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SYNCHRONIZATION OF WORDS AND IMAGES: A MULTIMODAL ANALYSIS OF A DIGITAL CINEMA Digital Cinema is the new form of media, influencing the people most. This study is an attempt to uncover meaning making process in a multimodal text. It lays stress on meaning making process in individual modes and the synchronization of different modes to construct a coherent text. Meaning making of theme of hyper reality is studied in film “Blade Runner”. Linguistic, Visual and Kinesics modes have been selected and different frameworks have been utilized to uncover meaning making process in these modes. Interactional discourse approach is used for investigating linguistic mode. For Visual mode Kress and Leeuwen’s Visual Grammar is applied incorporating camera techniques. Kinesics mode is analysed using “gesture and posture” framework. Intersemiosis process and analysis of change in semantic relations of different characters have supported the analysis produced in individual modes. Meaning making of genre and theme in Visual mode is highlighted by analyzing modality of the selected images of the film. The detailed analysis of different modes is then used to critically analyse the theme “hyper reality” in contemporary social conditions. The current study argues that a multimodal approach integrating different frameworks for different modes is needed for analysis of any multimodal text. The present study is an attempt to stress multimodal literacy by raising awareness on how different modes work internally in a holistic manner and servers to enhance our experience of any multimodal text. It is also an attempt to make us conscious about the prevailing condition of hyper reality in our postmodern cybernetic society by taking the meaning making of hype reality in selected film and relating overall analysis with present social conditions.
A Comparative Study of Pragmatic Losses in English Tanslations of the Holy Qur'an ABSTRACT Thesis Title: A Comparative Study of Pragmatic Losses in English Translations of the Holy Qur’ān The chief objective of a translation is to convey the meanings of the source text to the target text readership. It is the transfer of the content as well as the textual mood to the possible extent. However, achieving this objective remains a crucial challenge on account of social, cultural and linguistic differences among the people of different colors, religions and geographical regions. Morphological, lexical, phonological, syntactical, stylistic, social, psychological and cultural differences among the languages result cumulatively into a broad range of pragmatic losses during the process of translation. The situation gets more intricate when it is the matter of religious literature, especially, the revealed sacred texts. In this regard, it is deemed highly significant to identify the elements of pragmatic loss in the source text and their respective manifestations in translated texts for the awareness of the translators and readers to curtail the possible distortion of the meaning enshrined in the source text. The present qualitative research aimed at investigating three different English translations (wordfor-word translation, literal translation and running translation with lexical and syntactic expansion) of Sūrah al-Kahf of the Holy Qur’ān. The researcher traced and analyzed the instances of pragmatic losses in these three English translations employing comparative pragmalinguistic model which has been tailored for this study. The findings reveal significant similarities as well as differences in these three translations entailing clear manifestations of pragmatic losses. These pragmatic losses occur in the forms of loss of tense, loss of texture, loss of grammatical category, loss of gender, loss of textual meaning, loss of culture-specific terms etc. Finally, certain recommendations have been made for the contemporary and future translators of the Holy Qur’ān in particular and other religious or non-religious Arabic texts in general.
Translation as Accommodation: A Corpus-based Comparative Analysis of In the Line of Fire and Sab Se Pehle Pakistan. ABSTRACT Title: Translation as Accommodation: A Corpus-based Comparative Analysis of In the Line of Fire and Sab Se Pehle Pakistan Yanow (2004) asserts that translating is not the same thing as transferring knowledge. ‘Transfer’ suggests an objectification or commodification of knowledge, extrapolated from its context, with the translator serving as a mere conduit or channel through which meanings simply pass. Critical trends in translation studies have suggested that translation practice relies not only on linguistic structure but it is also influenced by the context that constitutes extra-linguistic features along with the cultural, ideological and aesthetic norms of linguistic community and collocation patterns of target language. The influence of these factors results in the adjustments of target text according to target context. These adjustments/accommodations help a translator to make a text intelligible and original for target readers because very often target text cannot exert the required effects/meanings if the contextual factors are not considered. The adjustment/accommodation becomes more perceptible in case of wider difference in the contexts of source language and target language. This study analyzed In the Line of Fire produced in English with the aim to address the Westerners and it was translated into Urdu as Sab se Pehle Pakistan for the Pakistani readers. This study aims to explore the ways and patterns of accommodation with which the translator of In the Line of Fire adapts the target text according to the target context. The study examines the selected texts both at macro level (rhetoric, cohesion and coherence) and at micro level (syntax, vocabulary and diction). The data has been analyzed with a crafted analytical framework that shows a fusion of Van Dijk’s (2004) model of text analysis and Shi’s (2004) model of translation as accommodation. The analytical framework helps to compare the source text and the target text and also to trace the cultural, ideological, aesthetic and collocation accommodations both at macro and micro levels. The findings reveal that cultural accommodation is the leading phenomenon at both the levels whereas collocation accommodation and ideological accommodation happen after cultural accommodation at micro and at macro levels respectively. The influence of abstract factors on causing accommodation is far greater than the influence of concrete factors in causing accommodations in the selected texts.
DIVERGENT COLLABORATIONS AND CONFLICTING NATIONAL DISCOURSES IN MIRZA WAHEED’S THE COLLABORATOR The focus of this study is the conflict zone of Kashmir. The research highlights the impact of the catastrophic decade of the 90s on the life of Kashmiris as narrated by Mirza Waheed in his debut novel The Collaborator (2012). The study employs Post colonialist perspective and theory of Nationalism. The study inquires into the diverse ways in which Kashmiris respond to the changing dynamics of Kashmir in the milieu of the emerging Freedom Movement and its suppression by the Indian Army. It identifies the ideological divisions between Kashmiris, their concept of nationhood and its ensuing discourses. The varied discourse of resistance manifests the divergence in Kashmiri nation. This idea is exhibited through the fictional characters’ perception and ternalization/rejection of the Freedom Movement. It argues that the concept of Nationalism in Kashmir in the decade of 90s is Janus-faced. The research reveals that some fictional characters exhibit tendencies that are pro-Movement and pro-Pakistan. But, there is also a minority that reflects anti-Movement and anti-Pakistan tendencies. Thus, the response of the fictional characters towards the Freedom Movement governs their choices of allegiances with or against India. Along with highlighting the manifestation of the ideological divisions, the research investigates the social circumstances and personality traits of the fictional characters that are crucial in carving their national identity. In addition to this, the study also explores the significance of narration as a means of reflecting the multifaceted culture of nations. It also highlights Waheed’s artistic skill to juxtapose the grotesque reality of Kashmir filled with brutality against its alluring beauty.
IMPACT OF PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION ON LEARNERS’ SPELLINGS Learning of Phonetics and Phonology is a troublesome task for foreign language learners. One of the common problems associated with the subject of Phonetics and Phonology is the lack of correspondence between sounds and letters which leads to the confusion between spellings and pronunciation. The subject of Phonetics and Phonology is added in language courses to improve the pronunciation of language learners. For this purpose, phonemic transcription is a tool used for a better pronunciation and identification of sounds. The aim of the present research was to explore the impact of phonemic transcription on English spellings of the English language learners. In order to explore the impact, twenty four Phonemic Passages from each subject, a Post Test and a Focused Group Discussion were used as tools for data collection. The research design selected for this research was Mixed Method Pre Experimental study, conducted at Diploma level at the Functional Courses (FC) Department of NUML, Islamabad. The basic research design was Pre Experimental, One Shot Case Study with the addition of a Focused Group Discussion. The Focused Group Discussion was added in this research in order to triangulate and consolidate the results. Cook’s classification of spelling errors was adapted as a model for the categorization of intra lingual spelling errors committed under the impact of phonemic transcription. The findings reveal that with continuous practice, certain consonantal sounds like /ð/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/,/s/, /k/, /z/, /f/, /w/ and vowel sounds like /i:/, /i/, /æ/, /ʊ/, /ɒ/, /ʌ/, /ə/ showed the negative impact of sounds on spellings. While in case of diphthongs only two sounds like /aɪ/, and /eɪ/presented the impact of sounds on spellings. Based on the findings of the research it is recommended that the subject of Phonetics and Phonology be integrated with reading or writing skills.
(RE)IMAGINING TOTALITARIAN ABSURDITY: A REDUCTIONIST APPROACH FOR ANALYSIS OF THE SELECTED NARRATIVES The current study has taken into consideration Orwell’s 1984 and Bisma’s The Queue to identify the elements of despotism for the establishment of totalitarian regimes and to reduce them to an absurdity. This study aims to highlight the failure of totalitarian regimes in terms of ground realities. Historical instances show that such governments used various techniques like, insurgency, censorship of media, changing the facts and oppression of the masses by the totalitarian rulers to sustain the authority in the state. This project highlights these horrendous efforts of the absolute authorities in the selected texts and reduces them to an absurdity on practical grounds. The theoretical framework which has been used is totalitarian absurdity. It looks for the totalitarian governments and the tactics they use in order to rule the masses and reduces them to an absurdity as they fail in the long run. In the light of the results it can be safely argued that there is a constant effort on the part of the state to suppress the masses but there is always a revolt on the part of the oppressed masses who deny the authority. The more the authority proves to be strict the more it augments the potential of the subjugated masses to show revolt. Thus one can rightly say that totalitarian regimes besides their every possible effort can be drawn to an absurdity.
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF FOREIGNIZATION AND DOMESTICATION IN THE OXFORD BOOK OF URDU SHORT STORIES The main focus of this study is on exploring and comparing foreignization and domestication in the Oxford Book of Urdu Short Stories, an anthology of 22 translated stories by Amina Azfar. These stories have been written by 17 Urdu writers. Venuti’s theory regarding foreignization and domestication provides the basic theoretical framework for this research. As Venuti is against establishing neat binaries of foreignization and domestication and argues in favour of using innovative ways for adopting foreignization in which fluency is not abandoned, the researcher has regarded foreignization and domestication as a continuum. Ramière’s foreignizationdomestication model has been used for this purpose. In this model, six translation procedures borrowing, literal translation, gloss, omission, neutralization and cultural substitution are put on a scale, which has foreignization and domestication as the two poles. In this scale, the first three mentioned translation procedures are considered as strongly foreignizing, less foreignizing and slightly foreignizing respectively. Similarly, the last three procedures are regaded as slightly domesticating, less domesticating and strongly domesticating respectively. Foreignizing and domesticating strategies have been investigated through analyzing culture specific items (CSIs) of the Urdu and English languages. Díaz-Cintas and Remael’s taxonomy of CSIs has been used for this purpose, in which CSIs are categorized into ethnographical, geographical and sociopolitical references. A mixed method approach has been adopted to conduct this research. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of the sample of the 11 stories reveal that foreignization slightly dominates in Amina Azfar’s translations of these stories. Borrowing and neutralization have been found to be the most frequently used translation procedures by the translator.
EXISTENTIALIST ANGST AND SUICIDAL BEHAVIOUR: A PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDY OF DRINKING FROM A BITTER CUP AND THIRTEEN REASONS WHY This study poses objectives that include the exploring of the theme of existentialist angst and suicide, possible effects of interpersonal relations, social norms and customs on suicidal behaviour and to identify the insinuations of suicidal behaviour in the selected texts of Drinking From a Bitter Cup (2013) and Thirteen Reasons Why (2007). Suicide, as portrayed in the selected texts, can be seen as a product of Existentialist Angst combined with interpersonal reasons like thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness. The textual analyses are helped by the notion of Existentialism and Thomas Joiner’s Interpersonal theory of suicidal behaviour specifically to trace out the hidden motifs behind individual’s suicidal behaviour. According to Joiner a suicidal individual acquires the ability to enact lethal self-injury after going through several stages of interpersonal frustrations. The precepts of existentialism also assisted in discovering and analyzing the essence of one’s existence as well as the possibility of choice of non-existence. Whereas, psychoanalysis, as a literary approach, probed into the characters’ concealed cognitive activities. The study revealed that Existentialist Angst leads main characters to commit suicide. Further it has been found out that suicidal characters experience existentialist angst, thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness before suicide. Research is concluded with Joiner’s remedy i.e. “acting right” to curtail suicidal behavior and summing up of all the findings. The study is significant for its interdisciplinary nature as well as its in depth analysis of human psyche exhibited by the characters and their behaviours in their respective societies.
Distortion of Ecosphere and its Effects: an Ecocritical Study of Uzma Aslam Khan’s Trespassing and Thinner than Skin A balanced ecosphere is significant for a healthy cycle of life. The environmental condition across the globe is getting worse day by day. Hazards of global warming and pollution are affecting the ecosphere drastically. Environmentalists take these hazards as the cause of retaliation of nature in the form of floods, storms, famine etc. The research in hand is an ecocritical study of Uzma Aslam Khan’s contemporary novels Trespassing and Thinner than Skin. The texts highlight the atmospheric crisis that lurks across Pakistan. The purpose of the study is to support the contention that the unhealthy activities of human beings pollute their environment and mental health. It also aims to support the notion that human beings are intruder in the natural world as they try to challenge the equilibrium of the natural world. The study further explores the animate nature of nature whereby nature either becomes ferocious or benevolent. At the same time, the novels draw upon a relation between human’s culture and their ecosystem that is why the chosen theoretical framework is Cheryll Glotfelty’s principles of ecocriticism. The theory rejects the view about nature as a social construction. Nature is usually considered as a marginalized subject that is brought up to the centre by ecocritics to understand the mutual/symbiotic relationship of nature and culture of human beings. Textual analysis as a method links the series of events in the chosen texts with the ideologies propounded by Glotfelty. The story of Trespassing revolves around the production of silk. Through an ecocritical gaze, for example, it becomes easy to understand that how the manufacturing of cloth leads towards the death of innocent worms. A large portion of Trespassing revolves around the animal world like silk worm and marine life. Similarly, Thinner than Skin is set in the northern areas of Pakistan. This beauty is distorted and abused by the intrusion of human beings. The study becomes significant in realizing the fact that the environmental crisis is not limited to certain geographical regions, it has become a global concern. Also, human beings should amend their ways to restore the balance in the ecosphere.
Language and Conceptualization in Autism: A Study from the perspective of cognitive semantics. ABSTRACT Title: Language and Conceptualization in Autism: A Study from the Perspective of Cognitive Semantics This thesis looks at the language and conceptualization in autism from the perspective of embodiment offered by Cognitive Semantics – concepts are embodied and are mirrored through language. Thirteen verbal children with autism were treated as thirteen cases and their behaviour and linguistic data were analyzed to investigate following three interests: 1) the nature of their embodiment (sensory-perceptual experiences); 2) the disposition of their conception regarding real-life events; and 3) the relation between their embodiment and their conception of events as revealed through their discourses. The study is delimited to two real-life events: School Routine and Birthday Party. The former is experienced by the children five days a week, while the latter is experienced once a month. The study is further delimited to three modalities: visual, auditory and proprioception. The visual, auditory and proprioceptive embodiments of children with autism were explored through Sensory Profile Checklist Revised (SPCR) (Bogdashina, 2005), while their conception and processing of real life events were identified and determined after analyzing their discourses through Cognitive Discourse Analysis (CODA) Tenbrink (2015). The qualitative analysis of linguistic data revealed the expected association between absence and presence of concepts, and sensory processing of verbal children with autism. The findings were discussed in the perspective of Cognitive Semantics that offers a relation between embodiment, conceptualization and language. The study concluded with the proposition that autism be viewed from the perspective of embodiment. This offers a more flexible and developmental approach towards individuals with autism and treats them just like neurotypicals – the perception and conception (of events schemas) are determined by their unique embodiment (sensory-perceptual experiences). The proposed cognitive theory of autism “theory of embodied processing” also seems to resolve the issues of universality, specificity and uniqueness that already existing cognitive theories of autism – Theory of Mind Deficit, Theory of Executive Functioning and Theory of Weak Central Coherence – have been trying to resolve.
NEWSPAPER EDITORIALS ON KASHMIR ISSUE: A SPEECH ACT ANALYSIS Language has become the main tool to convey thoughts and ideas, and it in return builds and scrutinizes the ideologies of the masses on a bigger scale. Language has been used in different ways keeping in view the sensitivity of the topic as well as the audience. Different messages have been conveyed indirectly by saying something and meaning something else. At the same time, different mediums have always been used to channel the voice of the representatives of a society and they have been modified and modernized with the passage of time and advancement of technologies. The print media is one of the leading means to express and highlight the events and issues of a nation, both at a national as well as international level. This research is based mainly on how language is used implicitly and explicitly to build a stance, particularly on a very hotly debated matter of Kashmir between the neighboring countries of Pakistan and India. For this purpose, two leading newspapers of Pakistan namely DAWN and THE NEWS are selected to carry out the research. The articles from both the newspapers are selected mainly conveying the issue in the time span of 2016-2018. The framework that is selected to apply on the articles to carry out the study is The Speech Act Theory given by Austin and Searle (1969). The theory is applied to the selected newspaper articles in order to find out what kind of speech acts are mainly used and how they contribute in building a stance on the matter of Kashmir. The research also sheds a light on whether the stance of both newspapers is same or different in regard of the issue of Kashmir. This study is unique as it is an important contribution in studying the news articles in the light of speech acts to build and convey a stance. The results showed the usage of a variety of speech acts in the selected articles, and at the same time, the newspapers varied in their frequency of using a particular speech act. It was concluded that when the implicit meanings are analyzed through speech act theory, both the newspapers differ in the expression of stance on the matter of Kashmir issue.
Postfeminist and Islamic feminist discourse: An analysis of discursive practices of Muslim feminists. ABSTRACT Thesis Title: Postfeminist and Islamic Feminist Discourse: An Analysis of Discursive Practices of Muslim Feminists New feminist initiatives with indigenous instruments to combat challenges faced by women are emerging from different geographical locations to suit their local sociocultural environment. One such instance is Islamic feminism where Muslim women are reclaiming their rights through Islam and Quran and in effect liberating Islam and Muslim women from patriarchy. Postfeminism like other non-essentialist movements is an amorphous phenomenon; there is no fixed definition of it. Postfeminist agenda revolves around challenging victimization, favouring autonomy and inculcating responsibility. Based on liberal humanism, it is very adaptive concept that accommodates myriad versions of women’s movements. This study is postfeminist framing of Muslim women’s fiction, specifically, women from Pakistan and Arab world. The objective of the study is to investigate discursive patterns that emerge from creative constructions of Muslim women as protagonists in Chick-lit. It proposes the concept Islamic postfeminism, which is a merger of secular and religious sensibilities without betraying any of the respective traditions. Owing to complex web of affiliations and influences, Islamic postfeminism is a nexus of Islamic feminism, postcolonial feminism and post-structuralist feminism. In addition to theoretically situating this merger, this study examines the ways that re-orient Muslim womanhood as it appears in contemporary anglophone writings of young Muslim women, hence recontextualizing postfeminism in Muslim contexts. There is no single, homogeneous, explicitly traceable Islamic feminism or postfeminism in literary discourse of Muslim women. Rather we observe a fluid, free-spirited, juvenile, version of postfeminism that is simultaneously bold and impressive in its manifestations. These postfeminist Muslim writers are shedding the burdens of affiliations and expectations of Muslimness and are producing characters that do not necessarily wish to foreground their religious self as a form of identity. They are living their lives to the full, without being fearful of being tagged as good or bad Muslim. This contemporary phase in feminism marks generational difference and evolutionary nature of the concept.
Postfeminist and Islamic feminist discourse: An analysis of discursive practices of Muslim feminists. ABSTRACT Thesis Title: Postfeminist and Islamic Feminist Discourse: An Analysis of Discursive Practices of Muslim Feminists New feminist initiatives with indigenous instruments to combat challenges faced by women are emerging from different geographical locations to suit their local sociocultural environment. One such instance is Islamic feminism where Muslim women are reclaiming their rights through Islam and Quran and in effect liberating Islam and Muslim women from patriarchy. Postfeminism like other non-essentialist movements is an amorphous phenomenon; there is no fixed definition of it. Postfeminist agenda revolves around challenging victimization, favouring autonomy and inculcating responsibility. Based on liberal humanism, it is very adaptive concept that accommodates myriad versions of women’s movements. This study is postfeminist framing of Muslim women’s fiction, specifically, women from Pakistan and Arab world. The objective of the study is to investigate discursive patterns that emerge from creative constructions of Muslim women as protagonists in Chick-lit. It proposes the concept Islamic postfeminism, which is a merger of secular and religious sensibilities without betraying any of the respective traditions. Owing to complex web of affiliations and influences, Islamic postfeminism is a nexus of Islamic feminism, postcolonial feminism and post-structuralist feminism. In addition to theoretically situating this merger, this study examines the ways that re-orient Muslim womanhood as it appears in contemporary anglophone writings of young Muslim women, hence recontextualizing postfeminism in Muslim contexts. There is no single, homogeneous, explicitly traceable Islamic feminism or postfeminism in literary discourse of Muslim women. Rather we observe a fluid, free-spirited, juvenile, version of postfeminism that is simultaneously bold and impressive in its manifestations. These postfeminist Muslim writers are shedding the burdens of affiliations and expectations of Muslimness and are producing characters that do not necessarily wish to foreground their religious self as a form of identity. They are living their lives to the full, without being fearful of being tagged as good or bad Muslim. This contemporary phase in feminism marks generational difference and evolutionary nature of the concept.
A Critical Discourse Analysis of Manifestos of Pakistani Political Parties Thesis Title: A CDA of Manifestos of Pakistani Political Parties The present study critically analyses the manifestos of Pakistani political parties. It investigates how various discursive strategies are employed by the politicians to propagate their desired ideology. For the critical discourse analysis the researcher devised his own model by combining the socio cognitive model of Dijk (2004) and Wodak's DHA (2009) approach. The said model is a set of discursive techniques, political strategies and rhetorical devices. So, it is suitable for analysis, how politicians reconstruct ideologies and facts. The manifestos of both political parties are analyzed at this course level to identify different discursive techniques. These political parties are Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan. The research is mainly qualitative in nature. However, quantification of the data has been done and different discursive strategies employed by the both political parties are quantified and represented graphically. The present study is delimited to the manifestos of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and Jamaat-e- Islami. The data has taken from the official website of the both political parties. The manifestos are significant as they are the agenda of both political parties in the election 2013. The researcher has given special focus to the aspect that how different discursive strategies are employed by the politicians for the positive representation of in-group and negative representation of out-group. The findings of the present research illustrate that the rhetoric of PML-N is more persuasive in the dissemination of its desired ideology than that of JIP. Furthermore, it is an attempt that how the features of politically groomed language of the both political parties bring forth the facts. Thus, it shows that style and ideology are interrelated. Moreover, the present study suggests a distinct perspective to the students and academia for the analysis of political manifestos of Pakistani political parties.