Us vs Them: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Nadeem Aslam’ Novel ‘The Golden Legend’

Abstract

The paper explores the unequal power relationships between the two religious groups (Muslim majority and Christian minority) in Pakistan. The discourse in Nadeem Aslam’s novel “The Golden Legend’ is critically analyzed to discover the unequal relationships and power imbalance between the majority and the minority. The discursive patterns in literary discourse are analyzed using Van Dijk’s socio-cognitive approach and ideological squaring. The purpose is to reveal how opposing concepts are linked to the participants through discourse structures using multiple strategies. The text shows the positive representation of Muslims and the negative representation of Christians which ultimately results in ‘the powerful’ and ‘the powerless’.

Keywords: Critcal Discourse Analysis, Ideological Squaring, Novels

DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/98-06

Publication date:September 30^th 2023