Critical Review of Social Sciences and Humanities

Making/Breaking Stereotypes: The Connection Between Maternal Ambivalence and Authenticity in Morgan Jerkins’ Caul Baby

Dr Amara Khan, Imtesal Jawaid — Sun, 30 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This research paper explores the portrayal of maternal ambivalence in the novel Caul Baby by Morgan Jerkins, investigating the impact of race and economic status on this ambivalence through the fictional representation of motherhood. The selected novel illustrates how dominant discourses on maternity in America continue to distinguish between “good” and “bad” mothers, discriminating particularly against members of ethnic and class-based minorities. One of the primary features of “bad” mothers is the phenomenon of ambivalence, in which women simultaneously feel positive and negative emotions towards their child. Through the aforementioned novel, this paper explores the extent to which ambivalence—whether acknowledged or denied—influences the maternal practices of fictional mothers. It also calls attention to the challenge mothers of marginalised communities face: that of raising their children in accordance with their own principles when opposed by white-majority American society and its insistence on idealised motherhood.

A Qualitative Analysis of Pragmatic Presuppositions in Taglines Used by Brands to Persuade Audiences

Atifa Nisa, Eisha Tur Razia, Aiza Shahid, Zamna Sarfraz — Sun, 30 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In current advertising campaigns, brand slogans are vital linguistic tools in constructing public opinion and conveying the identity of a marketing industry. Given the extensive research on marketing language, the role of pragmatic presuppositions in trademark effectiveness remains unsearched, especially in Pakistan. The current study aims to bridge the gap by conducting a detailed examination of presuppositions involved in marketing taglines of five industrial lines: food, beauty, social media applications, home appliances, and clothing. Using Yule's (1996) paradigm of presupposition types: existential, factive, non-factive, lexical, structural, and counterfactual, the study looked into 25 taglines across the selected industries. In addition, the researchers make use of a content analysis methodology to analyze the selected data. The results showed that the existential presuppositions were present most frequently (88.0%), followed by lexical presuppositions at 36.0%, while the factive, nonfactive, structural, and counterfactual presuppositions appeared infrequently at 8.0%, 16.0%,
4.0%, and respectively. All these findings point to how firms leverage their assumptions to manipulate customers' perceptions and consumption behavior. This advances this research into the interdisciplinary field of linguistics, marketing, and communications studies through a practical insight into how businesses tend to use presupposition as a persuasive strategy. Future research on pragmatic presuppositions in brand taglines should expand to a diversified sample, use semantic analysis, and explore cultural differences, particularly in Pakistani
brands.

Gendered Division of Household Chores among Married Social Workers and Their Spouses

Nighat Yasmin, Dr. Tahira Jabeen — Sun, 30 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Over the last two decades, women have been incorporated into the workforce all over the world. On the other hand, men either do not contribute to household chores or their share is much less. The situation is not different in Pakistan. Therefore, the current study was designed to measure the performance of household chores by married social workers and their spouses. Data was collected from all married social workers working in Social Welfare Department in Punjab-Pakistan through questionnaire. As per inclusion criteria, responses of 297 participants were retained for data analysis. The study results showed that almost all the household chores are performed by women. Although their share was less, men were also found to indulge in household tasks. There was the traditional distribution of household tasks among married social workers either men or women. The state should introduce policies for equal division of household chores in dual-earner families.

Reimagining Tagore: Directorial Liberty and Feminist Iconography ‎in Chokher Bali

Dr. Ayesha Akram, Dr. Nadia Anwar — Sun, 30 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Rabindranath Tagore's Chokher Bali (1902), originally published in Bengali, holds a distinguished place in his body of work. This research examines two prominent adaptations of the novel: Rituparno Ghosh's 2003 film and Anurag Basu's 2015 television series with the same title. Both adaptations offer a modern feminist reinterpretation of Tagore's narrative, particularly through their reimagined endings. This paper argues that, although the adaptations diverge from the novel’s original conclusion, they succeed in addressing the novel's limitations; specifically, the ending Tagore himself publicly expressed his regret over. By contextualizing Chokher Bali for a twenty-first-century audience, these directors adapt the text to align with contemporary feminist discourses. This study also engages with broader debates about fidelity in adaptation, challenging traditional notions of faithfulness by proposing that these adaptations enhance the novel’s thematic concerns with gender and agency. The research applies Theo Van Leeuwen’s visual discourse analysis to examine how visual storytelling in both adaptations highlights aspects of womanhood that are less accessible through the written text. Key scenes are analyzed to show how visual strategies expand the feminist potential of Tagore's narrative, thereby illustrating the transformative power of adaptation as an interpretive act.

The World of the Villain: Shakespeare’s Tragi-Moral Paradigm

Dr. Shafaat Yar khan, Dr. Muhammad Aslam — Sun, 30 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This research re-evaluates the tragic paradigms in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus by highlighting his dramatic techniques for crafting the villain Aaron as a tragic character. Through close reading of the play, this research proves that Shakespeare used the same dramatic techniques for crafting Aaron as he used for tragedizing his heroes, especially Macbeth and Richard III. He humanized Aaron by permitting him to plead his case in self-revelation. He also effected a contrast of Aaron as the villain with the morally ambiguous world he inhabits. This prompts audience to embrace the moral complexities regarding him as a tragic figure whose change of fortune evokes pity. This new light on Shakespeare's techniques of crafting his villains has pedagogical implications for the teaching of characters with obstruse morality. Its theoretical implications necessitate reconsideration of the philosophical paradigms of tragedy in discussions of villain figures like the Joker in popular media.