Impact of Persian Sufi Thoughts on D. H. Lawrence’s Writing

In this paper, we have argued that Lawrence’s interest in what is ancient wisdom brings him in direct or indirect contact with Sufi metaphysics. This outlook on the world brings him closer to a Sufi universe in two ways. Firstly, Lawrence portrays romantic relationships in a mystical language, he presents the sensuous relationships as sacred activities through which the characters aspire to self-discovery. Lawrence`s portrayal of romantic love corresponds with the higher concept of love in Sufi literature. Secondly, this paper takes a closer look at some of Lawrence’s spiritual works including his Study of Thomas Hardy to compare his sustained argument regarding spiritualism and transcendental motifs in comparison with Sufi cosmology. Moreover, the following discussion also includes a detailed engagement with Lawrence`s correspondence and biographical information of the time when Lawrence was writing his essays and novels which contain transcendental motifs. His correspondence and biographical information suggest he had some direct exposure to Sufi literature in translation. Keywords: mysticism, divinity, holistic vision, physical and spiritual connection, cosmology, transcendental, metaphysics, ontology

Manto and Culture: An Exploration of Cultural Code in Manto’s “My Name is Radha”

This study aims to explore Manto’s short story “My Name is Radha” from a cultural perspective. The purpose of the investigation is to bring the hidden meaning to the surface, which is there but not visible. Manto has used many political, religious, historical, and cultural references in the story, which are significant in the understanding of the researcher. These references have deflected the norms, values, and taboos of Indian society. These are investigated with the help of Barthes, cultural code. This code helps in cultural understanding of the story. The study finds that Manto has used many cultural elements in his text like, bhai, behan, Raksha Bandan, kurta, sari, and panjama. These words provide a vivid description of the Indian people, as well as their culture. Furthermore, this study discovers that Manto has used a unique codec language to portray the way of living of the Indian people. Sometimes he has spoken directly of the cultural taboos and sometimes he has spoken indirectly of the said. The study concludes that the writer has deflected the society through different cultural elements. And these elements help in the true understanding of the text.

Semantic and Pragmatic Structures in Chomsky’s Binding Theory

The central question that this paper attempts is to describe the conditions under which the anaphor can be determined grammatically or contextually. The issue at hand is whether anaphoric forms can be distinguished from indexical ones within Binding theory. The syntactic representation of bindees are characterized by the use of indices. But what role does the context play in assigning co-referential or non-coreferential properties to anaphors? Furthermore, ellipses are also context-bound. An elliptical structure is indexical, rather than anaphoric. The study analyzes the syntactic structures of Chomsky’s Binding theory within Bolinger’s (1979) semantic model Meaning and Form. It seeks the support of other semanticists in order to fill possible semantic gaps in Binding theory. Keywords: binding theory, elliptical structures, meaning and form model

THE DELETION OF THE HUMAN AGENT IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE DISCOURSE: AN ECOLINGUISTIC STUDY

This study explores the use of the strategy of erasure in environmental science discourses to explore the deletion of the agent. Three environmental science textbooks have been chosen for analysis. Stibbe’s (2015) framework of erasure has been used as a model for analyzing the data. He asserts that the natural world is marginalized in texts through the use of certain linguistic strategies; these strategies run throughout the whole discourse to construct the erasure of the ecosystem. The researchers aim to identify erasure at the level of void, which is the complete erasure or deletion of the agent from these discourses. Stibbe mentions nine linguistic strategies for the construction of erasure in environmental discourses. These strategies are passive voice, nominalization, co-hyponymy, hyponymy, metaphor, metonymy, construction of noun phrases, transitivity patterns and massification. For the construction of void, the researchers have analyzed the strategies of passivization and nominalization. It has been found that these strategies are pervasive in the discourses, thereby deleting the agent and constructing void. The study suggests a new way to look at the language of ecological discourses and proposes further studies on how euphemistic language in these discourses can negatively influence readers. Keywords: erasure, mask, void, environmental discourse

Turkish President’s Address to The Joint Session of Pakistan’s Parliament: A Corpus Assisted Positive Discourse Analysis

Formal visits to friendly regions have grown in popularity worldwide in recent years. Heads of state addresses are analysed from a unique perspective. Positive discourse analysis of speeches by international leaders has garnered attention, particularly in Pakistan, following Turkey's president's four visits to the country over the last decade. For the fourth time, he was given the opportunity to address the joint session of parliament. Since their independence, Turkey and Pakistan have had a friendly relationship, and even before that, the people of the region fought to defend the Ottoman Empire during World War II. The people of the subcontinent were active participants in the process, pleading with the British government to maintain the Khilafat system. Very little research has been conducted on presidential speeches, particularly those delivered by Turkish leaders. As a result, the focus of this research paper is on President Erdogan's speeches to the Pakistani Parliament, delivered on November 17, 2016, and February 14, 2020. This study employs a corpus-assisted positive discourse analysis approach in which the concordance patterns obtained from the corpora have been explained in the light of positive discourse analysis. The findings of the study indicate that President Erdogan's speeches are brimming with optimistic language. He tries to establish a brotherly bond with his listeners through mutual equality, respect, love, and strategic collaboration. He seems to be convinced that it is necessary to emphasize the Islamic bond that exists between the two brotherly states. The current paper is noteworthy because it applies positive discourse analysis to Turkish leaders' speeches, broadening its application scope and enriching the research content of positive discourse analysis through a corpus-informed approach.

Cultural Maintenance in the Face of Language Shift- Young Sindhi Muslims in Karachi, Pakistan

The Sindhi language, a descendent of a pre-Vedic Prakit language is the most widely spoken language in South Asia. Sindhi speech community comprises both Muslims, and Hindus which have distinct cultural and religious practices, yet they are socially connected because of the geographical link with their land. However, due to the partitioning of the Indian sub-continent, many Sindhi Hindus migrated to India, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and many other countries. There has not only been an external diaspora but within Pakistan, there has also been an internal diaspora of younger Sindhi Muslims who have moved to cities like Karachi, Hyderabad, and Sukkur to pursue tertiary education. These young speakers have acquired and learned the dominant languages Urdu and English as their second and third languages while shifting away from their native Sindhi language. This study investigates the identity markers which have enabled them to retain their Sindhiness[1]. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 male and female young Sindhis and shadow observation of three participants in Karachi. The analysis shows that young Sindhi speakers have a high sense of group solidarity with their community and retain the use of culturally loaded identity markers which include naming patterns, cuisine, dressing, music, customs, rituals, social values, and networking. According to Fishman (1996), there is a deep relationship between language and culture. Despite a shift away from the habitual use of the Sindhi language these respondents have maintained their cultural values and norms. Keywords: cultural maintenance, language shift, Sindhi community, Karachi

An Analytical Study of Women Objectification in “In Other Rooms, Other Wonders

The objectification of women is a communal problem in every developed and underdeveloped society of the world. Women make a major population of the world and serve society in multidimensional modes, but still, they are considered feeble to men. The subject of women objectification has remained the focus of various researchers globally. This research focused on three short stories drawn from “In Other Rooms, Other Wonders” of Daniyal Mueenuddin to bring forward disparities and inequalities prevailing in the patriarchal society of Pakistan. Additionally, it investigated the impact of these inequalities and injustices on the downtrodden women of Pakistan. The objectification of women is such discrimination that women are subjected to undergo in a patriarchal social setup. This study analyzes the objectification of women through the lenses of female characters selected from three short stories. This study uses the theoretical frameworks of Martha Nussbaum and Rae Langton’s to draw outcomes for this study. Study findings exhibit that female characters undergo objectification and are treated as things by males in the male-dominated strata of Pakistan. Keywords: Women objectification, gender, patriarchy, oppression, feminism

CRISPER/cas9-Human Germline Gene Editing: Study of Islamic Ethical and Scientific Perspectives

The advancement of technology in medical science has just changed human lives, as well as biomedical innovations are making human lives better but lesser harmful. In past, scientifically and religiously approved techniques such as testtube baby & human stem cells therapy have served humanity especially infertile and connubial parents. Nowadays, the advancement in CRISPER/cas9 technology which is about human germline gene editing, just rekindled the religious and ethical concerns, especially in Islamic perspectives. Although, human germline genome editing and modification have been started decades ago claims about disease prevention strategies have raised many religious concerns such as tampering with God’s creation, human dignity, safety and efficacy of the technology, and human genetic enhancement. This kind of editing might result in inheritable changes in the human genome. So, questions about its status whether it should be allowed or not, need deep & serious study from religious and ethical perspectives. This study will encompass Islamic perspectives on these concerns in the light of ethical principles of Islam while considering and assessing the permissibility or lawful status of CRISPR/Cas9 mediated human germline gene editing. This research study also aims to address the controversial discussions among Muslim jurists regarding human germline gene editing as well as to comprise the related ethical regulations and concerns.

Negotiating Conflict: Regional and National Identities in Contemporary Pakistani Fiction in English

Pakistan has frequently been viewed as a stronghold of Islamic radicals, often overlooking the fact that various trends of both dormant and obvious conflicts exist between the politics of religion and region. Whereas the former is mainly controlled by the state, the latter is generally influenced by language and ethnicity. The state’s monolithic notion of national identity, from the country’s birth in 1947 to the present, has overshadowed the regional identities mainly the Pashtuns, Baluchis, and Sindhis, and disregarded the minority credos such as Shias, Parsis, Ahmadis, Hindus, and Christians. The present article aims to explore how contemporary Pakistani fiction in English spotlights images of a fragmented national self, underlining plights of the aforementioned marginal groups and exhibiting strong resistance to hidebound national identity. Reviewing contemporary Pakistani fiction in English with a particular focus on the fiction of Bapsi Sidhwa, Sara Suleri, Kamila Shamsie, Nadeem Aslam, Bina Shah, and Jamil Ahmad, this paper aims to bring critical attention of the scholars to the socio-cultural and political valuation of the regional identities.

A Critical Discourse Analysis of Socio-Psychological Factors in Taufiq Rafat’s “Wedding in the Flood”

People use language for different social practices in different contexts and perspectives, and discourse analysts examine these social practices for a better understanding of the discourse. The language used by a poet is different from the language used by common people; the poetic diction helps to understand a poet’s literary style, his ideology, and the use of descriptive language. This article focuses on exposing the socio-psychological factors through examining the use of language in a free verse poem ‘Wedding in the Flood’ by Taufiq Rafat who tried to present different aspects of Pakistani culture in the poem. The socio-psychological factors combine the social (family, society, wealth, religion) and the psychological factors (feelings, thoughts, actions, beliefs) that play an important role in shaping the personality of an individual, and the characters in the poem are the best examples of it. This analysis is based on Fairclough’s conceptions in CDA that claims of an inter-link between ideologies and texts, and this link cannot be separated because there are many ways to interpret texts, and the Socio-Psychological Theory (20121) also combines many social and psychological factors of human life. Many researchers did the stylistic analysis of the poem, but nothing has been done to highlight its socio-psychological factors through CDA.