Content Details | NUML Online Research Repository

Title Representation of Kumara’s murder in Pakistan and Srilankan English newspaper: A Transitivity analysis

Author(s) Mahnoor Siddiq

Abstract Title: Representation of Mob Violence in Pakistani and Sri Lankan Newspapers: A Transitivity Analysis Transitivity analysis is a linguistic framework that focuses on analyzing the ways in which participants, actions, and circumstances are represented in discourse to get the hidden meaning out of the text. It is a central concept in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), a theory developed by Halliday that the meticulous examination of transitivity patterns within textual or discursive contexts has yielded scholarly insights into the intricate processes of meaning construction, elucidating the nuanced utilization of language to articulate precise messages or convey distinct ideological tenets. However, little focus was given to Priyantha Kumara's murder using Transitivity Analysis. Therefore, this study investigates the transitivity patterns employed in Pakistani and Sri Lankan English newspaper editorials to represent mob violence with reference to lynching of Priyantha Kumara (A Sri Lankan citizen). Eight newspapers were selected; among them, four were the newspapers of Pakistan titled The DAWN, International the News, Daily Times and The Dayspring, and the rest of the four were Sri-Lankan newspapers with the title: Colombo Telegraph, Daily Newspaper, Daily Mirror Online and The Island Online. Drawing on Halliday's model of transitivity patterns, the study employs mixed method approach to identify similarities and differences in the editorials and explore how these patterns construct underlying realities regarding mob violence with reference to lynching of Priyantha Kumara. A total of ninety-six (96) clauses were analyzed, forty-eight (48) from each country's newspaper, with mental and relational processes emerging as the most prominent. These patterns conveyed condemnation, disgust, and the demand for justice while highlighting themes of religious extremism, false allegations of blasphemy, crimes against humanity, discrimination, and misunderstandings while demanding justice for the extra-judicial killing of Kumara. The research contributes to understanding the linguistic strategies used in constructing public narratives and provides valuable insights into the representation of significant events in newspaper editorials.

Type Thesis/Dissertation

Faculty Languages

Department English

Language English

Publication Date 2023-11-17

Subject

Publisher

Contributor(s)

Format

Identifier

Source

Relation

Coverage

Rights