RECLAIMING NARRATIVE VOICE: LINGUISTIC RESISTANCE STRATEGIES OF TRANSGENDER ACTIVISTS IN PAKISTAN'S URDU MEDIA DISCOURSE

Abstract

This paper examines how transgender activists in Pakistan use certain linguistic resistance strategies in the Urdu media discourse in opposition to the stigma that is constantly practiced in the society and use the discourse to take back narrative control. Despite the groundbreaking legislation granting gender recognition and rights, the persistence of media framing negatively often means that the stereotypes are embedded in a more complex way, thus requiring advanced discursive counter-measures. Based on the three-dimensional model of critical discourse analysis (CDA), developed by Fairclough, the qualitative methodology employed in the study was a descriptive one where a corpus of 80 statements made by activists, interviews, and press releases were analysed. The results indicate that resistance is implemented in three main forms strategic lexical re -appropriation between the culturally approved Khwāja ‛Sīrā identity and the legally approved transgender category), agency transitivity change (the consistent location of the community as active subject of transformation and passive object of violence), and high legal modality and affective appeals. The discussion supports the fact that the language use is a strategic political tool, and activists use it to challenge the hegemonic discourse of the media and transform into right-bearing citizens. This inquiry provides micro-linguistic data on the existence of subaltern resistance movements in South Asian context.