LINGUISTIC IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION IN RAPE CASES: A CASE STUDY OF GUJRANWALA MOTORWAY CASE

Abstract

The study aims to explore the linguistic identity construction of rape victims in Pakistani news media. It analyzes the identity construction process of social actors and their representation based on their actions. The qualitative research design has been used to analyze the data. Ten news reports have been taken purposely from 5 Pakistani English newspapers i.e. from The Dawn, The Express Tribune, The News, The Daily Times and The Nation. The conceptual framework has been adapted from Van Leeuwen’s Social Actor and Action Network (2008) integrated with Tajfel and Turner’s Social Identity Theory (1986). The framework explored identity and ideological relationships constructed through language. The study revealed the linguistic representation of Gujranwala motorway rape case with the help of inclusion and exclusion strategies; activation and passivation; nomination, categorization, and time sequencing. The findings revealed that the identity of the rape victim was constructed based on their affiliation to their family and other social actors. It also revealed that the victim’s(female) identity is overpowered by other powerful social actors and exclusion of the main culprit. Also, it showed that the news media blame the victim for the incident, therefore, revealing the ideologies of society where the female victim is held responsible for the act of assault.