Corporum (Dec 2022)
Gender Representation in Maps for Lost Lovers: A Corpus-based Stylistic Analysis
Abstract
The present study aimed at the corpus-based stylistic analysis of gender representation in Nadeem Aslam’s novelMaps for lost lovers. The data consisted of instances of taboo terms, verbs, and adjectives used with male and female characters. The study followed the theoretical consideration of Dale Spender and the methodology adapted was corpus-based that dealt with data both quantitatively and qualitatively. The instances of selected categories along with concordances were derived from a specialized corpus built of one-novel text through AntConc 3.5.8. The study revealed physical and linguistic violence of men against women. The frequency analysis of taboo terms, adjectives, and verbs concluded that male characters were shown as more dominating, powerful, and resourceful landlords whereas women were reflected as struggling, inferior, and wicked objects. 75% of verbal taboos were spoken by male characters, of which 92% were directed towards demeaning female characters. Moreover, 43% of verb concordances were found with male characters portraying man’s dominance, decisiveness, and independent status while 35% of verbs directly correlate with woman’s submissive and passive roles in society. There were 86% of adjectives having negative connotations in various respects used with female characters attributing women as immoral, sexual, irrational, and overemotional whereas 28% showed the assertive, exuberant nature of the male figure. The research serves as a major contribution to the emerging field of corpus linguistics integrating it with gender studies and recommends further study of gender roles portrayed in the Pakistani literary genre.
