much easier to be understood.
Research has specified that the most creative environments for learning,
developing motor skills, concentration and learning in general, are
unstructured, green and variable. In such studies there was also a decline in
children’s infections (Scott, 2001).
1.2.3 Research Approach
The study utilized quantitative research approach to determine the
effectiveness of teaching of scientific processes through outdoor education
in science. According to Gay (1996) quantitative research is a scientific
method used for prediction, generalizing a sample results to a larger group
of subjects, and using numbers to prove or disprove a hypothesis. For a
typical study using quantitative methods, researchers tend to draw a sample
of persons at random from a broader population. The present research
involved collection of numerical data and the use of statistical analysis to
explain data.
The research study employed the experimental research design
which falls in the category of true experimental research. According to
Shuttleworth (2008) true experimental design is considered as the most
exact form of experimental research, in that it tries to prove or disprove a
hypothesis mathematically, with a statistical analysis. They employ both a
control group and an experimental as a means to measure the change that
occurs in both groups. In this sense, an attempt is made to have control of
all the confounding variables, or at least consider their impact, while
attempting to determine if the treatment is what truly caused the change.
The true experiment is often thought of as the only research method that
can adequately measure the cause and effect relationship. For teaching

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scientific processes to the students of 8th grade, two groups were formed
i.e., group ‘A’ and ‘B’. Group ‘A’ was designated as experimental group while
group ‘B’ was the control group. Pretest and Post tests were used in
concluding the results.
Two units were selected from the book of Cambridge University
Press of 8th grade for teaching science through the outdoor education in
consultation with the experts. The selected units were based on the
scientific processes that had enabled the researcher to conduct different
experiments for teaching the concepts to the students. The selected topics
included:
1. Acids , bases and salts
2. Sources and effects of heat energy
After selecting the units, the following parts were divided in which the
components were highlighted that had been addressed in the classroom
through the outdoor education methodology:
 Acids
 Bases
 PH of Water
 Convection
 Conduction
 Radiation
 Reflection
 Refraction
1.2.4 Population
The population of the study cconsisted of all the students of 8th
grade studying science in the private schools of Rawalpindi.
1.2.5 Sample and Sampling Technique
Sixty students of 8thgrade of The Educators School Chaklala
Rawalpindi Branch were taken as the sample of the study through
convenient sampling technique. The school was accessible to the
researchers. During the meeting with the administration it was asked by the
branch head how the students were categorized in different sections. The
researchers were told that students were randomly arranged and placed in
different sections.
Their age level was the same and the students were divided into two
sections randomly. The 60 students belonged to the two different sections,
namely, A and B. 30 students were of class 8th A comprising experimental
group ‘A’ and 30 students were of class 8th B which was taken as control
group ‘B’. As it was a co-education school, so male students in Group A were

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17 in number and female students were 13 in number while in group B there
were 20 males and 10 female students. The sampling technique was
convenient.
1.2.6 Instruments
The study employed pretest and posttest as instruments to evaluate
the effect of the outdoor education on the science learners’ performance.
The instruments were constructed from the two units of eighth grade of
science book with the assistance of the supervisor and the subject experts.
The items were recvised according to the expert opinion. The pretest and
posttest were built on a similar specification; parts from both the units were
taken. Each test comprised of 20 multiple choice questions carrying 20
marks and 5 short questions carrying 20 marks i.e., each carrying 4 marks
separately. The total marks of both the tests were 40.
1.2.7 Pilot Test and Reliability
In order to check the effectiveness of the instruments, the
researchers conducted a pilot test on 15 students, from the same school
under study. Keeping the suggestions in view, the items were slightly
revised. The test reliability also was administered on fifteen students from
the same school. The value of Cronbach’s alpha which is acceptable was
0.828. According to Warmbrod (2001), the reliability is considered at
acceptable level if it is ranged above 0.8.
1.2.8 Data Analysis
To present data analysis in a brief and concise manner, and to
make it more reader friendly so that comprehension is not marred by
statistical jargon, the analysis is simplified into three main steps which
included:
 Firstly, the mean difference of the pretest and posttest of the
control group was analyzed. The mean difference of pre and
posttest of experimental group was also analyzed.
 Secondly, the mean differences of the upper and lower achievers
were analyzed and then the mean difference of gender was
analyzed.
 Thirdly, T-test was applied only on the posttest of control group and
posttest of experimental group. According to Heibert (2005)
statistical significance is standard, as it detects the smallest valuable
effect of the relationship among the variables.
Following are the mean, statistical significance and paired T-test on the pre
and posttest of control and experimental group relevant to the study as
shown in the tables:

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Table 1: Mean Difference of Pre and Posttest of Control Group
N Minimum Maximum Mean

Pre-test Control 30 6.0 18.0 10.767

Post-test Control 30 6.0 28.0 15.767

There is a significant difference between the mean percentages of

both the groups. The mean test score of the pretest of the control group was
10.76 and that of posttest of the control group was 15.76. This shows that
the control group has shown a bit of variation on the positive side in their
posttest scores, which means that some learning has occurred.
Table 2: Mean Difference of Pretest and Posttest of Experimental Group
N Minimum Maximum Mean
Pre-test Experimental 30 7.5 23.0 13.717
Post-test Experimental 30 25.0 40.0 35.633
There is a significant increase in the mean of the posttest of the
experimental group 35.63 in comparison to that of the pretest of the
experimental group 13.71. This shows that the experimental group showed
an obvious variation on the positive side in their posttest scores, it means
that learning has occurred three times.
Table 3: Mean of Upper and Lower Group of Experimental Group
Pre-test Score Post-test Score
Upper
X =19.60 X =30.60
Lower
X =9.05 X =30.90
Table 4: Mean Differences of Girls and Boys of Experimental Group
Post-test Girls Post-test Boys

X =34.92 Total X =36.17

Table 5: Paired Sample T-test

Mean N Std. Deviation Std. Error
Mean
Post-test Control 15.767 30 4.6493 .8488
Pair 1
Post-test Experimental 35.633 30 4.1334 .7547

There is a significant increase in the mean of the posttest of the

experimental group 35.63 in comparison to that of posttest of the control
group 15.71. This shows that the experimental group showed an obvious

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variation on the positive side in their posttest scores, it means that learning
has occurred three times more than the control group. According to the
results analyzed, it can be interpreted that outdoor education provides
students with opportunities for learning science concepts better with the
help of concrete experiences, allowing self-expression and interaction with
people to solve problems.
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences T df Sig. (2-
tailed)
Mean Std. Std. 95% Confidence
Deviation Error Interval of the
Mean Difference
Lower Upper
Pair Post-test
1 Control –
-19.8667 6.6500 1.2141 -22.3498 -17.3835 -16.363 29 .000
Post-test
Experimental

The calculated value of t= -16.363 which is less than the table value
i.e., 1.699 fixing alpha at 0.05 with df=29 (-16.363<1.699<0.05). Hence we
reject our null hypothesis and our research hypothesis is accepted which
states that outdoor education helps in logical concept attainment of ‘the
scientific processes’ in science at elementary level.
The t-test was applied in the end on the posttest scores of control
group and experimental group respectively. The mean differences of both
the groups were 35.63 in comparison to that of the posttest of the control
group 15.71. This shows that the experimental group has shown an obvious
variation on the positive side in their posttest scores. The calculated value
of t= -16.363 which is less than the table value i.e., 1.699 fixing alpha at 0.05
with df=29, which rejects the null hypothesis and hence the hypothesis is
accepted.
The findings of the study showed that learning through the outdoor
education had positive effect on the concept attainment in science subject
at 8th grade level.
1.3 Conclusion
The current study was intended to find the effect of outdoor
education on the learning of science concepts at elementary level and the
results of the tests show that by studying science, through outdoor
experiences, students can connect to their local environment and become
agents of their community’s natural resources. Outdoor education helps
students become informed citizens who can add knowledge to the
community for a better understanding. It is essential that science teacher

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 should be aware of the students’ needs and teach them appropriate
concepts, as science is all about concepts and knowledge, so a teacher
should bring together students to an outdoor environment where they can
explore ideas relating to individual and group identity. It provides a window
for students to view their everyday life from a different vantage-point.
Students can demonstrate basic knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary
for safe and comfortable outdoor experiences. Schools can build cohesion
within the school; create opportunities for meaningful community
involvement.
1.4 Recommendations
Keeping in view the results of the study following recommendations
are proposed:
i. The culture of rote memorization should be eliminated from school
setup through the use of some interesting outdoor activities.
ii. Marks for practicals should be included in every grade so that
everyone may get an opportunity to learn practically. Learning
through nature may be used as a strategy.
iii. Science and social studies teachers’ organizations, can offer
interactive workshops for teachers, designed to build familiarity
with and confidence in the outdoor learning lessons, activities and
teaching methods.
iv. Grounds should be maintained in the schools so that a conducive
learning environment may be provided to the students.
v. Practical topics in the curriculum of elementary science should be
accompanied by suggested outdoor activities making them a
compulsory requirement.
vi. Teacher’s guides should be prepared to provide orientation to the
school teachers about using outdoor education as an instructional
method.
vii. Teachers may be trained to effectively utilize the outdoor education
as a resource for science instruction.
viii. Teacher student ratio may be managed, so that teachers can easily
conduct the activities with the students.

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References
Brown, M. (2004). Let’s go round the circle:” How verbal facilitation can
function as a means of direct instruction. Journal of Experiential
Education, 27(2), 161-175.
Brune, J. (2002). Take it outside! Science and Children, 39(7), 29-33.
Bunting, C. J. (2006). Ten years of challenge course research: A review of
affective outcome studies. Poster presented at the 6th Coalition for
the Education in the Outdoors Research Symposium, January 11-13,
Bradford Woods, IN.
Dietz, A. K. (2000). Exploring science in early childhood: A developmental
approach. New York, NY: Delmar.
Ferris, E. (2007). Outdoor education for behavior disturbed students. ERIC
Digest.
Gay, L. R. (1996). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and
application. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
Galloway, J.S. (2000). Organizing wonder: Making inquiry science work in the
elementary school. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann.
Hammerman, E., & Hammerman, D. (1985). What basic needs are met
through outdoor education? The Outdoor Communicator, Fall-
Winter, 28-31.
Haulza, D. (2000). Science experiences for the early childhood years (4th ed.).
Columbus, Ohio: Merrill.
Hofstein, A. (1994). Factors that influence learning during a scientific field
trip in a natural environment. Journal of research in science
teaching, 31(10), 1097-1119.
Knott, M. (2009). Exploring outdoor education and research in architecture.
Open House International, 34(1), 86-94.
Meldrum, A. (2001). Inviting Children into the fun: Providing enough activity
choices outdoors. Exchange, 70, 15-19.
Scott, et al. (2001). Technological risk, scientific advice and public
“education”: Groping for an adequate language in the case of GM
foods. Environmental Education Research, 7(2), 129-39.
Segal et al. (2002). Reasons for Difficulty in Learning Science. Retrieved on
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difficulty-learning Science.html#ixzz2HDTS4lR3.

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Shuttleworth, M., 2008. Quantitative research design. [Accessed 15th March
2010] Retrieved from http://www.experiment-resources.
com/quantitative-research-design.htm
Ward, A. (2012). The importance of outdoor education. [Accessed on 31st
December 2012] Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/green-
living-in-fort-worth/angela-ward

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NUML Journal of Critical Inquiry Vol 15(II) December, 2017 ISSN 2222-5706

Lying with Truth:

A Fictionalized Confrontation with History
Sundas Tahreem1
Farheen Ahmed Hashmi2
Khadeeja Mushtaq3
Abstract
Euro Americans have produced biased account of history of
suppressed Native Americans in their officially documented version of
history in which Native Americans are often misrepresented. Contrary to
general perception, Native Americans struggled to survive dominant Euro
Americans by reshaping true identity of their own in their official as well as
fictive versions of history. The study is, therefore, designed to bring the
suppressed Native Americans and their silenced truth to the center. The
study is qualitative in nature and the selected text is analyzed through
qualitative content analysis technique. Linda Hutcheon’s theory of
historiographic metafiction has been used to make a comparison between
Euro American’s officially documented history and historical characters with
fictive history and characters presented by Gerald Vizenor. The study is
based on the analysis of fiction from American Indian’s marginalized
perspective. It has been proved with evidence from the selected fictional
work that Native American narration of fictive history is more authentic
than the official history recorded by powerful Euro Americans. The study
finally winds up with recommendations to conduct a comprehensive
research based on a comparison between the officially documented
histories of Columbus’ discovery of America by different Euro American
historians with Native American perspective in Gerald Vizenor’s fictive
history of voyage of Columbus in The Heirs of Columbus. Another potent
recommendation for future research is to conduct a thorough study on
rejection of stereotyping of Native Americans by Euro Americans in The
Heirs of Columbus.
Keywords: postmodernism, historiographic metafiction, Euro
Americans
Introduction
History is believed to convey true account about past lives and
events. However, it is important to add that it is not a divine record but is
written by human beings who may paint accounts according to their
ideological leanings. Since, a historian is the only judge of what may be
superfluous and hence to be omitted from the history, s/he can no longer
be an objective or neutral observer. Historical truth is any historical record,
or in more specific terms, any historical perspective, which is supported with

134
evidence provided by historians. It is also a fact that many historical records
about the same event are contradictory to each other because every
historian claims to have access to authentic information. Historians also
distort facts to construct a national narrative which overwrites the claims of
other groups. The motives of historians may vary from personal to political.
Authenticity of history is considered a myth in the postmodern
world. Postmodernists believe that historians have the power to marginalize
certain facts and highlight some others to manipulate history. Winners and
powerful nations can easily manipulate history to promote their desired
information and to marginalize the truth that does not suit them. This
common practice invites a disbelief in objectivity and authenticity of history.
So, history should also be taken as a story as the truth is created in history
that makes it of a subjective nature. Porter and Roemer in The Cambridge
Companion to Native American Literature, quote George Santanya who
discusses distortion of history as, “history is always written wrong, and so
always needs to be rewritten” (p. 153).
The Native American perspective of history about the origin and
ancestry of Columbus through fiction of Gerald Vizenor is explored in the
present research. Vizenor presents the Native American perspective of
historical truth which has been marginalized by the powerful Euro
Americans, in their officially documented history. The study shows that
Vizenor’s fiction dehistoricizes Euro American historical accounts by
rejecting high claims of discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. He
presents in his novel that according to Native Americans, Columbus did not
discover America but he came back after a long voyage to his native place.
The analysis of Vizenor’s The Heirs of Columbus is carried out through the
literary technique of historiographic metafiction to fictionalize officially
documented history by the Euro Americans.
Native Americans’ Departure from Euro American’s Historical
Version
Jace Weaver (2001) has written that Native Americans take
discovery of America as a myth of Euro Americans (p. 19). Native Americans
claim that they have been living there for thousands of years and are the
natives of America. The officially documented histories of Euro Americans
are loaded with high claims of discovery by them. However, Native
Americans do not agree with the term, discovery. They have a very different
truth about the so called grand discovery of America by the great explorer
Christopher Columbus. Native Americans take this discovery as invasion.
The motive behind his invasion was a lust for power and wealth. American
Indian historical accounts revolve around the invasion of Columbus in
America rather than discovery of Columbus. They claim that America was a
sovereign state at the time of Columbus’ invasion.

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 Native American historians pen down harsh realities about greed
and cruelty of Euro Americans. They claim that the hospitality and polite
nature of Native Americans made Euro Americans invade their places. They
warmly welcomed Euro Americans and this kind and gentle nature of Native
Americans gave Euro Americans the reason to invade their territories. De
Brown, in Burry My Heart at Wounded Knee (1971) started his narration of
the event of Christopher Columbus’ invasion with the letter that Christopher
wrote to the King and Queen of Spain. Columbus told them in the letter that
the Native Americans were very generous people and they had the custom
to receive the strangers in a very good manner. They treated him and his
men with honor and presented them the gifts that showed their hospitality.
He gave them the name; Indios which was spoken differently in different
dialects of the white men. The term Indios was pronounced differently in
different dialects like, Indien, Indianer or Indian. He wrote in his letter the
qualities of the people of the New World and their difference from the white
ways of life:
So traceable and peaceable are these people . . . that I swear
to your Majesties there is not in the world a better nation.
They love their neighbors as themselves, and their discourse
is ever sweet and gentle . . . it is true that they are naked, yet
their manners are decorous and praiseworthy. (p. 1)
De Brown states that Euro Americans took good qualities of Native
Americans as their weakness. Euro Americans were convinced that Native
Americans should be “made to work” and they should be taught to “adopt
Euro American ways of life.” Several million Euro Americans tried hard for
the next four centuries from 1492-1890 to impose their ways of life on
Native Americans. “Columbus kidnapped ten of his friendly Taino hosts and
carried them off to Spain, where they could be introduced to the white
man’s ways” (p. 2).
The Spaniards looted and burned villages, they kidnapped
hundreds of men, women and children and shipped them to
Europe to be sold as slaves . . . whole tribes were destroyed,
hundreds of thousands of people in less than a decade after
Columbus set foot on the beach of San Salvador, October 12,
1492. (p. 2)
Jace Weaver, an American Indian writer, writes in his book Other Words:
American Indian Literature, Law and Culture (2001) that Euro Americans
have created many myths about Native Americans and the discovery of
America. Some of the myths include Christopher Columbus has discovered
America and Native Americans are nomadic savages and the lost tribes of
Israel (pp. 17-18). In March 1493, Christopher Columbus reached back to

136
Spain with the captives who were likely to be human beings but not among
Euro Americans. Bible clearly states that there are three continents: Europe,
Africa, Asia and all these continents are populated with three sons of Noah
after flood so it was difficult to believe that these people belong to
Americas. Initially, they believed that these dark skinned people “are the
lost tribes of Israel” but later, in 1512, Pope Julius II declared that they are
“descendants from Adam and Eve” (p. 18). Weaver further writes that the
myth of the discovery and conquest by Euro Americans evidently shows
their psyche to rule the world. The reality for Native Americans is contrary
to what Euro Americans have presented to the world. Native Americans
claim that America was a populated place as a lot of tribes had already been
residing there. The use of language is important when he says that America
was considered a “virgin place” by the Euro Americans that “was discovered
by Columbus” where there were few savages roaming around as they were
lost and could not find their way. The reality is totally different because
America was more like “a widow” place because the representation of this
place by the Euro Americans is not true. They did not “find a wilderness”
here but they “created wilderness” by slaughtering a great number of
inhabitants and rest of the people died due to the disease, the new comers
carried with them. So, in real it was not a “settlement,” but a “resettlement”
of the new comers as this place was occupied by the Native Americans
previously. He further says conveniently that the myth of discovery by the
Euro Americans never conveyed the real story behind this discovery because
they have “omitted the facts of slaughtering the Native Americans” (p. 19).
James Adair in The History of the American Indians (2005), states
that there is a great deal of uncertainty in the origin of tribes and history of
Native Americans. He is of the opinion that the history cannot show the real
past and historians are responsible for it. Some historians were ignorant of
real past events and others were too biased to record the truth. He states
that some American Indian tribes had no written language or even engraved
record at that time so the rest of the world could only rely on their oral
tradition. All the tribes of Indians are the descent of Yanasa (pp. 72-73). Jace
Weaver in That the People Might Live: Native American Literatures and
Native American (1997) compares Vizenor’s starting point in The Heirs of
Columbus (1991) with Frantz Fanon’s argument where he states that Europe
is invention of the Third World. Weaver states that “it is history turned
inside out and then dumped on its head, exposing the fragility and
subjectivity of a ‘historical truth’ for all to see” (p. 142). He writes that
Vizenor narrates the story of a group of cross-bloods who are descendants
of the great explorer Christopher Columbus who came back to the land of
his ancestors (p. 143).

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 Devon A. Mihesuah, in a research article, “Voices, Interpretations,
and the 'New Indian History': Comment on the ‘American Indian Quarterly's’
Special Issue on Writing about American Indians” argues that the issue of
historical fact is not just addressed about Native Americans but it is also a
point of debate among anthropologists and historians. The representation
of “Others” is a very sensitive issue and historians also debate about the
definition of “new Indian history.” The writer challenges all the historical
events narrated by the people in power to question their authenticity by
calling it fantasy with the use of exaggeration and calls the historical
statistics as illusion (p. 93).
The term, historiographic metafiction is coined by Linda Hutcheon.
She has written in her book, The Politics of Postmodernism (2001) that
narrative representation – fictive and historical – comes under similar
subversive scrutiny in the paradoxical postmodern form I would like to call
“historiographic metafiction” (p. 15). She is of the opinion that the function
of historiographic metafiction is to provide the reader with an opportunity
to take a new perspective of past events. To her, it is the process of rewriting
history in which the writer feels free to highlight previously marginalized
events. “Storytellers can certainly silence, exclude, and absent certain past
events—and people—but it also suggests that historians have done the
same: where are the women in the traditional histories of the eighteenth
century?” (p. 107). She states that creating a blur boundary between history
and fiction is also the function of historiographic metafiction. It confronts
with the view that truth can be claimed only by history. Hutcheon believes
that history and fiction both are discourses which are based on human
constructs and the focus of both the discourses remains on the
representation of identity. She states that historiographic metafiction aims
to tamper with everything and raises questions about the representation of
identity (p. 55).
Linda Hutcheon takes postmodernism as “Ahistorical.” She has
stated in her book, A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, Fiction
(1988) that there is a general agreement of the critics of postmodernism
that “the postmodernism is ahistorical” (p. 87). The term “ahistorical” firmly
confronts with the notion of authenticity of history. She is of the opinion
that history has become a problematic issue in the present era. She believes
that for postmodernists, history and fiction both are discourses. Both
discourses should be given equal importance because both make sense
about the past events. Postmodernists do not take history as a dishonest
refuge from truth but they believe in acknowledging human construct that
is involved in meaning making (p. 87).
She has asserted in The Politics of Postmodernism (1989) that
postmodernist view suggests that the issue of representation of the past

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and fiction raises a question about the source from which we know the past.
The importance of the past cannot be denied and one cannot escape or
avoid it. Whenever we talk about the past, we must acknowledge the fact
of limitation of human knowledge and power relationship. We can know
about the past events only through the traces of documents and witnesses.
If we acknowledge the limitation of human knowledge and the documents
created by human beings and then the witnesses, who are again human
beings, then we shall believe in the fact that all past representations are one
way or the other, human constructions of narratives and explanations. It
shows a desire to understand the present culture in the light of previous
representations. In a very real sense, then, the representation of history,
ironically, becomes the history of representation (p. 58).
Historiographic Metafiction as a Dawn of New History
Gerald Vizenor’s novel, The Heirs of Columbus (1991) is evidently
“ahistorical” as it confronts with the authenticity of Euro American’s version
of history in which they have made high claims of discovery of America by
Christopher Columbus. Vizenor has deconstructed Euro American version of
history that traces significant events of the life of Christopher Columbus and
his voyage that ended in discovery of America. Vizenor reconstructs it, giving
marginalized Native American perspective to the history of the origin of
Native Americans and Voyages of Columbus. Vizenor follows the tradition
of Euro Americans in his fiction to marginalize all other voices to highlight
his own perspective. These claims are based on a purely Native American
Perspective about history. Voyages of Columbus are of political nature but
Vizenor’s fiction presents parody of Euro American version of history by
emphasizing on his personal life which has always been left untold by the
Euro Americans. Vizenor’s deconstructed account of Voyages of Columbus
and his life gives central importance to the Native Americans who have
always been marginalized by the Euro Americans. Vizenor makes loud claims
to subvert officially documented histories about Christopher Columbus and
his discovery of America. He strongly disagrees with the Euro-American’s
claim of discovery of America by Christopher Columbus because they have
another version of story about him and his voyages that is based on the
return of Columbus to his homeland rather than discovery.
Linda Hutcheon’s historiographic metafiction is evident throughout
The Heirs of Columbus as Vizenor has merged the boundary of fiction and
history in his revised fictive history. He starts his story, giving a vivid clue to
his readers that the story has links to the officially documented history of
Columbus but Vizenor’s fictive history shakes the reader’s existing
knowledge about Columbus’ lineage. Vizenor conveys the story of
Christopher Columbus through two sources in his novel. The first account of
the story is through the journals of Columbus that he used to write to the

139
King and Queen. This carries the Euro-American version of history. The
second account of history is based on the narration of stories by the
omniscient narrator of Vizenor’s novel. He narrates stories about Columbus
and his ancestry to the rest of the characters and the readers get to know
about the Native American perspective of history.
Native American fictive account of history by Vizenor establishes
that he did not discover America because he came back to his native place.
Vizenor’s novel revolves around the theme of ancestry of Christopher
Columbus. The title of the novel, The Heirs of Columbus, also advocates that
the novel centers on ancestry and personal life of Columbus. Vizenor
promotes the Native American side of the story that counters the Euro-
American officially documented history. The omniscient narrator of the
novel gives a new historical perspective by telling the readers that Columbus
forgot the route while he was on voyage and after some years, he came back
to his native place that is misconceived by the Euro-Americans as the
discovery of America. In fact, it was coming back to his native place. He
landed there because he saw a blue light that was released from the hands
of a silent hand talker on the island. He followed the direction of light and
arrived there. At first, he thought that he had discovered a new place but
later on he realized that it was his native place and he had come back to his
own people. Vizenor’s postmodern return to history is nostalgic and
revivalist because the narrator of Vizenor’s novel tells the readers that
Columbus is from Anishinaaba tribe which is considered the oldest tribe in
the New World of the Native Americans. He writes, “. . . he was an obscure
cross blood who bore the tribal signature of survivance” (p. 3). On reaching
the island, Columbus unfurled the royal banner and wrote Guanahani that
was the name he gave to tribal people on the island. At first he started to
misrepresent the people he encountered on the island but later on he
realized that he belonged to these tribal people. Vizenor establishes this
claim in the following line. “He misconstrued tribal pose and later traced his
soul to the stories in blood” (p. 4).
Vizenor blurs the boundary of history and fiction when he presents
the second version of the same incident with the help of the journal of
Christopher Columbus that he used to write for the crown. He wrote in his
journal that he landed on the island because of the blue light that was
coming from the island. He wrote that he landed there with no missionaries.
The island was full of people who had been living like a tribe and he gave a
name to that tribe as Guanahani. “They all go naked as their mothers bore
them” (p. 4). Vizenor’s fiction highlights Euro-American prejudice against
the Native Americans. He calls them servants in his journal. In fact, they
were never his servants; they were living there in their sovereign state. “He
was blinded by white sand” (p. 3). He showed his sword to one of those

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tribal men and he grabbed the sword from the blade and cut himself that
created hostile feelings about him among the tribal people. Christopher
Columbus admits in his record of journal that the people on island were
peaceful and they did not believe in enforcement of commands. “In order
to win their friendship, since I knew they were people to be converted . . . I
gave some of them red caps and glass beads which they hung around their
necks” (p. 4). Columbus admits that his intention behind his friendship with
the Native Americans was not good. He wanted to impose Christianity on
them and for that reason he had to win their hearts. He also admits that
“they ought to make good and skilled servants, for they repeat very quickly
whatever we say to them” (p. 4).
Vizenor makes loud claims in his novel about the lineage of
Christopher Columbus to prove him a Native American. The title of the novel
also gives a vivid hint to the readers that the novel is dedicated to the
ancestry and true lineage of Columbus. Vizenor strengthens his claim by
providing his readers the number of heirs of Columbus in the novel.
Postmodern historiographic metafiction plays an important role to blur the
boundary between history and fiction in the presentation of the number of
heirs of Columbus in the novel. It also symbolizes that history and fiction
both are discourses and both should be treated equally by giving them equal
importance. Vizenor also creates postmodern ambiguity among his readers
by telling that the number of heirs of Columbus is a tribal secret but he gives
number of tribal heirs of Columbus that he announces as nine but he writes
eleven names to reject the ultimate truth and reality:
The number of heirs is a tribal secret, but there were nine
who told stories that autumn evening at the stone tavern.
Truman Columbus, the shouter, and her spouse with the
same names; Bin Columbus and her son Stone; Memphis, the
black panther; Gracioso Browne, the panic hole historian;
Felipa Flowers, the gorgeous trickster poacher; Caliban, the
great white mongrel; Samana, the shaman bear from the Big
Island in Lake of the Woods. Miigis, the luminous child, and
Admire, the healer who whistled with a blue tongue, were
there with Stone and Felipa. (p. 14)
In the revised version of Columbus’ historical lineage, Vizenor creates
uncertainty in his own narration as well that conveys to the readers that
there is always a room for manipulation of history and there cannot be a
single reality about the past events. He makes a statement and then he
nullifies his own statement by giving a contradictory number of heirs of
Columbus in the same paragraph. The above paragraph can be interpreted
as the number nine has no fixed meaning for Vizenor because his
announcement about nine heirs and writing eleven names conveys the

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same message. The readers have no other option except to believe in
whatever he has said about the ancestry of Columbus. He also conveys to
his readers that the number of the tribal heirs is secret that leaves the
readers to assume the number of heirs the way want. It also confirms that
history is also subjective and it can be easily manipulated by historians. The
narration of heirs of Columbus by Vizenor also highlights Hutcheon’s
concept of historiographic metafiction that raises questions about the
guarantee of meanings. Vizenor’s provision of heirs of Columbus also does
not have a fixed meaning and Hutcheon sees it as human construction of
narration.
Vizenor fictionalizes officially recorded historical background of
Christopher Columbus, Mayan civilization and American Indians by making
different claims that apparently seem unbelievable. He relates all three of
them to each other. He has challenged the historically documented history
written by the Euro Americans in the deconstructed fictive history. Vizenor
claims in The Heirs of Columbus that Native Americans and Mayan share the
same genetic signature in blood. He has linked this genetic signature of the
great explorer, Christopher Columbus, and by doing this; he owns Jesus
Christ and Christopher Columbus. He insists on the claim that Native
Americans are the true heirs of Christopher Columbus because both share
the same genetic signature in the blood. He not only claims to own
Christopher Columbus but he also owns Mayan by establishing that they
also share the same signature in blood as of Christopher Columbus being
Native American. “The Maya were on our time and we got the same genetic
signature from the hand talkers” (p. 26). He does not stop challenging Euro
American’s official history but he also challenges their religious beliefs by
rewriting basics about Christianity and Jesus Christ. He claims that Jesus
Christ is also Mayan and asserts that he also belongs to the American
Indians. “Jesus Christ and Columbus are Maya” (p. 26). These challenging
claims by Vizenor make the Native Americans socially and religiously
superior and civilized to Euro Americans. It is believed that civilization
started with Mayan and if Mayan belongs to the American Indians, it
conveys that civilization started with the Native Americans. Euro Americans
in their officially documented history have misrepresented the Native
Americans as uncivilized and uneducated. Vizenor’s claim rejects both the
negative connotations attached to Native Americans as the civilization starts
with them and Jesus Christ, who is considered the greatest preacher in
Christianity. Hutcheon’s statement about the historiographic metafiction
becomes authentic and justified in the case of the Native Americans as she
believes that representation of history, ironically is the history of
representation. Hutcheon’s theory gives the researcher enough space to
believe that there is also a possibility that Vizenor’s claims in his fictive
account of history is based on truth because he has provided his readers

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logical links to convey his point of view. History and fiction both are written
by human beings and if the readers can believe in one perspective based on
the history written by the Euro Americans, they also can believe in another
perspective based on fiction written by the Native Americans. Native
Americans believe in stories and their authenticity of the knowledge is also
based on remembering tribal stories rather than fragmented data arranged
with some rational speculations. They are very particular in remembering
the stories for their next generations and they take it as their responsibility
to remember them to convey the original, unchanged stories to their
people. Vine Deloria, Jr., a historian and anthropologist, in his book, Red
Earth, White Lies: Native Americans and the Myth of Scientific Fact also
establishes the importance of the Native Americans’ oral tradition. He
states: “Non-Western, tribal equivalence of science is the oral tradition, the
tradition that has been passed down from generation to the next over
uncounted centuries” (p. 36). He further states that in larger American
Indian communities, the function of narration of stories is performed by the
tribal elders. “There is no one person who could remember all the
information about the trivial past, the religious revelations and the complex
knowledge of physical world” (p. 33).
Vizenor then matures the claim that Jesus Christ belongs to the
Native Americans with the narration of the past which is conveyed to the
readers by the heirs of Christopher Columbus, who have been presented as
major characters of his novel. They are used as a mouthpiece of Vizenor for
conveying the same claim that Jesus Christ belongs to this nation. He makes
the same claim about Jesus Christ using Felipa Flower: a hand talker shaman
who heals with blue radiance and blue wooden puppets. She is also among
one of the heirs of Columbus hand talker. She tells the readers that “Jesus
returned in a burst of blue radiance” (p. 26). Stone Columbus is also among
the heirs of Columbus and he continues with the same claim by saying that
“his shroud bears our stories” (p. 26). Stone Columbus has also been
presented as the heir of Christopher Columbus in the novel. Stone’s
statement about Jesus Christ’s shroud has been logically linked to stories on
two levels. Firstly, stories have been used as a metaphor to create an
association of the Native Americans with Jesus Christ. Stories in blood have
also been presented as signature in blood for the Native Americans. If
Christ’s shroud bears the stories then there is no doubt that he belongs to
the Native Americans as stories have religious significance for the Native
Americans. Secondly, the claim of Stone regarding shroud of Christ has also
been logically connected to stories as shroud is the eternal piece of cloth for
the dead ones. It remains with the body everlastingly. Native Americans are
obsessed with remembering the stories with their original details to make
them eternal for their coming generations. They keep on repeating their
stories to keep them original. The stories are also remembered by the

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American Indians for good, the way shroud remains with the body endlessly.
Linda Hutcheon’s theory of historiographic metafiction is evident in claims
of Vizenor where he presents a discourse that counters the Euro American
history about Christopher Columbus and Jesus Christ. The discourse raises a
question about the authenticity of the source from which we know the past.
His fiction has silenced a historical truth, highlighting the importance of oral
tradition of Native Americans as narration of stories has religious
significance for them. Thus, his fictive history enjoys an important place as
he relates all the details to support his argument by giving them Native
American taste of beliefs and religion. Vine Deloria, in his book, Red Earth,
White Lies: Native Americans and the Myth of Scientific Fact also gives the
same message about the source from which people know about past. He
draws a comparison of Old Testament with the oral tradition saying that
“the Old Testament was once an oral tradition until it was written down” (p.
36).
Vizenor’s version of deconstructed history of the great explorer
conveys a different perspective about Christopher Columbus’ personal life
as well. His narration of Columbus’ story parodies the officially documented
history recorded by the Euro Americans. Binn Columbus: another heir of
Columbus, who has been presented as the mother of Stone Columbus in
fictive history of Vizenor, highlights some facts about Columbus’ life which
have never been addressed by the Euro Americans in their officially
documented histories. Binn states that “Columbus was a bad shadow, tired
and broken because he lost most of his body parts on the way, so the old
shamans heated some stones and put them back together again”(p. 19).
Vizenor’s story is interesting as it conveys as if the Native Americans are
blessed with some mystic powers. He claims that Columbus was broken
when he reached the island and his body parts were put together and
healed by the Native American shamans. The way Vizenor narrates the
event of Columbus’ recreation and the process of healing of his body parts
by shamans seems to be a magical phenomenon and it gives the feeling as
if Columbus was not a human being but was an object made of plastic body
that was mended by the Native Americans on the island. The way of claiming
the explorer to belong to them by telling the readers that he was actually
created by the Native Americans reinforces the theme of genetic signature
and survivance of Columbus that challenges traditionally accepted
knowledge about the voyage of Columbus:
. . . a new belly for the explorer, and shin, the bone shaman,
called in a new leg from the underworld, and he got an eye
from the sparrow woman, so you might say that we created
this great explorer from our own stones at the tavern. (p. 19)

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Vizenor has visibly dealt with historical account of broken treaties by the
Euro Americans and their cheating on the lands of the Native Americans in
The Heirs of Columbus. He makes an obvious reference from history of
broken treaties when he narrates the story of Luster Browne. Vizenor
deconstructs the history of the broken treaties and deception by giving a
positive outcome of cheating on the ancestral lands of the Native
Americans. In actual history, the Native Americans suffered heavily in results
of the deceit. Treaties were violated because the Native Americans did not
know the English language so it was easy for the Euro Americans to
manipulate treaties. The interpreters were also Euro Americans and Native
Americans did not have any system of recording. Native Americans suffered
deeply due to these handicaps. They were removed forcefully from their
ancestral lands and then they were forced to move onto reservations like
nomads. They did not have even the basic necessities of life. Vizenor does
not take this fraud as destructive but it is constructive for the Native
Americans. He presents Luster Browne as a representative of the Native
Americans, who is shown as one of the victims of that fraud by the Euro
Americans. Luster Browne is an old man in the fictive history of Vizenor and
the fraud has been given a positive facet as it leads to the spiritual growth
of the old man. He was helpless in the hands of the Euro American’s lust for
riches and he could not do anything but shout on this unfortunate incident.
He was among those Native Americans who were cheated on land
allotments. In the beginning, he shouted at the federal agents, priests and
everybody whom he could get an access to but it did not benefit him.
Gradually, he realized that there was no use of shouting at them, so, he
started to shout in deserted places and into the holes in meadows. In the
state of utter despair and frustration, he started to shout in meadows and
concrete holes to release his pain. “The old men cheated out of their land,
became tricksters, and some shouted into panic holes” (p. 23). The people
on the reservation were witness to his anxiety and desperate shouts and
they started to name the holes in which he shouted as panic holes. The time
kept on passing and there was a time that the tribal people and Luster
Browne noticed that plants and meadows grew in result of his shouts. He
became a noble old man as ultimately, he became the healer of plants and
flowers. Vizenor narrates this magical event in the following lines:
The Baron of Patronia, a distant great uncle who became a
noble man in a land allotment hoax, was the original shouter
on his reservation. Luster Browne, as he was known to the
tribe, mediated with shouts over panic holes, and he became
a gardener by chance because flowers bloomed on the beds
and meadows that heard his shouts. (p. 23)

145
His fame for healing vegetation and plants spread all around and the Euro
Americans also knew the worth of this old man for his exceptional power.
They offered him a handsome amount of money in return of tape recording
for his shouts. There are two important points to be noted here. First, he
not only earned money from the same Euro Americans who cheated him on
his land. Second, apart from money, he also earned respect and honor by
the Euro Americans for his extraordinary healing powers. Previously, these
were the people who were responsible for his pain and agony, now they are
the people who need him for their benefit, accepting his superiority over
their advanced agricultural techniques. As a token of their
acknowledgement for his extraordinary powers, they made him the first
“Baron on the reservation.” As Gerald Vizenor states in another book of his,
Hotline Healers: An Almost Browne Novel (1997) that “he became the noble
man and the first baron in reservation histories and by the order of the
president of the United States” (p. 12). He was made baron of Patronia.
Vizenor does not take illegal and unlawful act of deprivation of the rightful
lands of the Native Americans by the Euro Americans as the reason of
constant despair for the Native Americans but he takes it to be constructive.
It helped Luster Browne for his spiritual growth by mediating on shouts to
get unusual healing powers for foliage. This healing was not limited to
vegetation, plants and flowers but Vizenor also mentions that human beings
were also healed with his shouts. The noble act of healing continued even
after his death as “the Minnesota Headwaters Commission and Golden Gate
Park in San Francisco erected two bronze statues of the tribal shouter, one
in each state” (p. 24). To the readers’ surprise, Vizenor reveals that the
statues continued to heal human beings and foliage after his death. I can
just marvel on the powers of man who is no more but even after his death,
his spirit wanders around his statues to heal the foliage and the human
beings.
The events of the officially documented histories of Christopher
Columbus’ voyages have been rewritten by Vizenor in his The Heirs of
Columbus in many ways. Three ships Santa Maria, Nina and Pinta were
given to Christopher Columbus by the king and queen for his voyages to
discover wealth and find out the shortest route to Indies. These three ships
serve a different purpose in the revised history of voyages of Columbus in
Vizenor’s fiction, i.e., to mingle the boundary between fiction and history.
Vizenor entitles his first chapter of the novel as Santa Maria Casino. Santa
Maria was the largest of three ships which were given to Columbus by the
crown on his first voyage. That historical ship converted into a flagship
“casino” for games on the international borders and is run by the Native
Americans for their entertainment and their financial growth. Vizenor
challenges the historical account of the Euro-Americans with this conversion
of an object which has a great significance in history. He has deconstructed

146
the concept of the ship used during the voyage. In historical account, the
Native Americans relate to Santa Maria with a negative feeling as it was used
against them to invade and enslave them. Thus, Santa Maria was a symbol
of destruction and pain for the Native Americans because it was used by
Columbus to invade their land. Vizenor, in his novel, reconstructs symbolic
ties related to ship and converts it into a casino that works in favor of the
Native Americans. Stone Columbus is used as a mouthpiece by Vizenor to
tell the readers that Santa Maria Casino earns in millions which is used for
the betterment of American Indians. “The casino was an enormous barge
that has been decked for games” (p. 6). There were two other ships as well
which were given to Christopher Columbus by the king and queen for his
voyages. They were named as Nina and Pinta. Vizenor also challenges the
officially documented history of the Euro Americans in his fiction by
converting these two ships into a “restaurant” and “tax free market”
respectively. All the three ships were considered as symbols of plight and
inconvenience for the Native Americans but Vizenor has rewritten the
historical context of these ships. Hutcheon’s historiographic metafiction
becomes obvious in Vizenor’s construction of meanings of the historical
ships of the Euro Americans, which work for social and economic benefits
and advancement of the Native Americans to improve their image
worldwide. His conversion conveys a significant message that history is not
objective and there is no concept of ultimate truth in the universe. Different
people have their different interpretations about the same historical
account as past is conveyed through some source, which can be countered
also. Fictive history of Vizenor affirms that if the Euro America’s account of
Christopher Columbus can be authentic, the Native American fictive account
of the same historical account can also be authentic.
Conclusive Discussion
This research was carried out to examine Gerald Vizenor’s novel,
The Heirs of Columbus with the perspective of post modern historiographic
metafiction. The study was conducted to make a point that history and
fiction both are written by human beings and both are not divine. Human
beings are prone to errors and they can also manipulate history and fiction,
both. The analysis shows that if both have a tendency to bear subjectivity
then both should be given equal importance. Fiction is generally considered
imaginative so it is not thought to be authentic.
The present research has proved with evidence from the text and
by reviewing the literature that the history of discovery of America by
Columbus and the historical background of the Native Americans that is
written by the Euro Americans is subjective. The study asserts after careful
analysis of fictive history written by Vizenor and official history of the Native
American historians that there can be many versions of the same historical

147
event. The researchers have analyzed in detail the ancestry of Christopher
Columbus, his historical event of discovery of America and history of the
Native Americans in general with fictive history of Vizenor to highlight the
Native American stance about history. The focal point of research was to
bring into limelight the Native American perspective of history by
highlighting a marginalized truth from the American Indian viewpoint. This
research paper demonstrates that Vizenor has addressed history to
highlight a silenced truth in his fictive history. He has used his fiction as a
tool to present the marginalized perspective of history. The research also
points out that there is no obvious boundary between history and fiction
and both contain subjective knowledge because both are written by human
beings. The study, therefore, discards historical truth to bring fictive truth
into focus in the selected novel of Gerald Vizenor. This research has been
exclusively designed to highlight the Native American side of the truth which
was previously marginalized. It has been traced out in the course of the
study that Vizenor has rewritten the history of Columbus’ first voyage in The
Heirs of Columbus and he has filled the gaps of history by addressing
marginalized truth. The analysis of the selected text for study brought into
limelight the American Indian truth about the great discovery by Columbus
which is altogether different from the Euro American officially documented
historical account. Gerald Vizenor has denied “the great discovery” of
Christopher Columbus by claiming that it was not a discovery but a “coming
back to the homeland.” The researcher has made a point that Native
American fictive history is more authentic because there are many
evidences of the Native American side of the truth in the novel which are
supported with historical accounts of different Native American historians
as well. It is also proved with evidence from the text that the Euro Americans
have misrepresented the Native Americans in their historical accounts. The
study presents a comparison based on the evidence from the text to give a
real picture of the Native Americans that is positive in nature to discard the
dark picture of the Native Americans presented by the Euro Americans.
Prospects for Future Research
In the limited time frame and study of this research, the researchers
identified many areas in the selected novel that need further exploration
because they have been presented in detail by the writer. These areas need
a detailed study in the backdrop of postmodernism because in the present
research it was not possible to incorporate every aspect of these areas. So,
following are recommended for the future research:
1. A comprehensive study based on a comparison between the
officially documented histories of Columbus’ discovery of America
by different Euro American historians with the Native American

148
 perspective in Gerald Vizenor’s fictive history of Voyage of
Columbus in The Heirs of Columbus.
2. A thorough study for rejection of stereotyping of the Native
Americans by the Euro Americans in The Heirs of Columbus.
Notes
1
Postmodernism: Subversion of the belief of ultimate reality. It asserts that there is
no definite truth and this belief of uncertainty invites subjectivity (Postmodernism:
A very short introduction, 2002).
2
Historiographic Metafiction: Deconstruction of history by bringing multiple voices
in fiction from history through parody, irony, and humor (A poetics of
postmodernism: History, theory, fiction, 2005).
3
Euro Americans: All those Europeans who came to the North American continent
and settled there. Euro American and white have been used interchangeably in the
study.
4
Stories in Blood: Ancestral memories of American Indians (The heirs of Columbus,
1991).
5
Panic holes: Luster Browne used to shout at the holes, into meadows or even
concrete. He shouted and shouted to heal himself for the loss of and fraud on the
land that was done by the Euro Americans. He shouted at priests, renounced the
mission, sneered at federal agents and despite their censure of his intractable
nature; he became a noble man, the first baron of the reservation and by the order
of the president of the United States (Hotline healers: An almost browne novel,
1997).

149
References
Adair, J. (2005). The history of the American Indians. Tuscaloosa: The
University of Alabama Press.
Brown, D. (1971). Bury my heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian history of the
American West. New York, NY: Sterling Innovation.
Deloria, V. (1995). Red earth, white lies: Native Americans and the myth of
scientific fact. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing.
Fischer, D. H. (1970). Historians’ fallacies: Toward a logic of historical
thought. New York, NY: Harper & Row.
Hutcheon, L. (1986). The politics of postmodernism: Parody and history.
Cultural Critique, (5), 179-207.
Hutcheon, L. (1988). A poetics of postmodernism: History, theory, fiction.
London: Routledge.
Hutcheon, L. (1989). The politics of postmodernism. New York, NY:
Routledge.
Hutcheon, L. (1992).The complex functions of irony. Revista Canadiense de
Estudios Hispánicos, 16, 219-234.
Mihesuah, A, D. (1996).Voices, interpretations, and the 'new Indian history':
Comment on the ‘American Indian quarterly's special issue on
writing about American Indians. American Indian Quarterly, 20(1),
91-108.
Porter, J., & Roemer, M, K. (2005). The Cambridge companion to Native
American literature. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Vizenor, G. (1991). The heirs of Columbus. Middletown: Wesleyan University
Press.
Weaver, J. (2001). Other words: American Indian literature, law and culture.
Oklahoma, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.
Vizenor, G. (1991). The heirs of Columbus. Middletown: Wesleyan University
Press.
Vizenor, G. (1997). Hotline healers: An almost browne novel. Hanover and
London: Wesleyan University Press.
Weaver, J. (1997). That the people might live: Native American literatures
and Native American community. New York, NY: Oxford University
Press.

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 NUML Journal of Critical Inquiry Vol 15(II) December, 2017 ISSN 2222-5706

Framing Obama’s Visit to India by Pakistani and Indian

Newspapers
Gulnaz Begum1
Muhammad Shoaib Awan2
Abstract
This paper attempts to take case study as a research approach in
order to identify and compare and contrast the frames designed to report
the US president Obama’s visit to India in the daily Dawn (Pakistan) and the
Times of India (TOI, India). As this was Obama’s second visit to India, without
visiting Pakistan even on the official offer from the PM Pakistan, so it raised
suspicion and reservations from this side. This was the reason that the
regional rivals Pakistan and India observed this visit minutely. Additionally,
it was reported in the world major newspapers, because US tilted towards
India, although declaring Pakistan as a non NATO ally in the global war
against terrorism and extremism. For analyzing themes and patterns,
framing theory was applied; however, critical discourse analysis (CDA) by
van Dijk was employed for exploring emerging ideologies presented through
the lexical items and phrases in the newspapers. The data analysis revealed
that the TOI framed the image of Pakistan negatively by associating it with
the regional security issues and China as a rival of India and US in the South
Asia. Similarly, Obama’s visit was presented in an ideal style by using
positive lexical items. However, the daily Dawn usually took defensive and
neutral position in framing India’s image and for countering the TOI
reporting against Pakistan. At the larger level, the reporting style of both the
newspapers may depict a clear reflection of the mindset of masses and the
policies of countries in order to inform the readers about the international
relations.
Keywords: framing, Obama’s visit, bilateral relations
Introduction
The US president Barack Obama was on a three day official visit to
India as the chief guest on the occasion of the Indian Republic Day in 2015.
This was his second visit to India without visiting Pakistan who always
remained in the front line in the US war against terrorism, and was fighting
to control the so-called Islamic militancy and warfare in Afghanistan. Before
his arrival, the US Secretary of State visited India and Pakistan to hold talks
with the political and military leadership, which was considered a positive
development for the US-Pak relations as an initiative in countering
terrorism. However, all the structure of understanding was shattered due
to Obama’s visiting India by overlooking and ignoring Pakistan. Moreover,
this visit was not a symbolic visit, rather a comprehensive package and

151
framework of the US-India bilateral agreements on the strategic and
economic relationship and co-operation were designed (Gould, 2010).
In this context, Pakistan had reservations and major concerns about
this visit, such as regional imbalance, change in the regional security
structure, disturbance in the Pak-India balance of power and the use of
nuclear power plants for the military purposes against Pakistan. Moreover,
this visit showed major change in the US regional policy in favor of India at
the expense of Pakistan (Bukhari, 2011). On the basis of this scenario, this
visit was reported in the important newspapers of the world. However, India
and Pakistan were the major countries to observe this development
minutely and comprehensively, as the world superpower had chosen India
by sidelining Pakistan that was known as a non-NATO ally in the war against
terrorism. The daily Dawn of Pakistan and Times of India from India reported
this visit from the multiple perspectives in order to inform and influence
their audience at a larger scale. To keep in view the triangle of the US, India
and Pakistan’s relations, this study makes an attempt to unfold the negative,
neutral and positive frames designed with the combination of different
lexical items and phrases for reporting this visit in the two newspapers
namely DAWN and Times of India.
Objectives
1. To analyze the difference in the reporting style of DAWN and Times
of India during Obama’s visit on the India’s Republic Day as the chief
guest
2. To analyze the differences and similarities between the themes,
lexical items and phrases used to frame this visit for reporting in the
two newspapers
3. To understand the use of different words and phrases with the
negative and positive connotations for designing the patterns and
themes in the hard news
4. To comprehend the hidden national agenda of the countries
presented through the news reporting for reshaping the mindset of
the public
Research Questions
The following research questions were addressed through this
study:
1. What types of frames (positive or negative) are designed by the
selected newspapers for reporting about this visit?
2. What different themes emerged from the news reports regarding
this visit from both the newspapers?

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 3. How do the two newspapers frame Obama’s visit to India by
combining the different lexical items and phrases?
Significance of Research
This study provides a framework to analyze the style of reporting of
the newspapers used to influence their respective audience at a larger scale.
Moreover, it may contribute to understand the media discourse designed in
order to mold and reshape the public opinion by incorporating certain
ideologies for educating the masses about international relations. Similarly,
it may support to unveil the hidden national ideology of the nations used to
produce harmony in the masses about the specific issue like the two archaic
rivals in the sub-continent, India and Pakistan.
Literature Review
Media discourse is a lethal weapon through which readers construct
meanings and establish perceptions and opinions. Similarly, it is not only a
powerful mode of communication, but also a valuable source of information
that serves as a trend-setter in terms of domestic and international issues
(Gamson & Modigliani, 1989). For instance, the Indo-Pak bilateral relations
are mostly reported with different and multiple angles by the print media of
both countries to influence their masses. As, Saffee (2016) reported that the
media discourse from Pakistan and India presented different dimensions of
the same issues by viewing the first one from the lens of security crisis.
However, Pakistan rejected this blame entirely and termed it the Indian
propaganda for maligning Pakistan.
India and Pakistan are two important countries in south Asia that
share their hostile borders, conflicted history and have deadly nuclear
power in the region. Both of them look at each other as recurrent trouble
makers and enduring enemies, because of having hostile, bloody historical
legacy and, the birth of Pakistan from the division of the Sub-continent.
Moreover, the frequent border strikes, four wars, Kashmir issue, water
disputes and blame games from India on the international forums against
Pakistan are the major elements (Mahapatra, 2011).
The US policy towards South Asia is also a major factor in diverting
and redirecting these relations into the hostile direction, as the US interest
and policy is to stop all world powers from dominating Asia and Europe. For
achieving these objectives, the US was forced to join hands either with India
or Pakistan for curtailing the influence of the Soviet Union in the region.
However, India adopted non-alignment policy and kept itself away from
supporting or opposing the US. In this situation, the US perceived Pakistan
as a strategic asset to throw the Soviet Union away from the region and
made it the US ally against this expansion. But these relations could not
develop on permanent basis and fluctuated time to time based on the needs

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and interests of the US. The US only maintained bilateral relations with
Pakistan during destruction of the Soviet Union and after 9/11 attacks on
Washington for teaching a lesson to the attackers and terrorists hiding in
Afghanistan. At the same time, it closed its eyes towards Pakistan on the
occasion of manufacturing and testing of the nuclear weapons. Moreover,
it left Pakistan helpless to burn solely in the war against terrorism after the
settlement and withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan (Chou, 2005).
On the other side, the US always preferred India and strived to have
relations with it after the Cold War to cope with the China’s influence in the
region and supported its nuclear power program by imposing sanctions on
Pakistan. From the era of President Clinton to Obama, the US and India
enjoyed pleasant bilateral relations. The Indian PM Manmohan Singh visited
US and Obama had two official visits to India during his two consecutive
presidential terms by calling the US-India relations as the defining
partnerships of the 21st Century (Chou, 2005, NAYAK, 2013).
This background information may present a comprehensive picture
of the US influence and interest in the region. Similarly, it may show that the
US is the defining power and influential country in making and breaking the
states in the world usually and in the South Asia specifically. Additionally,
this information may also throw light on the national interest of the both
countries. India and Pakistan are not in favor of allowing the US to tilt on
one side at the expense of the other. This is the case, when Obama visited
India twice by ignoring the offer of the PM of Pakistan for visiting officially
this country, it gave birth to reservations and skepticism in Pakistan, as it is
the front line ally in the US war against terrorism (Akhtar, 2011).
Theoretical framework
This study was underpinned by applying the two major theories
known as media framing and the critical discourse analysis (CDA). In order
to identify the negative, neutral and positive themes and frames emerged
from reporting of the two different newspapers about Obama’s visit to
India, framing theory was applied.
Framing involves selecting and highlighting salient features of the
problem in order to achieve influential perception of the audience, while
neglecting and excluding the unfavorable aspects (Entman, 1993). In
communication, it means portraying the boundary of the news story with
great consciousness and instinct by keeping in view the cultural values,
national and domestic policies and attitude of the masses for winning
support and dominant public’s perception (Ruesch & Bateson,
2006). However, from the linguistics perspectives, it involves analysis of the
selection, placement, structure, usage and application of the specific words,
phrases and sentences for creating different building blocks in a text
(Matthes & Kohring, 2008). Similarly, frames are the specific properties of

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the news narratives for developing particular understanding with the help
of metaphors, phrases, keywords, concepts and repeated words to
reinforce the required images (Entman, 1991).
For identifying different lexical items (words & phrases) by
combining them to create negative, positive and neutral images, the theory
of critical discourse analysis (CDA) by van Dijk was employed in order to
unfold the hidden ideologies in the text. CDA involves the application of
language within the social, cultural and psychological framework in order to
emphasis and de-emphasis the social reality for producing positive and
negative images. This model works under certain categories such as actor
description, comparison, disclaimer, generalization, hyperbole and
victimization (Meyer, 2001; van Dijk, 1997). These categories were selected
in viewing the research question of the study.
Methodology
This study falls in qualitative paradigm and case study is selected as
a research approach. The case study is considered a holistic and in-depth
interpretation of social phenomena for understanding the complex issues
by enabling a researcher to examine data closely and minutely within the
specific research context (Hamel, Dufour & Fortune, 1993; Yin, 1994). The
data incorporated all hard news (serious news reported immediately after
the event) of the daily Dawn and Times of India from 25 to 27 January, 2015
about this visit, collected by using purposive sampling technique. This
technique is primarily used in the qualitative research to investigate
selected units with particular settings based on the particular objectives
associated with the proposed research questions of the study (Maxwell,
2008). Moreover, the data was analyzed by applying the method of
inductive content analysis. This type of analysis is usually used in the
qualitative research in order to identify and understand the themes emerge
from the in-depth study of the documents by recursive and intensive
examination and comparison with the other text by using ATLAS.ti software.
This software is used for getting reliable and valid results by making codes
and categories (Mayring, 2000).
Data Analysis & Discussion: Similar News Reports
US, India and Pakistan
Times of India has reported that Pakistan is playing a double game
by pursuing dual policy on curbing militancy and using delaying tactics by
not taking action against Taliban, which is the source of mistrust and distrust
between the two states. However, the US understands Pakistan’s issues of
unsuccessfulness in tackling terrorism and continues to provide financial aid
even though, it is resisted by the dominated Republicans in the US congress.
Similarly, India would also like to see new and changed US approach towards

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Pakistan that is still stuck in the debate of good and bad Taliban, instead of
taking strict actions against them. President Obama also demanded from
Pakistan to bring to justice all actors of Mumbai attack, 2008.
This narrative may show that the US-Pak relations are strained,
because Pakistan is doing nothing to curb and eliminate terrorism and
terrorists from the region, which is the main cause of poor bilateral relations
in the above mentioned countries. Moreover, it may show that Pakistan is
the only country in the region that is backing militancy and terrorism and
doing nothing to change this alarming scenario except getting the US aid.
However, Pakistan is in the situation of doldrums on its policy regarding
Taliban by thinking about them as assists or liabilities. Likewise, the US is
giving unnecessary importance to Pakistan without granting permission
from India, which is ready to change its non-align movement policy.
Meanwhile, President Obama was the only person who could understand
the bleak and alarming scenario and demanded from Pakistan to punish the
bad Jihadi activists and attackers on Mumbai (India) in 2008. Similarly, it may
represent that Pakistan has safe havens for these terrorists and backing
them to destroy the US-India’s interests in the region.
Perkovich (2010) has also suggested that the epicenter of
extremism in the region is Pakistan that is hesitant to take action against the
extremist elements by indulging in the debate of good and bad jihadis.
Moreover, it is doing nothing to bring into justice the terrorists involved in
the Mumbai attacks by playing a double game of getting monetary support
from the world super power. Besides, Pakistan is the actual cause of the
regional security issues.
For reporting, the TOI presented negative image of Pakistan by
employing “actor description, victimization and generalization” devices in
the rhetoric with the help of the few phrases and words such as trust deficit
between the US and Pakistan, duality of policies of Pakistan, suspicion,
belated crackdown against militants, still unsure Pakistani government,
however US knows the difficulties of Pakistan, Washington has not
discontinued its aid Programme for Islamabad, despite hostile opposition.
Actor description determines the in-group and out-group members for
describing in-group in neutral or positive way and out-group in repulsive and
negative manner. By employing these devices, TOI presented Pakistan in
negative style as out-group and US in a positive manner as in-group, because
it is ready to favor Pakistan even in the adverse circumstances. Similarly,
generalization and victimization devices are used for showing prejudices
against the target group by over emphasizing its negative traits (van Dijk,
1997). Employing these devices; Pakistan is victimized by highlighting its
security issues and associating it with terrorism and terrorists. The analysis
and rhetorical devices may show that the TOI designed negative frame

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regarding the US-Pak relations by associating Pakistan with terrorism and
regional imbalance.
In contrast, the daily DAWN reported that India wanted to see a
changed US approach towards Pakistan regarding their bilateral relations,
but the White House seemed unready to make its relations better with India
at the expense of Pakistan by executing a delicate dance. Moreover, Obama
declared that Washington’s relations with New Delhi were much broader
than the Indo-Pak’s conflicts and issues. Additionally, according to the US
state department, Pakistan was not in favor of militancy and banned all
militant groups without any discrimination. Similarly, Pakistan reiterated
several times that it was in its own interest to root out militancy in order to
eliminate and avoid Peshawar like attacks.
This narrative may reveal that Pakistan is still the US partner and it
will not be out from the US regional policy towards South Asia. Similarly,
India could not replace Pakistan’s importance for regional security, because
US considered it as part and parcel for its interests in the region. Likewise,
President Obama also declared that US was not concern with the Indo-Pak
conflicts, rather it took US-India relations in the broader perspectives.
Additionally, the US has also reiterated that Pakistan is crystal clear
regarding its Talban’s policy and striving hard to destroy them
indiscriminately at any costs. Besides, the US has recognized the sacrifices
of Pakistan for eliminating and curbing terrorism from the region, which is
a source of direct and indirect support for the US in its mission of crushing
terrorism at the global level. Moreover, Pakistan thinks that to curb
terrorism is essential not only for Pakistan national interests, but also for
the US interests in the region.
Riaz (2011) has also suggested that India propagates Pakistan as the
sponsor of terrorism in the region, while the US still takes Pakistan as a
source of assistance in the way of eliminating terrorism. Moreover, India as
the leading architect of the Non-aligned Movement is another cause of
much suspicion in the US eyes, as it maintained relations with the Soviet
Union by propagating this policy superficially. In contrast, Pakistan is the
only trust worthy partner for the US, which is proven from the Soviet Union
war when Pakistan supported US interests and destroyed the onslaught of
USSR and communism.
For reporting, the daily DAWN adopted device of “euphemism” for
eliminating the impact of negative image presented against Pakistan by
using few phrases such as US relations with India not at Pakistan’s expense,
taking care to maintain its relationship with Islamabad, addressing New
Delhi’s concerns about Pakistan, taking care not to alienate Pakistan,
banned militant groups, Pakistan’s own interest to take steps against all

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militant groups, do not differentiate between groups, thwart violent
extremism, national action plan. This device is mostly applied in order to
beautify negative and bad social realities in a pleasant and attractive style
(van Dijk, 1997).
With the help of rhetorical devices and analysis, it may be assumed
that the daily DAWN designed defensive and positive frame regarding the
image of Pakistan. Similarly, it also strives to present highly positive and
neutral approach towards the US-Pak relations by negating the repulsive
presentation of TOI. It may be inferred from the picture at a larger level that
the TOI presents negative frame of Pakistan by emphasizing the US-Pak
strained relations and associating Pakistan as the supporter of militancy and
terrorism, and getting undue monetary favor from the US. However, the
daily DAWN tones this effect down by adopting defensive position
approach, and including the US state department’s narrative, which is in
favor of Pakistan. Similarly, it presents Pakistan not as a terrorist country,
but a victim in the hands of fiery circumstances due to the global issue of
terrorism.
India and Global Affairs
TOI reported that India was ready to actively participate in the
global affairs and across its borders for providing logistic and strategic
support especially for economic and intelligence sharing to counter Islamic
militancy in Syria and Iraq. Moreover, this was the only country in the South
Asia, where civilized and cultured Muslim population was living with peace
and harmony.
This narrative may show that India is ready to take part in the world
affairs especially in the regional and global security of the Muslim world for
eliminating the so called militancy and terrorism beyond the border.
Moreover, India is the only country where the Muslims can live with peace
and freedom, although it is Hindu dominating state. However, the Muslim
countries like Syria and Iraq are unsafe, so it is essential to make the masses
free by providing economic assistance to them. In the similar manner, India
is also ready to support US in its so called mission of eliminating global
terrorism by offering it strategic and intelligence sharing assistance. It may
also display that the US is more tilted towards India for changing its bilateral
relations from strained to the pleasant one, and India is also ready to
welcome the US.
Tellis & Mirski (2013) also put forward the same viewpoint that for
the last few centuries, India’s worldview is changing from the perspectives
of national and international affairs. It thinks to be destined for participating
actively in the world affairs by shunning its cold war attitude with the world
superpower US for assuring its active participation and involvement in the

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global security especially to counter Islamic militancy and achieving its
hegemonic role in the South Asia. Similarly, the US seems ready to welcome
India for expanding its mission of war against terrorism, as India is the
emerging power to counter the role of China in the region.
For reporting, the TOI used “categorization” device in order to
produce highly positive image of India and Indian masses such as willing to
engage, issues beyond borders, Indian Muslims have largely shunned radical
causes, India increasingly prepared to engage on global security issues,
radical Islamist group active in Syria and Iraq, role in battling Islamic State.
In categorization, individuals are labeled as the best or the worst through
their social and national affiliation (van Dijk, 1997). By employing this device
TOI displayed Indian Muslims and India as a state in a highly positive
manner.
On the other side, the daily DAWN reports Obama’s view that the
US and India are true global and natural partners due to their great
democracies and firm belief in the strength and power of the citizens.
Moreover, India is ready to engage in the regional and global security under
Modi’s leadership for curtailing and eliminating Islamic militancy in Iraq and
Syria and beyond the border at South China Sea.
This narrative may show that there are no cordial and amicable
relations between US and India, rather few elements like the democratic
system of government, elimination of the so called Islamic militancy and
opposing and countering the role of China joined them. It may also indicate
that India and the US are both ready to engage in the global affairs mutually.
Moreover, India has totally shunned its previous attitude/policy of non-
alignment and seems ready to have firm bilateral ties with the US in
eliminating the world terrorism especially beyond the border.
Riaz (2011) and Perkovich (2010) also highlight the key points that
shape the Indo-US bilateral relations. Significant of them are India’s desire
of playing at global level and hegemonic role at the regional level,
overcoming and controlling China’s role in the South Asia and the US access
to all gulfs and Middle East to Africa for energy and economic resources. In
this context, both countries need each other in order to achieve their
objectives.
For reporting, the daily DAWN employed the “presupposition”
device in order to design neutral frames by using few phrases such as
defining partnerships of the 21st century, Islamophobia, Islamic militancy.
This device is usually used in order to talk about truth which is not yet
developed (van Dijk, 1997).

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 The analysis and reporting style of the TOI may reveal that the
frames of India’s role in the world affairs and its desire of taking part in the
global security are designed in a positive and comprehensive way. However,
the daily DAWN presented neutral frame by merely spotlighting on Obama’s
views regarding Indo-US role in future at the global level and India’s desire
to play its part in the world affairs.
India, China and USA
The daily DAWN and TOI reported that the US considers India a
possible solution for countering China’s hegemony in the regional affairs.
Moreover, both countries want to design a collation of democracies in order
to mitigate China’s role for achieving freedom of navigation in the South
China Sea. This news report by both the newspapers may cover solely the
China‘s role as emerging super power in the world particularly, whereas US
is trying its best to beat it at global level by using India to counter it in the
region. Moreover, both countries have burning desire to control the
movement in the South China Sea for increasing their financial means and
resources.
Banerjee (2015) also throws light on this situation that China is a
fast growing economic, military and political country in Asia that has
expanded its sphere of influence and is ready to challenge the US in the
region particularly and in the world generally. India does not have good
relations with China as both of them consider each other competitor in the
regional hegemony and power. Moreover, the US and India both want to
have access to the South China Sea in order to achieve balance of power in
the South Asia by overcoming the China‘s role, therefore, India is the only
country to be a “possible counterweight to China” in the Washington’s eyes.
Similarly, Brewster (2015) also supports this view that the US tilts towards
India in order to balance China’s rise and to counter its hegemony in the
region with the support of India as both countries are competitor in the
region.
According to Puri & Sahgal (2011) the South China Sea covers many
important Asian states. From India’s perspectives, the access to this sea is
highly significant for increasing trade and economic engagements with
ASEAN and East Asia and for growing economic and strategic interests in the
region. As well as, from the US point of view, maintaining freedom of
navigation in the sea is significant, which includes unimpeded lawful
navigation for commercial, private and military vessels and aircraft and for
achieving intra-regional and international trade (Mc Devitt, 2014). However,
both countries could not get access of the freedom of navigation until
China agreed to give them access at two-hundred-mile exclusive economic
zone (EEZ) (Glaser, 2012). It means China is the only bounding factors for
the two important states (India & US) in the region.

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 For reporting the TOI and the daily DAWN applied “disclaimer”
device by using few phrases, such as India a possible counterweight to China,
China's assertiveness in Asia, assertive China, balance China's rise. The
application of this category is based on the positive self-representation of
India and the US and negative representation of China (van Dijk, 1997). It
means both newspapers frame neutral image of China and leave on the
reader to infer the real essence and theme from the lexical items.
This analysis and rhetorical device may also show that the TOI and
DAWN designed neutral frame regarding the Indo-US objectives of curtailing
the China’s role in the region.
Agreements and Nuclear Deal
The TOI reported that the two sides have reached an agreement on
climate change, taxation, defense cooperation and deal on civil nuclear
trade. Both of them broke the deadlock on civil nuclear pact to firm up
defense cooperation for broadening ties in trade and investment areas.
Moreover, both sides agreed in operationalizing civil nuclear pact, making
firm defense cooperation agreements, as well as increasing relations/ties in
trade and investment, as annual bilateral trade of $100 billion is low and
Washington wants it to grow fivefold. For this purpose, the US President
Obama ended a landmark day with a pledge of $4 billion in investments and
loans, seeking to release what he called the untapped potential of a business
and strategic partnership between the world's largest democracies.
Similarly, the daily Dawn reported that both the leaders have held
talks on a number of issues and have reached an agreement of solving long
delayed civil nuclear power issue. Moreover, they have reached an
agreement to tackle all issues of the security measures and liability issues
about the pact of civil nuclear technology signed in 2008. Obama also
announced that their advancement to solve this issue showed the sign of
moving forward and development in their bilateral ties. This important step
shows that how we can work together to elevate our relationship. Modi said
that within six year bilateral agreements would move towards commercial
cooperation by resolving all issues regarding laws and international legal
obligations.
TOI and DAWN reported that a comprehensive package of
agreements was finalized between the US and India as both presidents
Obama (US) and Modi (India) resolved to strengthen ties and bilateral
relations for getting benefits at national and international levels.
Twining (2007) highlighted that a series of bilateral agreements
were finalized between India and the US. Both of them pledged for mutual
cooperation on economic, defense and nuclear issues. Similarly, Ollapally
(2005) also explained that complete framework of bilateral relations is the

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only outcome of this visit. Likewise, it has laid the stone of long lasting
bilateral ties, friendship and mutual cooperation of the states, which is the
Indian burning desire. The Indians tend to view India’s weight in the
international politics and security, which remains formidable by the US that
always takes India as a minor global player.
The analysis of news reports and rhetorical devices for designing
frames of nuclear deal and agreements may reveal that the TOI has reported
this matter comprehensively by exaggerating more about the agreements.
However, the daily DAWN merely focused on the deals of the nuclear
technology and both the leaders’ remarks regarding their agreements.
For designing frames, the TOI used “categorization” device by the
help of few phrases and lexical items such as two largest democracies,
breaking nuclear-deal deadlock, big-ticket issues to be resolved. Under this
device, the two states (India & US) are categorized in a positive style on the
basis of their bilateral relations However, the daily DAWN used “actor
description” device for presenting neutral image with the help of few
phrases such as reached an agreement to provide civilian nuclear, held up
by US concerns over liability. In this type of rhetoric, actors are described in
neutral style (van Dijk, 1997). This means that the TOI applied positive and
the daily DAWN used neutral frame for reporting on the agreements and
the nuclear deal.
Highly Symbolic Visit
TOI reported that Obama’s twice visit to India as a chief guest on
the Indian Republic Day symbolized an upturn in the roller coaster bilateral
relation of the states. On this occasion, Modi broken with the protocol as
Obama landed on the airport by receiving and welcoming him personally.
Moreover, it was expected that the both leaders’ personal chemistry would
bring positive change and must be a great worth for both the countries’
leaders and especially for the Indians. During Obama’s presence in the
parade ground, he also broke with the secret service security code by
remaining in the open air for more than two hours for the Republic Day
celebrations, which was against the security guidelines, as the US President
could not spend more than 40 to 45 minutes in an open air. Additionally, he
also reached at the venue by his own private car which showed another
move away from the traditions.
The daily Dawn, however, reported Obama’s visit as not symbolic;
rather a start of the new warmth in the strained bilateral ties. This is evident
from Obama’s twice visit to India during his tenure and his arrival on the
Indian Republic Day as the chief guest. Moreover, Obama also received hug
from Modi, who received him personally as he landed, which is entirely

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against the protocol. These celebrations signify new closeness between the
world's largest democracies.
This news reports may show that Obama’s visit to India is not a usual
one, but symbolic in the history of international relations. The president of
US, Obama visited India twice and seemed excited on the Indian Republic
Day when President Modi gave him a huge hug on the airport. Both of them
did not take care of their protocol and tried to show their personal ties more
than the bilateral relations.
Mohan (2015) also suggested this point of view that Obama’s
participation as a chief guest on Indian Republic Day is the start of new and
warmth relations in the field of economy, bilateral relations, industry and
strategic partnership. The body language of the presidents may also show
close and amicable personal ties and friendship between them. Similarly,
Twining (2007) also reported that Obama’s visit to India was comprehensive
and more than symbolic, as it laid the foundation of Strategic
Cooperation between the US and India and agreement on extending the
Defense Cooperation Agreement.
For reporting, the TOI adopted “hyperbolic rhetoric” by using some
highly positive lexical items for showing affection and personal intimacy
between the US and the Indian’ leaders during this visit, such as bear hug,
Modi’s personal invitation, two leaders, both leaders, personal chemistry,
Obama’s India’s itinerary, Warm start. The hyperbolic device is used to
enhance, increase and exaggerate the meanings by representing oneself in
a highly positive manner. On the contrary, the daily Dawn used “actor
description” device for reporting in order to design neutral frame by using
few phrases such as receiving hug from Modi, symbolizing new warmth.
Similarly, for framing Modi’s image “generalization” device was applied for
highlighting his negative traits such as Hindu nationalist, shunned by the US
and EU, son of tea seller. In actor description, actors are described in neutral
way in order to eliminate their impact and generalization is applied for
showing and optimizing negative features (van Dijk, 1997).
These narratives and phrases may show that both newspapers have
framed Obama’s visit to India as highly significant for directing the strained
bilateral ties into the warmth one, which may evident from the body
language of the leaders. Similarly, the TOI may design highly positive frame
about the significance of this visit by focusing more on Obama and Modi’s
activities. However, the daily Dawn reported in a neutral way and presented
only the required information.
Obama’s Early Leave
The TOI reported that Obama departed India slightly early for
traveling to Saudi Arabia on the death of King Abdullah instead of a planned

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visit to the Taj Mahal. However, the daily Dawn reported that his
cancellation for visiting Taj Mahal would deprive the country from the top
tourist attraction at the time of government efforts to increase the visitors’
numbers. Moreover, many people thanked Obama on social media website
for orchestrating a clean-up of the mausoleum in the town of Agra, built by
Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his beloved empress, who died during
childbirth in 1631.
TOI report merely focused on the reason of early leave in order to
lessen the bad effects of not visiting the Taj Mahal. However, the daily
DAWN concentrated on the aftermaths of not visiting the Taj Mahal that
generated funds for India, although it was built by a Muslim ruler Shah
Jahan. Moreover, it also included people‘s views those were tired of dirt and
dust on this historical place. It may mean that DAWN has looked the issue
minutely for highlighting the negative impact but TOI has tried to reduce
this impression.
For reporting, the TOI adopted “euphemism” device such as depart
slightly early to make lessen the effects of the social reality that may present
a negative picture (van Dijk, 1997). In contrast, the daily DAWN used
hyperbolic device in order to highlight the negative features of this visit by
using few phrases such as cancel a planned trip, cutting short, hundred
cleaners hired to spruce up the white marble, curfew like, deprive the
country's top tourist attraction, orchestrating a clean-up. Hyperbole is
semantic rhetorical device applied in order to exaggerate the negative
representation (Van Dijk, 1997).
These narratives and use of lexical items may mean that the TOI has
framed neutral image of Obama’s early leave, but Dawn has reported the
same news in a slightly negative frame by including comments of the social
media websites and the historical reference to Shah Jahan that represented
the peak of Muslims’ era in the Sub-continent.
Data Analysis & Discussion: Different News Reports
The analysis of the two newspapers reports different from one
another regarding Obama’s visit to India is given below:
Times of India
Indo-US and Russia
The TOI has reported that India will continue to work with Russia
that is the biggest defense supplier to India and is even making cordial and
bilateral relationships with the US. It may mean that India is not ready to
leave Russia at any cost because it is offering India weapons and defense
arsenals. At the same time, India wishes to focus on its relation with US. This
narrative may show the positive frame of India’s role between the two

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world giants. It may be evident that India welcomes the US move of bilateral
relations, but it may not agree to have such relations at the expense of Indo-
Russian relations as both countries share a long history of cordial relations
in the form of Indo-Russian treaty, India-Russia Declaration of Strategic
Partnership signed by Indian PM Vajpayee and Putin in October 2000 (Scott,
2011).
For reporting, the TOI used “actor description” device by using few
phrases such as continue working with Russia, biggest defense supplier for
presenting the importance of Russia for India. Actor description deals with
the style used to describe actors (Russia, India) involved in an action for
designing discourse (van Dijk, 1997). It may mean that TOI has framed Indo-
Russian relations in a positive way where Russia is important for India more
than the US.
Modi and Obama’s Personal Interaction
The personal interaction between Modi and Obama and their
intimacy broke the deadlock on nuclear deal, which was the real source of
stalled bilateral relations of the States. Moreover, Obama on the last stage
of his presidency wanted to have bright relation with India to support his
report card. Similarly, he was expected to seek friendship and nurture
relationship with Modi, who was a persona non grata in Washington.
Obama and Modi both rose from the modest home to enter in the political
elite dominated and preoccupied by the powerful families. Both were
"outsiders" and ran inspirational election campaigns by using
communication technology to change the course of their nations. It may
mean that TOI compares the two presidents’ personal life in order to
highlight the personal intimacy and friendliness. Moreover, both of them
are presented as champions who won the mind and heart of their masses.
For reporting this interaction, the TOI applied “hyperbolic” devices
such as enjoyed a close friendship, Obama, Modi rose from modest home,
transactional leaders, hugging each other, their personal chemistry,
outsiders, nurture friendship with persona non grata, which might refer to
the strategy of exaggerating positive self-representation (van Dijk, 1997).
This narrative may design a positive frame of the leaders’ political lives,
friendship and achievements. Moreover, it may show that not only bilateral
relations are going to reach at zenith during their respective
periods/tenures, but the personal intimacy and cordiality of the leaders are
also improving conspicuously.
DAWN
Indo-US Joint Strategic Vision
The daily Dawn reported that President Obama and PM Modi
agreed for joint strategic vision in Asia for strengthening regional and

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economic development, energy linkage and people to people cooperation.
Analysts also said that close relations between two for making central Asia
their destination for all round connectivity shows that Pakistan is no longer
in US agenda. Moreover, they affirm to have regional security, collaboration
and sustainable development from Africa to East Asia for free navigation
and freedom of over flight throughout the region especially in South China
Sea. This reference to over flight is used to stop Pakistan civilians’ plans from
using its airspace. However, Pakistan was in reference only in context of
terrorism throughout the whole trip.
This news report may show that the role of Pakistan is less in the
regional decision making process as compared to India, because a
comprehensive package of agreement was designed between India and the
US. Similarly, the name of Pakistan is used only with the reference to
regional terrorism.
Chou (2005) also explained that the history of the US-Pak relations
reveals that former one always takes the latter as an asset for its expansion
policies, simply by giving a peanut of monetary aids and leaves it in lurch
after achieving its objectives. Same history is going to be repeated by
alienating Pakistan from the rest of the world in order to increase India’s
image and hegemony at the regional level by associating Pakistan with the
context of regional security issues.
For reporting, the daily Dawn used “implication” device in order to
enable the reader to understand from the context by using few phrases such
as Central Asia as a destination, clear give away for Pakistan’s role,
important drivers of regional and global growth, safeguarding maritime
security, freedom of navigation and over flight throughout the region, stop
Pakistan’s civilian planes from using its airspace, Pakistan named in the
context of terrorism, shaping international security, regional and global
peace, prosperity and stability, regional connectivity. This rhetorical device
is mostly applied to enable the readers to understand and infer the
meanings from the context (van Dijk, 1997). This narrative and use of lexical
items and phrases may frame the negative image of the US policies towards
Pakistan.
From the above mentioned analysis and discussion, it may be
inferred that both newspapers designed positive, neutral and negative
frames in order to educate and inform their respective readers by
incorporating their national and domestic ideologies in their rhetoric.
Moreover, both of them provide more or less the same information by
structuring it according to the demands and needs of their domestic policies
and the readers’ mindset. Similarly, the essence of this visit is nothing except
to establish India’s regional hegemony to counter the China’s role in the

166
region. Likewise, the US-Pak relations also could not flourish and establish
anymore, because Indo-Pak share fraught history, skirmish situation at the
Line of Control (LoC) and hostile borders. However, both are nuclear powers
in the region and consider one another rival, in such situation it may become
very challenging for the US to have equal ground relations with both the
states.
This study could not cover the historical relations of Indo-Pak and
US relations, because it focused more on whatever was happening during
Obama’s visit to India. Similarly, major attention was given on the bilateral
relations of the two regional giants India and Pakistan with reference to the
US influence on them. In this context, future research could be done by
including the historical context of trilateral relations of the US, India and
Pakistan. Moreover, If possible more than two newspapers reports can be
included from the three countries in order to conduct an in-depth and
comprehensive study.
Conclusion
Media discourse is effective in destroying or establishing certain
images and ideologies in the readers’ minds related to any issues whether
at national or international level. In the light of findings, the US president’s
visit to India by ignoring Pakistan is a significant development, which shows
the new US approach and policy shift from Pakistan to India entirely.
However, the US is not in favor of removing Pakistan completely from its
agenda, as India and Pakistan both are necessary for achieving its aims in
the region. But, Indo-Pak conflicted history and fraught situation at border
(LoC) is making this scenario adverse, which may be evident from the
negative image of Pakistan framed by the TOI and the neutral or less positive
image of India framed by the daily Dawn. It may also be inferred from the
scenario that the US could not get success in accomplishing its objectives of
countering militancy and terrorism, until and unless the neighboring atomic
powers remove their enmities by resolving all issues.

167
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 NUML Journal of Critical Inquiry Vol 15(II) December, 2017 ISSN 2222-5706

A Qualitative Inquiry into the Alignment of English

Textbooks with the National Curriculum at
Secondary Level
Azhar Habib1
Hazrat Umar2
Abstract
The present study evaluated the English textbooks taught at
Secondary School Certificate (SSC) level at government schools in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa. The main purpose of this research was to see the alignment
between the contents of the English textbooks taught at government
schools and the objectives set by the National Curriculum Wing. These
books are recommended by Textbook Board in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,
Pakistan. This is an important area of research as alignment between the
the contents of the textbooks and the objectives is an essential part of
effective English language teaching but according to the best of our
knowledge, it has not been investigated before at the Secondary level. It is
a qualitative research and the data were collected using a checklist, which
focused on reading, writing, listening and speaking; the four major skills of
English language. The trends in the data and the findings of the study
demonstrate that the prescribed English textbooks do not adequately align
with the objectives laid down by the National Curriculum Wing of the
Federal Government. These textbooks are not good enough because of their
lack of correspondence with the set objectives and therefore, they need to
be improved by bringing them in line with the objectives. It has been found
that the textbooks focus on the product approach instead of the prescribed
process approach to teaching writing as they do not have brainstorming,
mind mapping and outlining activities. Listening skills are altogether
ignored. Reading sections of the prescribed textbooks have lower level of
difficulty and are not challenging for students to make them
communicatively competent. In the light of findings, the researchers have
given suggestions with the hope to bring about improvement in the
textbooks, and have suggested areas for further research.
Keywords: textbooks, four skills, evaluation
Introduction
English is an international language and its importance cannot be
denied. In Pakistan, due to the importance of English language, it has been
made a compulsory subject from class 1 to graduate level but it is a fact that
despite students studying it for so many years, their proficiency level is not
up to the mark. The researchers have observed that students know
grammar but they cannot speak in the target language (English) to achieve

171
the communicative goals. According to Warsi (2004) and Ashraf (2006)
students in Pakistan are unable to use English in real life situations. They are
not adept at using English for communication though they study it for six to
eight years. In Pakistan there are two types of education systems; public and
private. The proficiency level of English of public school students is not as
good as those of the private schools. The situation of learning English at
intermediate level is more dismal in the Provincial government schools in
KPK and needs to be addressed on priority bases (Ahmad et al. 2011, p. 2).
Pakistan is an underdeveloped country and therefore, apart from
textbooks, other material and sources cannot be employed for the
development of English language skills. In Pakistan, teachers whether they
are of private or public schools thoroughly depend on textbooks but the
research on textbooks of English language is nominal and just a small
number of studies have been conducted to find out the appropriation of the
textbooks. This has been also confirmed by the review team of National
Educational policy where it is stated that:
The textbook is the only available learning material in most
schools. Additional materials like teaching aids,
supplementary materials and school libraries are virtually
non-existent. Bookstores are hardly stocked with
interesting support material to meet Pakistan's
development needs and changing requirements of
education. (2006, p. 53)
A number of research studies have recommended the change of teaching
methodology, examination system and syllabus to tackle the problem, but
the situation is still the same as it was in the past and it is a matter of great
concern. In order to improve the condition of English language in Pakistan,
the National Curriculum Wing (NWC) provides guidelines to design syllabus;
hence, it is important to find out whether or not the textbooks in KPK have
been designed according to the objectives set by NCW and to what extent
these provide activities and other material to meet the specified expected
outcomes.
Significance of the Study
Textbooks play an important role in situations where they are
considered the core syllabus. In such situations, students depend on books
and it is considered the responsibility of teachers to finish the syllabus
within a specific time period. It is, therefore, very necessary that extensive
care must be taken while writing them because books are the main source
of providing input and if the input is comprehensible, the output will also be
optimum (Krashen & Terrell, 1983).

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 The rationale of the current study is to provide guidelines to
teachers, students, syllabus designers and decision makers. Azevendo
(1979) opines that evaluation and analysis give valuable information to
teachers, supervisors and educational departments regarding weak and
strong points of textbooks. Moreover, they also provide useful information
pertaining to the needs of students and teachers. Textbook evaluation is
preliminary, making the most of the good points and compensating for or
neutralizing the bad points (Ur, 2006). After identifying areas for change(s),
the teachers can do adding, deleting and modifying to appropriate the
textbooks to the needs of their students.
Though research has been done on the evaluation of English
textbooks in Pakistan but to the best of the researchers’ knowledge no
comprehensive work has been done on the evaluation of textbooks taught
in KPK. Therefore, this study will identify the strengths and weaknesses of
the textbooks.
Objectives
1. To evaluate the appropriateness of the textbooks for the 9th and
10thgrade classes
2. To analyze the contents of the textbooks in accordance with the
objectives laid down by the National Curriculum Wing
3. To identify the strengths and weaknesses of these textbooks
Curriculum and its Components
According to Nunan (2003) curriculum is a broader term and
comprises syllabus designing, methodology and evaluation as its
components. In other words syllabus design, which relates to contents and
textbooks, and which focuses on the selection and grading of the teaching
materials, is a part of curriculum.
Textbooks and their Importance
Course books provide the basic contents and materials for the
course they are used for and they are used as the only books by the students
of that course (Tomlinson, 1998, p. 9). Heyneman has given a wide range of
the different types of text books such as “they may include teaching guides
reference books, supplementary reading materials.” However, he
differentiates the school text books and says that they “pertain to an
instructional sequence based on an organized curriculum” (2006, p. 37), and
the contents of these books are decided by the educationists, parents,
families and and the state (Gutmann, 1987 as cited in Heyneman, 2006, p.
37).

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 Learning and teaching are greatly affected by teaching materials.
The researchers are of the view that in most of the conditions only
textbooks are used in the classrooms, therefore, they are vitally important.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Textbooks
Cunningsworth (1995) opines that a textbook gives syllabus because
it contains goals and objectives of a language program according to a
particular situation. Textbooks offer varied options for teaching; therefore,
they are of great help for novice teachers.
According to McDonough and Shaw “No textbook or set of materials
is likely to be perfect . . .” (2003, p. 65). Ur (2006) has enumerated some of
the inadequacies of course books. The first shortcoming is inadequacy. The
second, the students may have no interest in books. Thirdly, a course book
bounds the creative and initiative teacher due to the fixed order and
structure of the items. The fourth disadvantage is homogeneity. Every
course book has a rationale and has followed a selected approach of
teaching and learning due to which it cannot fulfill the need and
requirements of different levels of learners existing in a class. Moreover, it
cannot cater to the needs of learners having different styles and strategies
of learning. The last disadvantage is over easiness. Heyneman (2006) has
given detailed discussions in response to the different questions regarding
the advantages and disadvantages of textbooks.
Materials Evaluation and its Importance
According to Tomlinson, materials evaluation is “the systematic
appraisal of the value of materials in relation to their objectives and to the
objectives of the learners using them” (1998, p. 11). Evaluation of textbooks
is important in many ways. As it has already been discussed, in many
situations, it is the easiest and the sole option with teachers and students.
If a wrong choice regarding textbooks is made, it will have serious
repercussions. Firstly, there will be wastage of funds. Secondly, there will be
wastage of time and lastly, such decision may de-motivate both students
and teachers (Macdonough & Shaw, 2003). The researchers find that in case
of Pakistan, it seems that the repercussions are visible. The falling standard
of English language despite spending resources and time is one of the results
of the wrong choice of books. The present scenario of textbooks appears
rather demotivating for the learners and teachers.
Methods and Schemes of Evaluation
There are many methods for evaluation of textbooks. McGrath
(2002) has proposed some methods for it; Checklist method, in which books
are thoroughly checked against a specific criterion or yardstick; and In-depth
method, in which examination of just representative parts is done after
selection. McGrath is in the favor of pre, in and post-use evaluation. Pre-use

174
evaluation is done before commencing textbooks to learners. In-use
evaluation is done while the textbooks are being used and post-use
evaluation is done after using them.
ELT experts have discussed and devised different evaluation
schemes. Ellis (1997) has discussed predictive and retrospective
evaluations. Cunningsworth (1995) has also discussed types of evaluation.
The first type of evaluation is called pre-use evaluation; the purpose of it is
to envisage the effectiveness of the course book. The second type is called
in-use evaluation, when the course book is being used. The third type is
called post-use evaluation. Penny Ur (2006) has indicated criteria for
evaluation of course books. For evaluation of textbook Grant (1987) has also
devised an approach called CATALYST Approach.
Methodology
It is a qualitative study and the methodology is descriptive
evaluation, and the specific method employed is content analysis of the text
books selected for this study. In order to analyze the textbooks a checklist
was prepared. It was a self-made checklist having different items pertaining
to target areas against which the books were thoroughly analyzed. The
checklist was made keeping in view the objectives of study, evaluation of
textbooks and the related research. Cunningsworth (1998) considers
checklist a useful tool/instrument for evaluating teaching books and
material. Cunningsworth (1995) and Mc Grath (2002) consider checklist very
important because it is an economical and organized way to make sure that
all the pertinent telements are provided. As the study is delimited to
linguistic aspects of the textbooks, the researchers have adapted items from
the checklist of Ur (2006). The main points of the checklist are as under
 Extensive fluency practice is given in reading skills
 Extensive fluency practice is given in listening skills
 Extensive fluency practice is given in speaking skills
 Extensive fluency practice is given in writing skills
(2006, p. 194)
Data Analysis
The prepared checklist had seven broad points/categories, which
were speaking, writing, listening, reading. These broad points/categories
are in the guidelines given by the National Curriculum Wing as well. The
mentioned textbooks were closely evaluated keeping in view these broad
categories.
Speaking
Speaking is an important skill in any language course. Speaking is
not only different from writing just in the medium but also in many other

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aspects such as while speaking a person has not only to speak extempore
but also should have the power to decode whatever is said. Moreover,
ellipses, false start, incomplete sentences, both formal and informal
language, assimilation, elision, redundancy, paralinguistic features, stress,
intonation and pronunciation are also some of the features, which make it
different from writing.
As far as speaking skills are concerned, the prescribed books do not
provide extensive knowledge and practice in order to enable the students
to be competent for communication. Most of the activities are to be
performed in groups. Individual and pair work activities are scarcely
provided. Activities like language games, dialogues and role plays which play
an important role in improving speaking skills of the students are not
present in the textbooks. Though the mentioned textbooks have reading
texts on varied topics, texts having dialogues and role plays and the texts in
which authentic language is used, to enable the students understand the
features of spoken language, are not present. Dialogues are not present in
the reading texts and model dialogues are missing in oral section of the
textbooks as well. Dialogues and role plays can be very fruitful to expose
learners to features of real language. If model dialogues in which contracted
forms are featured, are provided and students are told to follow the same
pattern, they will be able to know a vital feature of informal language that
is contraction. In addition to contractions, exclamations, hesitations,
revisions and incomplete sentences – familiar features of oral conversations
can be introduced through model dialogues. Thus dialogues can serve to
make the students familiar with the predominant sentence patterns and
lexis associated with informal spoken discourse.
The textbooks do have oral section but in this section only tasks are
assigned to be performed by students and no guidelines like sentence
pattern, relevant vocabulary and ideas regarding the specific tasks or
activities are provided. In the entire textbook of class 9th, only on p. 39,
where the first task is to arrange a debate on the effectiveness of the UN
Human Rights Charter in the present international scenario and the second
is to compare the Medina Charter with the UN Human Rights Charter, the
students are instructed to begin their statements by “I think”, “In my
opinion”, “In my view”, “No, I don’t think so”, “Yes you are right”. In
addition, the textbooks do not have listening tasks and activities through
CDs or cassettes due to which students are not exposed to the features of
real spoken language. Moreover, there is negligible information and the
practice on the subject of pronunciation, stress and intonation and other
features of spoken language are also scarce. Stress and intonation are just
defined and no practice is provided about them. Most of the responsibility
is laid down on the shoulders of the teachers who are instructed to practice

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with the students regarding pronunciation, stress and intonation only and
other features are left out altogether.
There is neither guidance nor activities for improving the
presentation skills of the students. There is just one task given on p. 77 of
the textbook of class 10th where it has been written “every group leader has
to give a presentation.” Similarly, in the outcomes of a unit on p. 110 of the
same book it has been written “understand preparing a presentation” but
no information has been provided throughout the unit for its preparation.
Similarly, knowledge and practice for the development of interviewing skills
have not been provided in both textbooks. Likewise, different language
functions like giving orders, polite requests, suggestions, giving instructions
are not provided in real life contexts and situations, however, they are
discussed under modal verbs in the form of individual sentences.
Writing
The prescribed textbooks have a separate section for writing.
However, most of the exercises, tasks and activities are designed keeping in
view the end product and the process of writing is totally ignored. It is
ironical that in the preface of the textbook of class 9th, it has been written
“the emphasis is on the process-oriented approach. By doing so the
students will be able to write effectively and coherently.” In order to
enhance paragraph and essay writing skills of the students, the stages are:
choosing the topic, collection of the information, organization of the
collected information, writing and editing and then the final product comes
but in the textbooks, final tasks are mostly given to the students without the
necessary guidelines as how to do them. There are just three mind maps
(pages: 33, 70, 107) in the entire textbook of class 9th. In the same way, there
are total three mind maps (pages: 36, 107, 117) in the textbook of class 10th.
Practice of brainstorming and outlining is very important for developing the
writing skills of the students but such practice is not provided in the
textbooks.
As far as controlled, guided and free writing is concerned, nothing
substantial has been given in the prescribed textbooks. In case of controlled
writing, there is no activity in the writing section. Similarly, for guided
writing, there is only one activity on p. 155 of the textbook of class 10th in
which some guidelines have been given to write a paragraph on the
scientist, “Thomas Edison”. In connection of guideline and practice for
writing paragraphs, there is little amount of guidance provided. Regarding
paragraph writing, the only guideline given on p. 9 of the textbook of class
9th is as under:
“While writing a paragraph, the following points must be kept in
mind:”

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 “Write in simple English, avoiding unnecessary words.”
“Be careful in structure and punctuation.”
“Be clear in your thoughts.”
“Do not over explain.”
“Make it interesting.”
“Use adjectives and adverb with restraint not too many.”
(Text Book of English, p. 9)
This example provides evidence that just superficial knowledge is provided
to the students and that is also very rare.
As far as the provision of knowledge and skills regarding application
writing is concerned, throughout the two textbooks only on p. 71 of the
textbook of class 9th, an application on “Request for a Recreational Trip” is
given and no procedure has been provided as how to start, how to write the
main body and the way to end an application. Likewise, practice has not
been provided in writing applications for different purposes. There is just
one task on the same page of the textbook in which students are told to
write an application to your principal for remission of fee and there is no
guideline on how to do it. Similarly, regarding “expository essay”, on p. 10
of the textbook of class 10th, a task has been given “write an expository essay
on some personality, keeping in view the topic sentence, supporting details
and concluding paragraph” but there is no information or activities in the
textbooks as to what an expository essay is. What are its main features and
how to write them? What is topic sentence and how to write a topic
sentence? What are supporting details and concluding paragraph and how
to write these? As far as persuasive, personal and analytical writings are
concerned, they are also neglected. In case of analytical writing, there is
only one task on p. 10 of the textbook of class 9th “Analyze ‘I knew A Man
Who Was A Giant’” and there is nothing in the entire two books as how to
write an analytical essay. Likewise, in case of personal writing on the same
page, a task has been given “Write a personal narrative” and on p. 117 of
the textbook of class 10th, a mind map regarding writing about an
experience is present which is not comprehensive to guide the students.
There is no guideline or task regarding persuasive paragraphs or essays in
the prescribed textbooks. Similarly, in connection of paragraph and essay
writing, organization of the ideas which comes under coherence and the
logical connection between sentences through linking devices which comes
under cohesion are very important. Guidelines and practice pertaining to
linking of sentences and organizing of the ideas are not provided in the
textbooks. Information regarding coherence and cohesion is very necessary

178
for students because sometimes students have relevant ideas but even then
they are not able to unite them coherently.
Guideline and practice pertaining to summarizing the poems and
passages, and précis writing have not been given enough attention. In the
outcomes of unit 5 and 6 of the textbook of class 9th, it is written, “they
(students) will be able to know how to summarize a text” but nothing is
there in the two units regarding summary writing. However, in the progress
check of unit 5 and 6 it has been mentioned “Write the summary of
paragraph 4 and 5 of unit 6 in 40 to 50 words.” Similarly, in the outcomes of
unit 12 and 13, it is written “they (students) will be able to summarize a
poem and a stanza” but little knowledge and practice are given in the
mentioned areas. Moreover, in the guideline of summary writing it is
written that a summary is usually one-third the size of the original and
nothing is there whether or not there is any difference between
summarizing and précis writing. Likewise, paraphrasing of stanzas has not
been given enough attention. Throughout the textbook of class 9th only on
p. 119, information is provided about paraphrasing and an example and a
task are given to students.
In the textbooks, knowledge and practice of punctuation have been
provided and varied exercises are present for its practice. In unit 4 of the
textbook of class10th, reasonable amount of knowledge with examples and
practice have been given in the use of hyphen, semi colon, comma, ellipses
and dash. Guidelines pertaining to the use of comma to separate main and
subordinate clauses are also provided in the same unit. There are also some
other exercises on the use of punctuation in the prescribed textbooks at
different places like on p. 98 of the textbook of class 10th a paragraph
without punctuation is given and students are instructed to punctuate the
passage. In the same vein, on pp. 38-39 of the textbook of class 9th guidance
and tasks regarding use of comma are provided.
There is also sufficient knowledge and practice regarding letter
writing in the textbooks, for example, on pp. 108-110 of the textbook of
class 9th, techniques of writing a formal letter have been provided and a
sample of letter to an editor in connection of road accidents and rash driving
has also been provided. Moreover, on p. 109 a sketch/outline of formal
letter is given in which guidance regarding how to start, how to write the
main body and how to end the letter is provided. In the same vein, on p.
110, guideline regarding where and how to write address of the addresser
and addressee is also given. Likewise, in the textbook of class 10th, p. 92,
pattern of writing business letter has been provided. Moreover, on p. 120,
unit 9, pattern of writing personal letter has also been given.

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Reading
In order to improve the reading skills of the students there are
reading texts and reading comprehension sections in the prescribed
textbooks. There is variety in the reading passages. Reading texts consist of
poems, essays, short stories, speeches, etc. Moreover, most of the passages
are authentic in nature. Though, the reading texts have pre, while and post-
reading activities but the activities are limited in number and do not have
variety. In case of pre-reading, the textbooks have just one or two questions
at the beginning of the reading passages. Moreover, activities that involve
the pre-reading strategy of predicting, like tasks which entail guessing the
content of the story or topic with the help of pictures before having actually
read the text are missing in the textbooks. In the same way, for while-
reading, there are some questions within the passages. There is no variety
in it. Often, in both the textbooks, the same type of instructions, “conduct
pre and while-reading activities effectively to develop students’ interest in
the lesson,” are given to the teachers without guidance as to how these
activities can be developed and performed in the classroom.
As far as post-reading activities are concerned, throughout the
textbook of class 9, there is only one activity in each unit and that is about
reading comprehension questions concerning the reading texts. However,
in the textbook of class 10th , there are also some other activities like fill in
the blanks, matching the two columns and suggested reading as on pp. 12-
13 of the textbook of class 10th. There are also some other activities like
some statements regarding the texts are given and students are asked
whether the statements are true or false, as on p. 25 of the textbook of class
10th. Nevertheless, most of the activities are not challenging for the learners
at this level. In case of the reading comprehension questions, students can
easily locate the answers from the passages. In the same manner, match the
two columns, fill in the blanks and other activities are such in nature that
students can easily answer from the texts. One such activity is present on p.
9 of the textbook of class 10th where exact lines are taken from the texts
and students are instructed to read the text and find out paragraphs in
which the following information is given. It is clear that students just need
to find the exact lines in the reading texts irrespective of whether they have
got the ideas hidden the texts or not. It would be better that instead of
providing the exact lines the main ideas of different paragraphs are given
and students are instructed to match the ideas with the exact paragraphs in
the texts. Nevertheless, there is a good activity in the post-reading section
on p. 24 of the textbook of class 10th which is important to be mentioned.
In this activity some jumbled up sentences are taken from the text and
students are instructed to write them in the correct order as happened in
the text.

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Listening
This skill is altogether ignored in the prescribed textbooks. It is
presupposed that in order to improve students’ listening skills, they will just
listen to teachers and to class fellows. In the beginning of the textbook of
class 9th, there are some guidelines provided for teachers, where it has been
written “listening to others provides a chance to improve the listening skills.
So enough time should be given to the students for these activities”. The
important point is that in the outcomes of some of the units, it is written:
“Listening for reason”
“Listening for enjoyment”
“Listen and follow the instructions”
“Listen for comprehension”
(Text Book of English for Class 9, p. 59)
It is to be noted that practically nothing is there to improve the mentioned
skill. It is strange that in the preface of the textbook of class 9th, it has been
written, “The listening exercises will help students to develop their listening
abilities.”
The prescribed textbooks do not have listening exercises and tasks
in order to give students practice. CDs and cassettes are not provided with
the textbooks, therefore, there is no question of whether authentic
language is used in the tasks or not. Some of the activities which can be
utilized for listening without CDs are dictation of paragraphs, words and
spelling games. These activities are fruitful for listening and oral
comprehension but such activities are not provided in the prescribed
textbooks. Furthermore, activities which require the students to identify
specific information needed for performing tasks, like determining the order
of events and filling tables, and not reproducing from memory large chunks
of the text are very important for improving listening skills but such activities
or tasks are not provided. Moreover, a wide range of genres for listening
like instructions for making something, expository accounts like about
regional natural disasters and wildlife in a park, advice about participating
in some activity, riddles, monologues, dialogues, weather broadcasts and
time tables are missing, whether they are through CDs/cassettes or meant
to be read out by the teachers.
Conclusion
The present study aimed at finding the alignment between the
contents of the English textbooks taught at government schools at SSC level
in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the objectives set by National Curriculum Wing

181
of the Federal Government of Pakistan. The results of the study show that
the English textbooks do not align adequately with the objectives laid down
by the National Curriculum Wing as far as productive skills are concerned.
The textbooks do not have games, dialogues and role plays. In addition,
there are fewer opportunities for pair and individual work. There are no
provisions of substantial guideline and practice for the students in order to
improve the presentation skills of the students. Likewise, improving
students’ interviewing skills is a part of the objectives but the textbooks do
not provide information and practice for improving these skills of the
students. Speaking tasks are assigned to students to be performed in groups
without giving any proper guideline. Overall, the textbooks do not provide
knowledge and practice to get awareness of the spoken features of English
language. In context of writing skills, the findings show that process
approach of writing is totally ignored because the textbooks do not provide
practice and knowledge of brainstorming, mind mapping and outlining.
Moreover, practice of writing is not provided through controlled, guided
and free writing paragraphs. In the writing section students are told to write
a paragraph or essay without proper guidelines. Moreover, information for
bringing cohesion and coherence in the writing is not provided. However,
practice and guidance in the use of punctuation and letter writing are the
two strong areas of the prescribed textbooks.
The findings pertaining to receptive skills reveal that practice of
listening skill is altogether neglected. It is presupposed that this skill will be
improved automatically whenever students will listen to teacher and one
another. Moreover, a wide range of genres for listening like instructions,
expository accounts, and advice about participating in some activity, riddles,
monologues, dialogues, weather broadcasts and timetables are missing
whether they are through CDs/cassettes or meant to be read out by the
teachers. As far as reading skill is concerned, the findings show that the tasks
and exercises are not challenging and they do not have variety. For pre-
reading and while-reading just two or three questions are given in the
beginning and in the middle of the reading texts. However, the reading texts
have variety of subject matter which makes them interesting.
Recommendations for Further Research
1. The present study was just delimited to productive and receptive skills
that is internal features and sub-skills like grammar, vocabulary,
pronunciation and other areas were not explored, for example price,
illustration, representation of gender and cultural elements, therefore,
there is a need to explore these areas as well.
2. In order to improve students’ abilities, syllabus, teaching methodology
and examination play a vital role. All these areas are interconnected and

182
 depend on one another therefore, it is suggested to evaluate teaching
methodology and examination system as well.
Recommendations for Textbook Writers
1. In order to improve listening skills of students, a listening section
should be included in the textbooks having varied tasks and authentic
language/material. In the same way, CDs or cassettes of good quality
should be proepared with the textbooks. It is one of the main issues
with all Pakistani students especially of KPK that they do not get
exposure to real language and so by providing a listening section they
will be able to imbibe the features of spoken language.
2. For improving speaking skills dialogues and role plays should be
provided in the textbooks. Moreover, language games, information
gaps activities, etc., should also be included in the textbooks because
these activities will not only improve speaking skills but will also bring
variety in class and will motivate the students as well.
3. In order to improve reading skills, a variety of pre, while and post-
reading activities should be included in the textbooks. Similarly, the
tasks and activities should be interesting as well as challenging. In
addition, different sorts of pictures should also be utilized for pre and
while-reading.
4. In order to enhance writing skills, process approach should be adopted
in which students should be given extensive practice starting from
brainstorming to the final task. In this connection activities for
brainstorming, mind mapping and outlining should be provided in the
selected textbooks. Moreover, the textbooks should provide guidance
and practice in writing through controlled and guided writing activities
and then task should be given about the final product.
Recommendations for National Curriculum Wing
1. The National Curriculum Wing should lay down realistic and
achievable objectives both for the teachers and students, which they
can achieve during the academic year following the prescribed English
textbooks.
2. The English textbooks need to be reviewed thoroughly at the
Secondary level. Utmost attention need to be paid to ensure
that each and every skill and area is given sufficient focus and
space in the prescribed English textbooks.
3. Achieving the useful backwash is very necessary in language
pedagogy. Due space and weighting need to be given to all the skills
and areas of English in order to attain the beneficial backwash.
Hughes (2001) defined the beneficial backwash as the positive and

183
 good effect of examination/testing on teaching and learning. It is also
recommended that speaking and listening skills should also be tested
and given credit in the final examination.
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NUML Journal of Critical Inquiry Vol 15(II) December, 2017 ISSN 2222-5706

Print Media Practices in the Representation of Political

Discourse in Pakistan
Ayyaz Qadeer1
Wasima Shehzad2
Muhammad Ilyas Chishti3
Abstract
Media discourse has been a major place for the discursive
production of subjective realities. The present work is an attempt to find out
how print media in Pakistan is constructing the political realities, and how
power relations are maintained through which media power influences the
political process. This study focuses on reporting practices of Pakistani
English newspapers regarding the political speeches of prominent Pakistani
political leaders. For this purpose reports from leading English newspapers
namely, The News, Dawn, and The Express Tribune have been taken as
representative texts for the coverage of the political speeches delivered by
Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Critical Discourse Analysis has been taken as a theory and method to study
discursively the representation of political discourse in Pakistan. Therefore,
some features of macro-structure and schematic structure like mitigation
and intensification, overall organization of the texts, selection of quotations,
beginning and ending of the media texts and placement of argumentation
from van Dijk’s Socio-cognitive Model of discourse analysis have been taken
to analyze the print media reports. The present study explores a variety of
discursive practices in the portrayal of the discourse of Pakistani politicians.
Hence, those techniques employed by English print media in Pakistan
influence political discourse that results in projecting and/or curtailing the
image of the political figures. Consequently, the media discourse plays a
critical role, in the overall political process, in shaping the public perception.
Moreover, mainstream Pakistani English newspapers, at least those
included in this study, construct and shape the political events according to
their preferred agendas. As a result, they exercise their power to control
and direct the minds of the readers.
Keywords: Media discourse, political speeches, discursivity
1. Introduction
Discourse presented in media has been a major source to produce
discursivity in social as well as political spheres. On one hand, media text is
enriched with private conversational idioms, slangs and more delicate
cultural cues in language, and on the other, media discourse performs a
critical role, with a legitimate authority, to convey information to the
audience. It is established through various researches that media discourse

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is not at all neutral and non-biased particularly against the representation it
deals with (Fairclaugh, 1995). In contrast, media discourse portrays its own
preconceptions towards establishing the relationship with subject and its
audience (van Dijk, 1997).
Moreover, media discourse is branded to initiate the discourse on
important national issues through selecting the statements, actions or
achievements of major national political or social personalities and
celebrities along with the phenomena in the surroundings discussing its pros
and cons to the audience. Van Dijk (1997) is of the opinion that the launch,
progression and sustenance of media discourse are most often touched
with some embellishments, and it is maintained and determined by their
own perspective and angle of the story. The present work is an attempt to
find out how print media in Pakistan is constructing the political realities.
The present discussion is a way to answer the essential question
about the structures of news discourse as opposed to all other varieties of
discourses. Van Dijk (1997) is of the view that in English language, news
story, as a term, leads the notion that news may be a particular kind of
narrative. It is obvious that it differs from the rest of the stories in daily life
or those narrated to children; therefore, different nature of news stories
and how they are so, are important issues in general. However, stories
about the political elite and their speeches acquire more importance
because they generate a direct impact on the masses.
2. Media Discourse
Media discourse, with the dimension of its social representation,
focuses upon the cognition of individuals in terms of long term memory that
stores instinctively interpreted individual experiences in the form of mental
models (van Dijk, 2007). Besides, there are more stable and permanent
socially shared beliefs which are termed as social representations
(Moscovici, 2001). Moreover, the socio-cultural knowledge shapes the
essence of those beliefs, and allows us to meaningfully act, interact and
communicate with other members of the same culture (van Dijk, 2009).
With another perspective, people are influenced and in response
behave in accordance with that influence. It is perceived that if the attitude
of people is influenced, there is no further need to reinforce them to act in
accordance with these attitudes. For example, they will vote in favor of anti-
terrorism policies, if they are influenced by terrorism. In van Dijk’s view
(2007) this kind of manipulation is also a discursive practice, and it
influences cognitive as well as social dimensions. Therefore, it can be
inferred that those strategies of discourse, which usually control socially
shared beliefs, need intense attention. Van Dijk mentions generalization as
one of these strategies. According to him, it generates an impact on the

187
mental models of the individuals leading to more generalized knowledge,
attitudes, or ideologies.
2.1 Role of Media Power and Influence
The issues of media, regarding its role in the (re)production of
powerful ideologies, hinges on a structure that generates concepts of
influence and power (Bryant & Zillmann, 1986). The more power the media
attains, the less freedom is attributed to the influenced audience. It is also
vice versa as independence in utilizing media liberates the public, and media
starts losing its control. This phenomenon is not a natural result of the logic
and nature of power, rather, it is based on empirical inquiry about the
manner through which media discourse influences mind, cognition and
action in a particular situation.
It is now relevant to discuss media power in terms of the social
power which is normally assumed by groups and institutions. Putting aside
the coercive nature of power either of military and police on institutional
level, or raping women and molesting children on individual level, social
power, by and large, is identified as the control of actions along with control
over access to resources by a dominant group or even individual. It means
that control of action generally indicates decrease of freedom. By applying
this notion to media, it can be inferred that the freedom of the media should
be considered as power of the media (O’Keeffe, 2006).
Moreover, action can be defined in many ways and different factors
are involved in this process. If intentions, reasons, objectives and goals may
be taken as some parts in the overall definition of action, then, control of
action means control of mind. This is the key factor in persuasive social
power in general, and in media power in particular (van Dijk, 1988). On this
ground van Dijk feels the need to understand cognitive processes and
representations. In addition to this, cognitive approach presents insight into
the structures, formation and strategies of cognition. Due to this very
reason, it offers a foundation for an innovative understanding of the power
of media in terms of persuasion (Reah, 2002).
Media biasness has been one of the most probed areas among
researchers due to the very fact that newspaper data is judged through the
news value paradigm. In this context, van Dijk (2007) is of the view that the
biasness expected to be involved is stable across the newspaper sources,
and that news value representing a stable professional worth is established.
Some other scholars emphasize the influence of individuals on news
selection. According to this perspective, media has individualized sensitivity
concerning what constitutes news. Every newspaper has its own specific
public with a particular mindset, and therefore, events are reported and
covered according to it. Likewise, many participants in a gathering are

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reported to be at a demonstration according to the police version, even
though they are organizers. This representation is supposed to vary in
keeping with the political orientation of that newspaper.
Researchers dealing with media discourse argue that the
newspapers of a country reflect the political system wherein they are
embedded, and, as a result, they give attention to specific institutions,
personalities and their political action. In this context it is said further, as an
example that American television concentrates on the activities of The
White House with the angle of presenting the presidential system as better,
as compared to the weak US political parties. On the other hand, Italian
news focuses on political parties and their representation showing a strong
party system as compared to an unstable and weak central government.
This culturally colored media approach towards news predicts that coverage
of events varies across newspapers with the factor that every newspaper
has different public and different priority towards political systems.
How media influences political perception is evident through a
number of studies that identify the power and influence of media to
control public outlook in general, and political perceptions in particular
(O’Halloran, 2010). Primarily, media decides subjects to cover for the
presentation. In other words, it demonstrates power to set the public
agenda according to its own priorities. At the next step, media elevates
some issues of its interests over others. Moreover, media, specifically,
influences constituents’ successive evaluations of politicians and
modifies the judgment criteria of politicians (Krosnick & Kinder, 1990).
Nevertheless, the control of agenda setting and elevation are not the only
powers media assumes since presentation issues and the linguistic choices
are other issues of serious concern.
The media’s choice of frame in different situations and for different
personalities can influence the public for a creation of subjective realities
(Carpentier, Servaes & Lie, 2003). It is also noteworthy that the opportunity
for media to frame issues takes place from the media’s skill to pick and
choose from the narrative given by the politicians and pressure groups.
Subjectivity, particularly in media discourse, is mainly due to the
ideological assumptions, and they provide a space for the unequal power
relations. In this context, Althusser (1982) is of the view that they are the
ideological apparatus of the bourgeois states, and their objective is to
produce political consensus, political mobilization, and its legitimacy. It is
argued that knowledge seeking is an act through which a subject positions
himself/herself in the social environment to learn with the help of so many
social networks.

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 On the other hand, linguistic analysis of the newspaper seems, very
often, skeptical. The linguists at times try to control or structure a subtle
manipulation to distort reality. In this context, White (1997) claimed that
media persons restrict subjective interpersonal features in hard news
reports, and they, through objective language, purport to be neutral and
unbiased, particularly where formal language affords the appearance of
neutrality. White further adds that impersonal register of this kind is but a
rhetorical stratagem to aid the obfuscation of a reporter’s subjectivity.
3. Statement of the Problem and Purpose
Pakistani English newspapers give a prominent space to the
Pakistani political leaders’ speeches, and in this way, leaders rely on media
to influence the public perception. On the contrary, it is generally observed
that the newspapers influence the Pakistani political structure utilizing their
hidden power and reproduce a favored perspective. This study focuses on
the practices of Pakistani English newspapers in organizing the reports
regarding the political speeches of prominent Pakistani political leaders to
identify how discursivity is produced to influence the masses.
4. Methodology
According to theorists, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) aims to
investigate social inequality, how it is expressed and signaled, and how it is
constituted and legitimized through discourse. Therefore, the concept of
power in media discourse is the most relevant and dominant concern in
CDA. This is why, CDA has been taken as a theory and method, both, for the
present study.
One of the strengths of CDA is that it can be adapted to suit research
aims. Therefore, any CDA framework preferably can be modified to get
better and accurate results of the research (Fairclough, 1995). Therefore,
for the analysis of the speech reports presented in English newspapers of
Pakistan, some features from van Dijk’s Socio-cognitive Model have been
used in this study.
Van Dijk (1988) has shown a significant transition from analyzing
text to discourse analysis. He analyses news text in terms of the structures
of news, and considers the embedded social practices by creating a
distinction in the structures of news discourse: macro and micro. Macro-
structure, being the main area of the analysis of thematic structure, is of
prime importance in the sense that the theme of a whole text can be
identified (Fairclough, 1995).
Van Dijk’s concepts of macro-structure and schematic structure are
seen to produce texts, and the interpretation of these texts involves in
identifying the underlying holistic structures that are intrinsic to the mental
models, and reporters apply them in interpreting events.

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 Political speeches are delivered keeping the political situations in
view, and the impact of their beginning and ending is carefully prepared to
enhance or reinforce the impact on the listeners. In this context, discursivity
in the interaction is essential to be identified to meet the objectives of this
research.
With regard to the political speeches, it becomes more sensitive if
they are written for specific events; every point is delivered carefully
keeping in view the different perspectives; their depiction in the
newspapers can influence content of the speech to create a particular
version of reality. Therefore, overall organization of the text is the matter of
concern in this study. The next element is how certain arguments are
presented and what kind of impression is generated from them, and to what
extent they are away from the intentions of the speaker. Moreover, certain
points or issues can be mitigated by changing the place and squeezing the
space in the text. Van Dijk’s text schemata is concerned with the above
mentioned issues.
To understand the role of Pakistani print media in the construction
of specified version of political reality, the speech coverage reports of three
Pakistani English newspapers have been selected: The News, Dawn and The
Express Tribune. This selection is based on their circulation that determines
their popularity and credibility in Pakistan. Three speeches, one delivered
by Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif as a prime minister of Pakistan, and the
second by Imran Khan as a prominent opposition leader of Pakistan, and the
third by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chairman Pakistan People’s Party, have
been selected. The reason behind this selection is that they chair the leading
political parties in Pakistan and acquire the most powerful positions
politically. All of them have been given prominent space on the front pages
in national newspapers during 2014. All of the speeches are taken as
representative texts as it is an established practice in CDA, which gives
liberty to the researcher in the text selection.
5. Data Analysis, Findings and Discussion
5.1 Text A
First speech selected for the analysis was delivered by Mian
Muhammad Nawaz Sharif to the UN on September 24, 2014. The analysis of
the news reports is as under:
i. The interactional control in The News has been maintained by
starting with the issue of Kashmir and relations with India in 360 words
whereas the speaker discussed it in the middle of the speech using only 200
words. The reason for additional words is the quotations and personal
comments on statements. For example:

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 ‘Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan was ready to work with India for the
resolution of this problem through negotiations. “Our support and advocacy
of the right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir is our
historic commitment and a duty as a party to the Kashmir dispute,” he said.’
The beginning constructs an impression that, perhaps, this whole
speech is about Kashmir. The report ends with the speaker’s commitment
to the UN in assisting the entire “lofty” goal to make the planet Earth a
better place, as is in the actual expression. But the report has represented
it in a more emphatic way as certain quotations are also presented to put
weight in the arguments. The report has been organized by starting with
Kashmir issue spreading it to almost one third of the report, moving on to
the Afghanistan issue, drug trafficking, resolve against terrorism and peace
keeping efforts at international level, a resolve to keep nuclear program safe
and secure, and then the acknowledgement of the UN plans and efforts to
keep this planet a safe place.
ii. Dawn starts the report with the issue of Kashmir and relations with
India in around 580 words. The reason for the use of additional words is that
this report has mentioned many related issues as an elaboration that the
speaker has not discussed in his speech. The newspaper has added those
pieces of information intentionally at the cost of omission of many things
that the speaker has actually voiced. One such example is as under:
“Indian officials had warned Pakistan earlier this week that raising
the Kashmir dispute at the UN General Assembly could further harm
bilateral ties as New Delhi was against internationalizing this issue. India,
they argued, preferred bilateral talks on this and other issues concerning
Pakistan.”
The report ends with a statement that the speaker has discussed
many important issues without mentioning a single one. The sentence is:
“The prime minister covered a number of key issues in his speech but
avoided the emergence of the Islamic State militant group in Syria and Iraq.”
To mention that the speaker has not discussed “the emergence of the
Islamic State militant group in Syria and Iraq” is meaningful when the first
part of the sentence is using a generalizing technique to avoid mentioning
the issues the speaker covered in his speech. It has shaped the report move
towards the particular issue.
The report is organized by starting with the issue of Kashmir and
Pak-India relations spreading it to almost three fourth of the report, then
the rest of the report is about the Afghanistan issue. It seems that the whole
speech is about Kashmir and Afghanistan.

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iii. The beginning of the report published in The Express Tribune starts
with the issue of Kashmir and relations with India in around 280 words. The
beginning connects his speech with the speaker’s previous efforts, not from
his present speech, on Kashmir issue by using mainstream ideological
repertoire. This addition has been made at the cost of omitting a lot of the
speech content.
The context has been set to present the quotation in the report, and
this technique makes the issue stronger than the actual wording. Therefore,
it starts with a powerful opening through which the issue of Kashmir is
highlighted in the report. The report ends with the issue of new permanent
seats in the UN Security Council which is quite relevant to say at the right
forum; however, this report has mentioned it at the end. The arguments
related with the new seats, articulated in the speech, have not been
presented despite the fact that it is also related with the “peaceful
neighboring in South Asia.”
The report is organized by starting with the issue of Kashmir and
Pak-India relations spreading it to almost one third of the report, and then
the rest of the report is about the Afghanistan issue, anti-terrorism efforts
and sacrifices, international issues like Gaza and Palestine, the emergence
of new militant groups in the middle east, extremism, nuclear control, a
peaceful world, and new seats in the UN Security Council.
5.1.1 Discursivity in Reports
Though the speech of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is of around
1960 words, the reports in The News, Dawn and The Express Tribune are
around1300, 870 and 970 words respectively. On Kashmir issue (around 200
words in actual speech), The News, Dawn and The Express Tribune used 360,
580 and 280 words respectively.
There is discursivity in the interaction of the text along with the
examples of mitigation and intensification in all the reports. Beginning of all
the reports of the speech paves a way to construct a patriotic and
committed impression of the speaker and the selection of arguments
contributes to this impression. All the reports seem to have intensified the
issue of Kashmir in the report. There are so many direct quotations in these
reports, and they have been used to highlight the issue of Kashmir in
particular and others in general. This style of presenting the quotes provides
a prominent space to the speaker portraying a strong, patriotic and
powerful leader since emotional parts of the speech have been selected for
quotes and arguments. However, in some cases, the placement of
arguments and the selection of the quotes do not reflect the main stream
ideas and angles of the speech.

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5.2 Text B
The second speech selected for the analysis was delivered by Imran
Khan in Islamabad, D-Chawk, on 30th of November, 2014. The analysis of the
news reports is as under:
I. The News starts the report with the main announcement of the
speech with a comment over it placing the main demand in the conditional
clause and its reaction in the independent clause:
‘Spelling out his Plan C, PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday
threatened to bring all of Pakistan to a grinding halt on December 16 if
rigging in the 2013 election was not probed within four to six weeks under
the Supreme Court.’
This beginning of the reporting of the speech paves a way to
construct a powerful reactionary impression of the speaker. The report ends
by including comments of other speakers by providing the same image. The
report ends by quoting other speakers in the report, but the image
portrayed in the beginning continues till the end through selection as well
as placement of the arguments.
The report is organized by starting with “shut-down,” then rigging
election and looting the wealth, again shut-down of the whole country,
reasons of the sit-in and judicial commission, again shut-sown, argument
against Mulana Fuzalur Rehman, then, electoral system and conditions of
hospitals and corruption in country, and at the end views of other PTI
leaders who spoke in the occasion earlier than Imran Khan.
II. With reference to the interactional control, the report published in
Dawn starts with the main portion or announcement of the speech with a
comment over it. The beginning has been constructed by placing the
argument in a phrase, a “threat” in principal clause and then main
“demands” in the conditional clause:
‘Challenging the government to return to the negotiating table,
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan threatened to “shut down the
country” if his demands were not met.’
This beginning shows a powerful, reactionary but justified
impression of the speaker. The report ends with the inclusion of comments
of the participants of the rally by providing the same great image of the
speaker: “Sumiya, who had brought her two daughters to attend the rally,
said she believed Mr. Khan was the only leader who could change the
country for the better.” The selection of the arguments and their placement
also gives the same image.

194
 The report is organized by starting with “shut-down” then reasons
of “Plan C” and insistence on the judicial commission, schedule of the shut-
down, flexibility in demand, electoral rigging and its responsibility, and the
other half of the report is about the gathering and supporters.
III. The report published in The Express Tribune is also a direct reporting
of the speech starting with the main announcement of the speech with a
comment over it. It seems a powerful opening by placing compliment in a
phrase, then a threat in the principal clause and demands, in a justified way,
in the conditional clause: accepted.
The impression that the speaker is a popular leader has been
maintained through various linguistic techniques including the selection of
the arguments in the course of the text. The report ends with a popular
argument of wastage of public money.
The report is organized by mentioning the arguments of “shut-
down,” its schedule, colorful and cheerful activities in the rally, again the
schedule of plan-C, logic and previous development regarding the demand,
details of electoral rigging and its responsibility, poor performance and
priorities of the government, health conditions in the country, refutation of
derogatory remarks, PPP and PML-N partnership, and lastly, misuse of the
public money. This organization is supporting to create a justified
environment in favor of the speaker.
5.2.1 Discursivity in Reports
Imran Khan’s speech of thirty nine minutes duration, was reported
in The News, Dawn and The Express Tribune in around 950, 720 and 870
words respectively. It means that the report in Dawn is shorter than that of
The News and The Express Tribune. Moreover, all the three reports include
a picture with a caption on the front page with the exception that The News
has given the image of the speaker only, and the other two newspapers gave
an image of the huge audience.
The beginning in all the reports starts with a direct reporting
selecting the main portion or announcement of the speech with a comment
over it. The News gives an annoyed and aggressive impression of the
speaker in the beginning whereas Dawn and The Express Tribune construct
a strong and rightful impression of the speaker.
The above mentioned conflicting image with a significant diversity
continues in the selection of the arguments and choice of quotes in the
sense that some reports have stressed conflicting issues showing an
aggressive and violent image with an inflexible attitude in the content and
some others have projected the emotional, rightful and promising angles of
the contents of the speech.

195
5.3 Text C
The last speech selected for the analysis was delivered by Bilawal
Bhutto Zardari at Garhi Khuda Bukhsh, Larkana, on 4th of April, 2014. The
analysis of the news reports is as under:
I. The interactional control in The News has been established by
taking up a metaphoric statement, the speaker used as a rhetorical device.
The reference is made to the process of talks between the government and
the Taliban in the very beginning of the speech, and the speaker’s view is
presented with full metaphoric force quite evident in the lexical choices. It
provides a clue to how this report is taking the whole content of the speech,
though this was also one of the main concerns of the speaker:
‘Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday said sighted persons
were asking the blind to lead them in the name of talks, adding that his party
would not bow down to savages and tolerate their dictatorship.’
The report begins with the popular issue of terrorism, taken up in
the middle, and the speaker’s doubts about links between Punjab
government and the terrorists are expressed.
The end of this report is significantly important in the sense that this
report is adding its comments with terms like “observed with reverence and
respect,” “Thousands . . . paid tributes,” and “legendary leader.”
The report is organized by stating the speaker’s statements against
the talk process of the government with the Taliban; the link of terrorists is
sought in the government’s corridors. The report is comprised of the
speaker’s criticism on the government and its policies. However, link
between both the issues is maintained by elaborating the speaker’s views
about Bhutto’s philosophy and an ideology (see appendix).
This report has used direct quotes as arguments to put more weight
in the content, and at some places, it employs general terms, for example:
“the nation had reached a point of history”, “nation has buried a man”
where the term nation has been used to create subjective reality. The
selection of arguments seems a favor to the speaker
‘Lamenting the privatization policy, Bilawal said the nation’s house
was being auctioned without taking it into confidence. “If the government
cannot run the country, does this mean we should sell it?” he asked.’
The participial phrase in the beginning has set a specific perspective
provided by this report and not the contents presented later.
II. Dawn has chosen the essence of the speech to start with. The
reference has been made to the process of talks between the government
and the Taliban, and the speaker’s view is presented in a quote making the
beginning powerful: ‘PPP Patron-in-Chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has

196
criticized the government’s dialogue policy and said “terrorists are not
Muslims”.’
The beginning is a combination of direct and indirect reporting of
the speech and the same tone is maintained in the next two paragraphs.
The report has given, in the above mentioned example, a generalized
statement in the initial clause and it has used a quotation in the other, which
has validated the earlier statement. The issue of “terrorism” is again taken
up in the middle of the report and the speaker’s doubts against links
between the Punjab government and the terrorists are expressed.
The report ends with mentioning the names of the other leaders
who spoke that day, but before that the main points of Asif Ali Zardari’s
speech have been presented and the selected contents give the democratic
and the diplomatic view about the speaker in the report.
The report is organized by stating strong statements of the speaker
against the government talk process with the Taliban. Further it has selected
the speaker’s criticism on the government and the need to follow Bhutto’s
vision of Pakistan.
This report has used many direct quotes as arguments to put more
weight in the content, for example: ‘Referring to the criticism of Sindh
festival, he said that if “we have to fight this mindset”.’ However, only on a
few places this report has made implicit information explicit by using
generalization technique.
III. The interactional control in the report published in The Express
Tribune has been established by taking up the speaker’s anti-government
statement. The term “peace initiative” is a reference made to the process
of talks between the government and the Taliban in the very beginning of
the report.
It is, therefore, established that the beginning of the reporting of
the speech starts with an issue continued in the next paragraphs. The report
ends with the mentioning of Zardari’s worries about the present condition,
and a link has been established by: ‘Echoing Bilawal’s statements, he said,
“Martyrs never die! Long live Bhutto!”’The report collects the speaker’s
views against the government talk process with the Taliban and criticism on
Taliban. Overall the report is divided into three parts. The other two are
divided by heading:
 “Drought-hit Thar is intolerable”
 “Zardari worried about present conditions”
Dialogue process and Taliban, being the first issue, is linked up with the
PPP’s founder Z.A. Bhutto and his vision; the report also mentions the
speaker’s mother as a challenge for Taliban. The second part of this report

197
puts responsibility on the “former chief minister, Arbab Gulam Rahim.” The
arguments related “personalization” and the “gift of $1.5 billion” are also
included in this part. The third focuses Zardari’s concern over the problems
of Muslim world.
This report has used direct quotes as arguments to add more weight
to the content, for example:
‘The Muslim world was faced with difficulties we stood with them,
but we did not put ourselves in danger. “Today we need to make all efforts
to save Pakistan and bring an end to prevailing sectarianism in the country,”
he said.’
The arguments in this report have been placed to give favor to the
speaker or the report takes a position placing the arguments, and reporting
seems a reason to favor the content at the start of many paragraphs.
5.3.1 Discursivity in Reports
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari spoke around thirty nine minutes, but has
been reported in The News, Dawn and The Express Tribune in around 700,
780 and 550 words respectively. Moreover, all the reports have included a
picture, with caption, of the speaker on the front page. The report of The
News shows a picture of the speaker, in which he is shown addressing the
audience along with a picture of Z.A. Bhutto in the background representing
a particular ideology, which was further enhanced by adding party slogans
in the reports.
The beginning in the reports of Dawn and The Express Tribune is a
combination of direct and indirect reporting. The report in The News starts
with a direct reporting maintaining it in the next paragraph using different
terms and metaphors. This issue of “terrorism” is again taken up in the
middle of the speech. All three reports seem to construct a strong political
impression of the speaker. Moreover, the arguments in these reports seem
to be placed to give favor to the speaker, as such arguments or reporting
seems a reason to favor the content. Moreover, the placement of the
arguments and the selection of quotations from the speeches of the
speakers, provide a strong clue on how the image is conveyed through
discursive practices and how the truth is constructed.
5.4 Prominent Features of Media Reports
The common practices of all the reports regarding the control,
interactional control, are quite significant in the sense that the placement
and the sequence of arguments are not the same in most of the cases. The
order of the speech is not followed in reporting of the speeches. This format
suits to generate the headline different from the others. In this regard, the
finishing and the ending of the report seem important and discursivity is

198
identified in this regard. As far as the linguistic angle is concerned, some
reports do not start with the direct reporting which means that a specific
angle has been set before the reporting starts.
The most striking fact identified during the analysis is that
intensification is produced by giving priority to the argument and on many
occasions arguments have been repeated in the next paragraph of the
report. However, the element of repetition is not a very common device. To
produce this impact, the element of placing direct quotes is very prominent.
Arguments, in case with the issue of mitigation, have been put in
the later paragraphs on a few occasions but the most striking element is that
such points in some cases, have not been included in the report at all. It is
an overwhelming impression during the analysis that omission of the points
from the speeches is a very common practice. Perhaps it is one of the main
factors that many linguistic devices are not employed in presenting the
unfavorable arguments in the portrayal of the political speeches.
The reports used far less words than the words or the points
delivered by the speakers on certain issues. But interestingly, on the
national issues, this is quite opposite as the reported words are more than
in the actual speech. For example, the PM used around 200 words on
Kashmir in the UN speech, but all the newspapers used far more words. It
means that the behavior of all the newspapers is the same on national and
ideological issues, and they employ certain discourse strategies to enhance
the national impact in their reporting.
6. Conclusion
This study has revealed some significant tendencies and patterns in
the media discourse related to political speeches in the context of Pakistan.
For instance, the order of the contents of speeches is normally not followed
in the reporting of the speeches, and this practice of the newspapers
provides a substantial space to produce discursivity in the process of
meaning making through media discourse in Pakistani newspapers.
Moreover, exclusion, beside inclusion, is a very significant feature of the
Pakistani newspapers’ reporting style. Exclusion of contents, according to
the choice and priority of each newspaper, is very common practice.
Furthermore, quotations are used as a strong tool in changing or
creating perception in political reports as more emphasis can be placed
through quotations on the point the speaker has given least attention to.
Moreover, the number of quotes in a report impacts on the overall
impression of the speaker. As the number increases, the impression of the
speaker’s contents gets stronger.

199
 In short, in the light of above arguments, the present study confirms
that media discourse employs a variety of discursive practices in the
portrayal of discourse of Pakistani politicians. These techniques shape the
political discourse, which results in projecting and/or curtailing the image of
the political figures. Consequently, the media discourse actively participates
in the overall political process. On the other hand, mainstream Pakistani
English newspapers, at least those included in this study construct and
shape the political events according to their preferred agendas. As a result,
they exercise their power to control and direct the minds of the readers.
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Appendix

1. Links for the Reports on Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s Speech

a. https://www.thenews.com.pk/archive/print/640702-world-
community-bound-to-resolve-kashmir-issue-pm
b. https://www.dawn.com/news/1134604/pm-reiterates-stance-on-
kashmir-in-un-speech
c. https://epaper.tribune.com.pk/DisplayDetails.aspx?ENI_ID=11201
412280001&EN_ID=11201412280001&EMID=11201412280001
2. Links for the Reports on Imran Khan’s Speech
a. https://www.dawn.com/news/1148040/imran-threatens-
nationwide-shutdown
b. https://tribune.com.pk/story/799978/islamabad-rally-pti-unveils-
plan-c/
c. https://www.thenews.com.pk/archive/print/641973-entire-
country-to-be-shut-down-on-dec-16-imran
3. Links for the Reports on Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s Speech
a. https://www.dawn.com/news/1097872
b. http://bhuttolegacyfoundation.com/bhutto/blind-being-followed-
in-the-name-of-talks-bilawal/
c. http://bhuttolegacyfoundation.com/bhutto/blind-being-followed-
in-the-name-of-talks-bilawal/

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