Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review

Camera, Body and Genome: An Ecosocial and Technofeminist Analysis of Villar’sGaza Medic and Alaqad’s The Eyes of Gaza

2026-05-22T14:47:49+05:00

This research examines the intersection of medicine, technology, and the humanities in contemporary war, highlighting how political violence is experienced, mediated, and embodied in Gaza. Rather than treating war solely as a military or political event, the study views it as a multifaceted issue encompassing medical, technological, and ethical aspects. It highlights how injured people, failing healthcare systems, and different ways of beholding become key to comprehending its influence. This study uses two memoirs for analysis: Richard Villar’s Gaza Medic, a doctor’s memoir recording medical practices under blockade, and PlestiaAlaqad’sThe Eyes of Gaza, a Palestinian journalist’s chronicles of gendered and emotive ways of perception in wartime. These works integrate medical occurrences, technologies, and individual testimonies, and foreground a counter discourse to prevalent health, media, and humanitarian discourses. This research employs the Ecosocial lens by Nancy Krieger to express how structured scarcity, degradation of the ecosystem, and conflict-related atrocities are biologically and psychologically epitomized as trauma(s), illnesses, and damages. To examine the role of technologies in creating visibility stratifications and agency, this study uses Judy Wajcman’s technofeminism. The results prove that the Israel-Palestine war works as a community-based turbulence in which bodies accumulate violence gradually, while digital and medical technology instantaneously authorize medical and ethical care, and mediate international discernment.

Electoral Integrity and Electoral Process in Pakistan: Democratic Issues and Challenges

2026-05-22T16:04:48+05:00

This study critically examines electoral integrity and the electoral process in Pakistan, focusing on the democratic challenges affecting free and fair elections. The objective of the study is to analyze how anti-democratic practices, elite influence, institutional weaknesses, and administrative irregularities undermine electoral credibility and democratic development. Using a qualitative research approach, the study analyzes past electoral processes, political developments, and scholarly perspectives to identify patterns of electoral manipulation and governance challenges. Particular attention is given to pre-election interference, political engineering, electoral restrictions, and selective accountability mechanisms. The research further explores how these practices weaken public trust, hinder democratic consolidation, and contribute to political instability in Pakistan. The study concludes that strengthening electoral integrity requires institutional independence, transparent electoral reforms, effective accountability mechanisms, and greater democratic participation to ensure a credible and sustainable democratic system in Pakistan

Examining the Contemporary Geopolitical Trends of the Central Asian Diasporic Labor Market in the Aftermath of the Russo-Ukrainian War

2026-05-25T16:40:42+05:00

Labor migration is an integral component of the Central Asian political economy, and most of such migration takes place to Russia. Based on the legacy of the Soviet era, Russia has been able to absorb millions of Central Asian migrants, which has helped in sustaining the lives of the people in the region. However, the recent economic crisis in Russia, stringent migration policies coupled with the political instability in the region due to the Ukrainian crisis have resulted in the diversification of the destinations of the Central Asian migrants who are currently opting for Turkey, South Korea, and the Gulf countries. The paper discusses various relevant factors along with assessing the consequences of the said diversification of the migration destinations. It identifies that, on the economic front, the wage gap and employment opportunities in South Korea, the demand for labor in the Gulf countries, and the service industry in Turkey have provided new opportunities for the migrants whereas, on the political front, the instability in Russia has resulted in the weakening of her political power hence bringing down the trust level of probable migrants over Russia. On the social aspect, the presence of diasporas, linguistic and religious ties facilitate the process of integration in Turkey. Remittances from South Korea and the Gulf countries have provided diversity in sources of income. The study finds that the migration diversification has profound geopolitical consequences as well. The power of Russia is declining, and this is creating a new order. Turkey is trying to expand its power based on the Turkic factor. Similarly, South Korea is creating a new order as a financial partner and culture. The Gulf countries are trying to use remittances as a financial center. In the context of dependency, soft power, and the construction of the nation-state, this research establishes that the issue of labor migration is not only economic but also has geopolitical implications for the changes occurring in the politics of Central Asia. The study recommends that there is a possibility of risks and opportunities, and it is important that the countries of Central Asia manage their dependencies over various countries while ensuring the rights of migrants and the security of their remittances.

Multilingual Identity Construction in Pakistani Instagram Discourse: An SFL and Emoji-Based Analysis

2026-06-02T21:32:22+05:00

The rapid growth of digital social networks has transformed online platforms into significant spaces for identity construction and negotiation. This study investigates how Pakistani Instagram users construct social, emotional, and ideological identities through language, emojis, and multilingual digital practices. The study is limited to Instagram comments collected from selected Pakistani social media posts. A qualitative descriptive-analytic approach was employed to analyse approximately 115 Instagram comments from ten purposively selected posts on relationships, politics, social issues, entertainment, and beauty standards. The analysis was guided by Halliday's (1993) Systemic Functional Linguistics and Dresner and Herring's (2010) functional perspective on emojis. The findings reveal that users strategically employ evaluative language, stance-taking, emojis, code-mixing, and lexical borrowing to negotiate multiple identities in online interaction. Emojis function as meaningful pragmatic resources rather than merely decorative symbols. The study highlights the multimodal and multilingual nature of Pakistani Instagram discourse and recommends further research using larger datasets and multiple social media platforms.

Digital Diplomacy: Navigating the Cyber War in International Affairs

2026-06-04T14:25:40+05:00

Cyberspace is rapidly changing the face of international relations, creating new forms of conflicts, competitions and diplomacy of which states are still only now gaining a full understanding of and control over. In this study, the term digital sovereignty is discussed in the context of the present cyber warfare and is analyzed based on several recent literatures and sources from academia that present it as a new method of state diplomacy to attempt at the solution to ever increasing cyber-warfare threat to the States. The research is qualitative and descriptive and based on secondary sources only, it focuses on some of the main themes in cyber diplomacy, namely the development of cyber diplomacy, salient cyber incidents, international frameworks for cyber governance and attribution and regulation in cyberspace. Security is found to be an integral part of twenty-first century foreign policy and that digital sovereignty combined with strong cyber diplomacy is an adequate measure to counter cyber threats as military deterrence or technical defense have proven themselves to be insufficient measures.

Profiling through Language: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Interrogation and Power in Netflix's Mindhunter

2026-06-04T14:29:01+05:00

This study examined the use of language to construct and contest power relations in interrogation dialogues in Netflix's Mindhunter (2017–2019). The series dramatises the early FBI efforts at criminal profiling, where interrogation scenes with convicted serial killers highlight the role of discourse in negotiating authority, resistance, and identity. This study employed a qualitative CDA framework drawing on Fairclough's (1995) three-dimensional model and Van Dijk's (2006) framework of power in discourse. Selected scenes with Ed Kemper, Jerry Brudos, and Richard Speck were analysed for speech acts, turn-taking patterns, modality, and lexical strategies. The findings revealed that FBI agents frequently employ directives and controlling discourse to assert dominance. At the same time, the killer subjected resistance through question reversal, lexical elevation, narrative expansion, strategic rupture, and nihilistic minimisation, sometimes decisively destabilising institutional power. This indicated that criminal profiling is not a one-sided process but a discursively co-constructed practice. The study contributed to discourse studies, forensic linguistics, and media analysis by revealing how dramatised interrogations imitate and reproduce broader cultural understandings of crime, authority, and the epistemology of investigative language.

Women's Empowerment and Political Participation in Pakistan: Implications for SDG 5

2026-06-06T13:03:02+05:00

This research aims to evaluate the link between the empowerment of women in Pakistan and their involvement in politics using Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5) as an analytic tool; the goal of SDG 5 is to create equal opportunities between men and women regarding political participation and thus achieve equal rights for both genders in all spheres of life. The study also evaluates the benefits of women's political participation both to the development of democracy and the promotion of Pakistan as a nation-state with a positive international standing. A qualitative data analysis of historical and contemporary barriers preventing women from participating in politics (such as societal norms perpetuated by patriarchy, economic dependence, and exclusion from formal decision-making) was completed using secondary collection methods. The research policy framework used in this study identifies many areas where significant improvement can be made; however, many obstacles remain for women despite the constitutional protections provided. Digital activism has created greater awareness of the need for women to participate in politics, and pressure has been placed on countries by international agencies, resulting in some marginal gains made by women. The findings of this study support the claim that by empowering women politically, the stability of democracy will be enhanced and the image of Pakistan in the international community will benefit. The study also provides several recommendations, including: 1) stronger policies for women's political participation; 2) expanding educational reforms; and 3) increased institutional support for women's political participation

CLT-CALL Integration for Communicative English Readiness among Pakistani Students

2026-06-06T13:05:47+05:00

This quantitative study examines the impact of instructional materials, pedagogical approaches, and technological gap in the teaching of English. In total, 145 intermediate learners from a local institution in Lahore, Pakistan, were involved in the study. The study comprised four steps: 1. English Language Learning Challenges Survey; 2. Contextual Briefing; 3. Training; and 4. CLT-CALL Integration Survey. The Challenges Survey was used to determine the main obstacles in the students’ English language learning. A contextual briefing phase facilitated understanding of the elements and nuances of integrating CLT and CALL as potential solutions to their challenges. The participants were given four training sessions in which CLT activities were conducted through CALL with iSpring Suite Software, including role-playing, dialogues and discussion sessions. Lastly, the CLT-CALL Integration Survey assessed students’ challenges and their thoughts about integrating CLT and CALL as a solution to their challenges. The findings reveal that the problems encountered by Pakistani intermediate ESL learners include fluency issues, inadequate teaching strategies, and cultural barriers. The results also show that the integration of CLT-CALL is positively accepted by the students, and they believe this integration could be highly effective for learning English as a second language (ESL). Furthermore, this study provides pedagogical suggestions to students, teachers, and education researchers.

The Impact of Social Media on Political Polarization in Pakistan: A Case Study of GCWUS Students

2026-06-07T19:59:00+05:00

The purpose of the study is to investigate how social media algorithms affect public opinion and political polarization in Pakistan. Polarization is caused by a number of indicators, including economic strategies, social concerns, and wide-ranging societal ramifications. Although social media can help create a more balanced society, in Pakistan, its use is fostering political biases through disinformation, which exacerbates political polarization. This study is descriptive in nature and quantitative approach has been used. The target population of this study was the female students of BS and MS Programme of Social Sciences faculty of GCWUS. Maximum sample size, by using Cochran Formula of this study was calculated 333 and the responses received were 341. The data was collected with the help of conducting survey designed by Google Form. Students of final semesters were taken as study sample by using Cochran’s Formula for taking sufficient sample size from the population. Political biasness and intolerance are observed very common among youth by conducting survey. The study recommends developing new policies to protect the youth from being exploited by social media or political parties.

From Bios to Zoe: Necropolitical Posthumanism and the Poetics of Palestinian Resistance in Darwish and Hindi

2026-06-09T13:51:23+05:00

This study traces existential shifts in Palestinian poetry through van Dijk’s model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as a qualitative framework. Drawing on Edward Said’s concept of narrative sovereignty and the fundamental right for self-expression against colonial oppression, it examines Mahmoud Darwish’s “Identity Card” and Noor Hindi’s “Fuck Your Lecture on Craft, My people are Dying” and “A Question”. The paper combines van Dijk’s CDA with Edward Said’s theory, Achille Mbmebe’s concept of Necropolitics, Rosi Braidotti’s Posthumanism, and Giorgio Agamben’s notions of homo sacer and erasure to link poetic language with systems of power and violence. The findings show that Mahmoud Darwish’s poetry focuses on humanism, as “Identity Card” convinces people to struggle for their own rights, while Noor Hindi’s poems challenge the Nakba (the catastrophe of 1948) not a historical event but as an ongoing violence and control over Palestinian people. Both the poets break away the humanist ideas which supports traditional demands of political sovereignty. Future research may further explore posthumanist and Necropolitical dimensions in Palestinian poetry.

Negotiating Emotion and Gender through Dialogue: A Pragmatic Study of White Nights

2026-06-13T12:54:16+05:00

Based on the model of positive and negative politeness offered by Brown and Levinson and the ideas of locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts presented by J. L. Austin, this study examines the process of communicating and managing emotions like love, loneliness, hope, and guilt through language. This novel ‘White Nights’ is replete with the emotional discourse, like many other works written by Fyodor Dostoevsky. This research employs qualitative methodology to interpret the dialogues between the narrator and Nastenka.Selected dialogues are analyzed to understand how emotional meaning is organized through the careful use of language. The results indicate that emotions in White Nights are not expressed openly; rather, they are intermediated throug politeness strategies that minimize the threat posed by emotions expression and preserve social harmony. The study also indentifies gendered patterns of emotional expression, reflecting the social norms of the 19th century Russian- society. Future researchers, along with other aspects of this novel, may investigate the shifting patterns of politeness strategies in communication and managing emotions by comparing this novel with contemporary novels from Russian society.

Schema Theory and Reader Response in Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea: A Cognitive Stylistics Analysis

2026-06-15T18:57:14+05:00

Cognitive Stylistics is an aspect of literary theory and psychology, concerned with how linguistic choices in literary and non- literary texts evoke and reflect cognitive processes in the reader. This paper is a cognitive stylistics analysis of Earnest Hemingway’s novella The Old Man and the Sea (1952), with a particular focus on schema theory and reader- response theory. Based on theoretical frameworks, the study examines Hemingway’s minimalist prose style activates, disrupts, and refreshes cognitive patterns in the reader. The analysis explores four dimensional interrelated areas: the deployment of content, formal and textual schemas in narrative; the operation of Hemingway’s “Iceberg Theory” as a schema- gap mechanism; the role of reader inference, projection and affective response in the construction of literary meaning; and the socio- cultural dimensions of schema formation as they bear on interpretive variation. Close textual readings of key passages illuminate how Hemingway’s spare diction, repetition and symbolic meanings invite readers to activate pre- existing mental frameworks while simultaneously frustrating easy closure, thereby generating a participatory aesthetic experience. Cognitive Stylistics evokes mental images, emotions and conceptualization in readers to help them interpret literature. The techniques and methods of cognitive Stylistics includes close reading, lexical analysis, metaphors and narrative structure, neuro- imaging and eye- tracking. However, metaphorical interpretation reveals that how writers have evoked reader’s emotional and cognitive development. On the other hand, memory and prior knowledge shapes reader’s response to literary text that is examined in this novella by Hemingway. Moreover, the technique of Foregrounding is used to highlight the unusual language patterns that attract reader’s attention and create deeper meanings. The cognitive stylistics provide a uniquely productive lens for understanding both the enduring power and the interpretive plurality of Hemingway’s masterpiece. The methodology clearly deals with textual analysis with insights from cognitive science, schema theory, mental spaces and conceptual metaphors. This study arguing that the cognitive stylistics successfully bridges the gap between the text and the embodied, situated reader.

Comparative Analysis of Climate Change Reporting Practices among Rural and Urban Journalists in Pakistan

2026-06-20T13:00:02+05:00

This systematic research investigates the compassion of approaches which used by the rural and urban journalists on covering the climate change issue. Climate change emerge as critical issue particularly in developing countries like Pakistan. Role of media is important, but difference in reporting practice influence the quality. In this Quantitative research study 150 working journalists selected from the across Pakistan especially from the Punjab province by using conveyance sampling. This study found the variations in reporting in terms if reporting method, themes, concentration of issue, reinforcement, and challenges encountered, the personal view point of journalists. The main reason behind that is the available of facilities, and resources and the established links references of journalists. If we want to reduce this gap the Capacity building workshops, sessions, seminars, and events are the compulsory to attend for all these journalists of rural and urban areas.

Perceived Emotional Neglect, Interpersonal Difficulties, and Self-Efficacy in Adolescents

2026-06-20T13:03:45+05:00

The present study aimed to explore the relationship between emotional neglect, interpersonal difficulties, and self-efficacy among adolescents, with a particular focus on examining the mediating role of interpersonal difficulties. A sample of 300 adolescents was selected using a convenient sampling technique. The data were analyzed using correlation, regression and mediation analyses through the PROCESS macro in SPSS. The finding revealed that emotional neglect was significantly positively associated with interpersonal difficulties and significantly negatively associated with self-efficacy. Furthermore, emotional neglect significantly predicted both interpersonal difficulties and self-efficacy, indicating its strong influence on adolescents social and psychological well-being. However, mediation analyses demonstrated that interpersonal difficulties did not significantly mediate the relationship between emotional neglect and self-efficacy, the indirect effect was non-significant.

Patriarchal Control and Women Empowerment: An Existential Feminist Analysis of Tara Westover’s Educated

2026-06-21T15:27:16+05:00

The article examines Tara Westover’s memoir Educated in the thought of Simone de Beauvoir’s Existential Feminism. The memoir tells how Westover grew up as an isolated survivalist in a rural part of Idaho and then became one of the most highly educated professors at the Cambridge University. The study is qualitative in nature; data is gathered through close reading of the memoir. The analysis is directed by de Beauvoir's ideas of ‘the Other’, transcendence, freedom and self-creation, emphasizing Tara's courage to question roles imposed by society and build upon a sense of self through education and choice. The findings ascertain education as a strong instrument of liberation whereby the dependence and marginalized position of Tara could be transformed to self-awareness and autonomy. Thus the epiphanic use of Existential Feminism in Educated provides a richer comprehension of the problem of women in terms of their journey toward freedom, identity and self-redefinition.

Critical Interpretation of Rosi Braidotti’s Post Humanism in Mohsin Hamid’s The Last White Man Through Textual Examination

2026-06-21T15:30:22+05:00

This study seeks to investigate the characteristics of Post Humanism in the novel “The Last White Man” in the light of Rosi Braidotti’s work “Posthuman Knowledge” (2019) as a theoretical framework and how the transformation through technological advancements in “The Last White Man” brings societal changes in future The book is based on Post Humanistic ideas on transformation, identity and race. This study is based on qualitative non-empirical research methodology and textual analysis technique is used to inquire the content of the particular novel. Further, this study clarifies the themes of the novel that align with the ideal of Post Humanism and how these themes show that traditional societal morals could be rejected and replaced by new sundries of modernity after technological variations. The findings of this study show that Hamid’s narrative proclaims multiple perspectives, substantially transformative identity and its impact in future alternatives. This study recommends further exploration of posthuman identity in contemporary South Asian Literature.

The Role of Technology in Enhancing Educational Leadership at Primary Level

2026-06-24T01:26:41+05:00

The aim of the present study is to examine the technology role in improving educational leadership practices in schools. This qualitative study investigates the role of technology in enhancing educational leadership. The study examines how technology play its vital role in enhancing leadership practices, improves decision making, communication, collaboration with administrative staff and strengthening problem solving skills. The present study employed qualitative research design. The purposive sampling technique was used to select the participant. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with three Government and three Private school principals of District Sialkot. Data were analyzed through thematic analysis approach. The findings of the study revealed that technology plays an effective role in leadership by supporting communication, enables evidence-based decision making, improving institution, management and encourage transparency and answerability. However, there are also some challenges like internet issues, limited budget resources and he need for ongoing training were observed. The study of this research concludes with that technology is an effective and essential tool for innovative leadership and contributes a lot in the effectiveness of leadership. The study recommends the proper training facilities and appropriate technological resources to guarantee the successful incorporation of technology in educational leadership.

Women’s Role in Educational Leadership: Opportunities, Barriers and Strategies for Success at Primary School

2026-06-24T01:31:30+05:00

The purpose of this research is to explore the opportunities available for women in higher positions in educational institutions, to understand the challenges they face, and to examine the strategies they have adopted to become successful leaders. In which data was collected from four head teachers using purposive sampling, including three government head teachers and one private head teacher. The purpose of this research is to explore the challenges women face in reaching higher positions in educational institutions, such as social expectations, gender discrimination, limited decision-making authority, harassment, balancing work and household responsibilities, restrictions on doing jobs, and lower salaries compared to men. It’s a qualitative research,Data was collected from head teachers through interviews using a questionnaire consisting of 14 questions. All head teachers agreed that they face challenges in maintaining discipline in schools, dealing with gender discrimination, having limited decision-making authority as female leaders, and most importantly, balancing job and household responsibilities. In addition, they also agreed that men are paid higher salaries than women, not in the government sector but in the private sector. In the government sector, men and women receive equal salaries. The study suggests that educational institutions hold additional workshops to improve teachers' pedagogical understanding and communication abilities in context with these findings. We also came to the conclusion that women’s are capable of becoming successful leaders, but the system does not fully support them. The research suggests that training opportunities should be expanded, gender discrimination should be eliminated, and women should be supported so that they can effectively manage both household and job responsibilities and emerge as successful female leaders.