Representation of Kashmiri Militants as Precipitant Victims: A Systemic Functional Study of Victimization in Scattered souls by Shahnaz Basheer

Abstract

The Kashmir conflict, a longstanding and globally recognized issue, remains highly susceptible to disturbances stemming from seemingly minor events. This study offers a linguistic analysis of Kashmiri literature, specifically focusing on Shahnaz Basheer's "Scattered Souls." The primary objective is to shed light on the portrayal of Kashmiri militants as precipitant victims and Kashmiri Muslims as victims in general within the text. Drawing from systemic functional linguistic theory as proposed by M.A.K. Halliday and the precipitant victimization theory by Marvin F. Wolfgang (1957), this study meticulously evaluated eight short stories from "Scattered Souls." Extracts pertaining to precipitant victimization were systematically identified, segmented into clauses, and subjected to analysis based on Halliday's transitivity model and Wolfgang's four Prerequisites. This research pursued a mix methodology encompassing qualitative and quantitative analyses. Qualitatively, the text underwent an in-depth examination and discussion. Concurrently, quantitative analysis was employed to identify the prevailing and dominant linguistic processes at play within the text. The key findings of this study revealed the material-transformative process as the most frequently employed linguistic process, appearing 129 times. This process was instrumental in elucidating the precipitant victimization of Kashmiri militants, portraying them as the instigators of the Kashmir conflict through actions that triggered responses. The "Actor" emerged as the dominant participant in these provocative actions, with an occurrence of 76 instances. Moreover, the frequent utilization of the circumstance of location served to underscore the temporal and spatial context of these actions, thereby accentuating the suffering of Kashmiri Muslims in the narrative. v In sum, this study endeavors to comprehend the depiction of Kashmiri militants and Kashmiri Muslims in "Scattered Souls" through linguistic analysis. It underscores the material-transformative process as the principal means to accentuate the precipitant victimization of militants and emphasizes the role of the "Actor" in driving provocative actions.