A POST-STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF SHAHRAZ‟S SHORT STORY A PAIR OF JEANS

Abstract

The paper qualitatively provides a post-structural analysis of Shahraz‟s short story, A Pair of Jeans under the implementation of Barthesian five codes‟ theory. The paper aims to decode the hidden voices of the target story and follows Barthes‟ theoretical framework as „text is a galaxy of signifiers that can be unfolded and understood through the application of five codes, namely; proairetic, hermeneutic, semantic, symbolic, and cultural, on it.‟ Relying on text-based analysis, the study shows that the target story has several words and dialogues that have multiple meanings. Here Miriam‟s jeans and short vest connotatively undermine her innocence and makes her an epitome of imperfection. Her first persona and second persona, her modernism versus traditionalism of her parents-in-law, etc., are thematic polarities of the story. There are certain referential words including jeans, sari, shawl, duppata, etc., which share the cultural knowledge of our world. Finally, the paper concludes that application often codes on the selected text enhances an understanding of the reader to justify its genre andits several themes in writerly/modern reading style.