Startseite Linguistik & Semiotik Legitimation strategies and theistic worldview in sociopolitical discourse: A systemic functional critical discourse analysis of Pakistani social media discussions
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Legitimation strategies and theistic worldview in sociopolitical discourse: A systemic functional critical discourse analysis of Pakistani social media discussions

  • Snobra Rizwan

    Snobra Rizwan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan. Her research interests are in cultural studies and critical discourse studies, focusing mainly on gender, religion and media. She holds a Ph.D. from University of Graz, Austria. She also teaches and researches into general linguistics and various aspects of language and ideology. Address for correspondence: Department of English, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan. E-mail: snobrarizwan@bzu.edu.pk

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Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 13. März 2019

Abstract

This study employs a systemic functional critical discourse analytical approach to the analysis of integrated theistic worldview of Pakistani social media users. To achieve its end, the study focuses on legitimation strategies, where these strategies serve to construct certain truth claims of the people. So, three thousand comments (comprising 8,401 words and 90,423 words) from online discussion forums of Dawn.com and Zemtv.com were studied and discourse samples were collected for in-depth analysis. The legitimation strategies, it is argued, are condensed and interpersonally charged through certain lexico-grammatical choices which embody people’s integrated theistic worldviews. The identity(ies) and identification claims of Pakistanis are found to be internally cohesive, based on theistic legitimation claims. To represent, legitimize and justify their worldviews, Pakistani social media users recontextualize discourses constructed from various combinations of discursive strategies, supported by references to Islamic scripture and popular narratives. The study is a prelude to a more detailed investigation of discursive strategies which represent (de)legitimized worldview and discourses internalized by Pakistani Muslims. Such studies provide deeper insights into (de)construction of (de)legitimation strategies of a society and facilitate further development of systemic functional critical discourse analytical approaches to text and context relations.

About the author

Snobra Rizwan

Snobra Rizwan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan. Her research interests are in cultural studies and critical discourse studies, focusing mainly on gender, religion and media. She holds a Ph.D. from University of Graz, Austria. She also teaches and researches into general linguistics and various aspects of language and ideology. Address for correspondence: Department of English, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan. E-mail: snobrarizwan@bzu.edu.pk

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Published Online: 2019-03-13
Published in Print: 2019-03-26

© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Heruntergeladen am 5.2.2026 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/text-2019-2026/html
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