CITY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH JOURNAL OF LITERATURE AND LINGUISTICS

War-related psychological trauma in Iraqi fiction

Khadeeja Mushtaq, Muhammad Safeer Awan — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The Middle East is and has been an ongoing stage for wars and conflicts that have shaped and reshaped the demography of the region with little or no regard for the innocent civilians who are a major casualty in these wars. The crisis in Syria created the biggest tragedy in the history of modern warfare with more than 350 000 civilians killed and almost half of them displaced (Loft, 2023). The present paper undertakes a closer examination of a selected fiction from Syria (Death is Hard Work) to reveal a life without hope and meaning for the survivors of recent wars. As the analysis will reveal, their tragedy belies simple, unequivocal explanation; besieged by violence and death in the spiraling cycle of wars, the Syrians have suffered psychological trauma and emotional breakdown of an upending scale. There is a need to bring to light their experience of war along with the manifold and serious consequences on the civilian population in Syria. There is no doubt that the civilians are the worst effected in the recent wars, however, the scale of their psychological injury is yet to be determined.

Key words: Civilians, Death, Trauma, Violence, War

The The Roots of Radicalism: Analyzing Post-9/11 Situation in The Runaways by Fatima Bhutto

Dr. Humaira Ahmad, Ms. Sahar Mustafa — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

ABSTRACT

This research paper presents a postcolonial critique of a post-9/11 novel, The Runaways by Fatima Bhutto. A comparative analysis of the three main characters in the novel has been made to understand the unique postcolonial experiences of each. The different backgrounds of all the characters have been explored to comprehend what led them to become terrorists. Through this comparison it has been unveiled that religion is not the reason behind the radicalism of these characters, instead the postcolonial experiences of ‘Capitalism’, ‘Modernity’, and ‘Unhomeliness’ are the reason behind their militancy. Through this analysis, the researcher has made a broader effort to explain Bhutto’s stance of invalidating the Islamophobic beliefs prevalent in the post-9/11 West. This study is a unique effort to explain how postcolonial experiences are the root cause of radicalism. The selected novel has not been examined through this particular lens before; hence, this study is an effort to bridge this knowledge gap.

Keywords: Capitalism, Islamophobia, Modernity, Postcolonial critique, Post-9/11, Radicalism, Unhomeliness.

The Wounds of Innocence: A Jungian Reading of Hassan in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner

Seema Rehman, Samina Akhtar, Salman Hamid Khan — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This study explores the concept of an archetypal "scapegoat" in Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner (2003) through the main characters, Amir and Hassan. It argues that Amir's mistakes and the harsh environment of war-torn Afghanistan drive him to blame Hassan for his wrongdoings. The findings of the study indicate that true friendship involves self-annihilation and life-threatening circumstances. Amir's guilt and societal pressures cause him to project his transgressions onto Hassan, who serves as a Christ-like figure of sacrifice. This tragic interplay reveals the destructive potential of the scapegoat motif, impacting both characters and emphasizing the need for self-reflection and societal healing after conflict. The novel also offers hope through the concept of self-improvement. By fostering self-examination, critical introspection, and a commitment to personal growth, individuals can potentially dismantle the mechanisms of scapegoating and pave the way for individual and collective healing, redemption, and transformation. The study also has thematic connections to the rebuilding of Afghan society after decades of wars and bloodshed.

Keywords: Afghanistan, Archetypal, Christ Figure, Friendship, Redemption, Scapegoat, The Kite Runner.

Exploring Conceptual Metaphors in Edgar Allan Poe's ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’: A Cognitive Linguistic Analysis

Awaisuddin, Amjad Saleem, Honggang Wang — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Conceptual metaphors shape our perception and understanding of looking at the world. The cognitive linguistic approach to a narrative provides necessary tools to explain the thinking pattern and the worldview of fictional characters. This study explores and analyzes the conceptual metaphors used by the main character in Edgar Allan Poe’s short story ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’. Using the conceptual metaphor theory proposed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), this study explores what precisely was going on in the narrator’s mind and how all that resulted in the killing of the old man. In addition, those conceptual metaphors are then analyzed through cognitive linguistic lens.

Keywords: CMT, Cognitive Linguistics, Source Domain, Short Story, Target Domain, The Tell-Tale Heart

Dissecting Speech Errors: A Psycholinguistics Study of Joe Biden’s Disfluent Speech

Hajra Naeem, Sabeen, Javeria Haroon — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Speech errors occur in nearly everyone's speech, especially when speaking in front of a large audience and under the spotlight. A thorough analysis of these speech errors in a person's language especially that of a public figure like Joe Biden gives us insight into the mechanisms that underlie language processing and production. The present study employs the mixed-method approach to psycholinguistically examine President Biden's speech and identify the types of errors by using the Clark and Clark (1977) theory as the research framework. The researcher transcribed several videos from YouTube to collect data for said analysis. In addition, the current study determines which speech errors have the highest and lowest occurrence rate in President Joe Biden's spoken language. Lastly, this research provides the causes for hesitation and speech errors in President Biden's speech by utilizing Clark and Clark and Bortfeld et al.'s theories as a framework. The research found the occurrence of each speech error to be as follows (high to low): filled pauses repeats, corrections, unretraced false starts, retraced false starts, and silent pauses. The author found that the potential causes for errors in speech are cognitive reasons, social reasons, situational anxiety, demographic factors, and speaking style. The paper underscores the intricate relationship between linguistic imperfections and political communication, offering a nuanced perspective on the challenges of public representation. The findings can inform strategies to improve political leaders' communication authenticity and effectiveness in an era of pervasive media coverage and public scrutiny.

Keywords: Disfluency, Psycholinguistics, Political communication, Speech error(s).

Correspondence between Themes in ESL Textbooks and Reading Comprehension Curriculum in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

hafiza, Itbar Khan — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Textbooks utilized for the instruction of English as a Second Language hold significant influence over the pedagogy of reading comprehension. These textbooks serve as both instructional aids and evaluative instruments employed by teachers, while also serving as educational resources for students within the public schools of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. According to the curriculum document, the purpose of teaching reading comprehension is twofold: to develop reading skills and enhance students’ knowledge by including important themes and subthemes suggested by the designers of the curriculum. Numerous studies have revealed that the content in terms of themes within textbooks fails to adhere to the prescribed national standards established for such educational resources. This study employed qualitative content analysis as a research method to examine how the main themes recommended in the SNC English I-V 2020 have been incorporated in Textbook English 1 in Pakistan to enhance readers’ content knowledge. The comprehensive examination revealed that the main themes and sub-themes in the revised curriculum document for teaching reading comprehension in English as a second language to enhance students content knowledge have not been included in the textbook in a thorough and organized manner. It shows that out of the 21 main themes, a mere nine have been incorporated, with 22 sub-themes out of 63 in the textbook, with repetition of some themes instead of including new themes in each unit of Textbook English 1. This suggests that the absence of a coherent arrangement of themes in the particular textbook is likely to have an impact on the achievement of content in terms of knowledge and information in a systematic and chronological order, consequently impeding students’ cognitive knowledge about important topics prioritized in the curriculum document looking for their educational importance in recent years. The findings suggest that for the purpose of improving content knowledge through teaching reading comprehension of English and subsequently enhancing students' reading comprehension skills at the primary level in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, it is recommended that the curriculum be methodically and comprehensively integrated into ESL textbooks by proficient textbook writers.

Key words: English as L2, reading comprehension, themes, sub-themes, content knowledge of teaching English, SNC English Grade I-V 2020, textbook