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Title "Afghan, American and Pakistani Newspaper Articles on Afghan Peace Process: A Comparative Analysis of Textual Meta Functions"

Author(s) Aatikah Hameed Malik

Abstract Language serves a variety of functions termed as Meta Functions and the speaker’s knowledge of his language surpasses the structural boundaries. The present research analyses comparatively the newspaper articles from Afghanistan, Pakistan and the USA, about the Afghan Peace Process, from the lens of Textual Meta Function by Halliday and Hasan and its modifications by Halliday and Matthiessen. The researcher attempts to highlight and analyze the significant shift in the presentation of a particular stance through language. The linguistic academia is not much inclined towards such comparative analysis, that states the projection of stance through language, using the Textual Meta Function as framework. The selection and progression of the theme and rheme of the clause is on the part of the authors or the speakers according to Halliday and Matthiessen and they use the language resource with the aid of the devices of lexical and grammatical cohesion to perform the communicative function and present the text as a unified whole. The researcher has found that the authors of these newspaper articles vary as far as the selection and progression patterns of the theme and rheme of the clauses are concerned. The patterns of information through theme and rheme communicate a particular stance that is, the Afghan newspapers foreground the miseries and sufferings of Afghans in the wake of decades of war. Similarly, the articles from the USA highlight the importance of peace deal which will facilitate the withdrawal of the US and allies from Afghanistan in the context of US general election. The articles from Pakistan project the need of implementation of the clauses of the deal and the urgency of intra Afghan negotiations, moreover the Pakistani authors also highlight the prospects for Pakistan in the context of the deal. In addition to theme and rheme, the devices of lexical and grammatical cohesion also aid in the projection of that particular stance. The communicative function of the language has been performed by the authors from Afghanistan, Pakistan and the USA in a unique and diversified manner that projects their particular stance.

Type Thesis/Dissertation

Faculty Languages

Department English

Language English

Publication Date 2024-12-31

Subject Linguistics

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