South-Asian Women’s Narratives And Feminist Discourse: A Stylistic Study Of The Heart Divided

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The present study is a stylistic analysis of The Heart Divided, written by Mumtaz Shahnawaz. The data is a novel that covers the story of a Muslim family before partition when Hindus and Muslims lived happily in the same state. The researcher has used feminist stylistics as a research framework to analyze how women are presented. This research focuses on how the position of women as actors is presented in the text. The research is qualitative in nature, and the selected text, The Heart Divided, has been analyzed using the feministic lens. The text has been analyzed particularly regarding one of the three levels Sara Mills introduced: words, phrases/sentences, and discourse that indicate gender. This research argues that the image of females in society is passive, distorted, submissive, and dependent, and the women’s actions are the reactions to men’s actions toward them. Further, the research shows that men exploit women. This research is significant because it may enhance the knowledge of the readers and researchers about Pakistani literature and the knowledge about the application of a feministic stylistic model, specifically the model introduced by Sara Mills.