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Title Cultural Conceptulization of Indo-Pak Partition in Literary Discourse: A Comparative Study of Conceptual Metaphors

Author(s) Amna Batool

Abstract This study aims at exploring the cultural conceptualization in partition discourse through the use of cultural metaphors. The data for the said purpose is the text of two novels written in the partition era. The partition of the sub-continent in 1947, was event of great magnitude which received immense attention from almost every field of study including sociology, history, geography, psychology and literature. A number of studies have been carried out on the discourse of partition with various aims. The present study focuses on the use of metaphors by an Indian as well as a Pakistani author in their novels about partition. Khushwant Singh is the Indian author whose novel “Train to Pakistan” is selected for this research, whereas Mumtaz Shahnawaz is the Pakistani author whose novel “The Heart Divided” is a part of this research. The purpose behind selecting these two novels specifically was that they are the pioneer English novels written by authors of South Asia. The Conceptual Metaphor theory (CMT) by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) is the backbone of this research. According to Lakoff and Jonson (1980) metaphors are a part of our everyday life and language, we use metaphors consciously and unconsciously. For the identification of the metaphors in the texts of the selected novels, Metaphor Identification Tool by Praggel Jazz and group (2017) is used. The main aim of this to focus on the different or similar types of metaphors used by Indian and Pakistani authors to represent the culture of pre-partition Indian society and the event of partition itself. Upon comparison of the metaphors used in the two novels, it came to light that Singh used greater number of war and conflict metaphors, his focus was more on the tragedies and horrors of the partition. Whereas, Shahnawaz focused more on political metaphors, giving the reader an insight of the ongoing political events and how it affected the three religious groups involved. Singh used more religious metaphors as compared to Shahnawaz, but none of the authors sided with any one of the religious groups involved. They remained neutral in their stance, not blaming any one group particularly, but exploring what led to the greatest mass migration in history and its effect on the common people. The use of particular metaphors gave insight into the author’s point of view and the kind of emotions he/she intended to invoke by those metaphors.

Type Thesis/Dissertation

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Department English

Language English

Publication Date 2023-06-03

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