Pragmatics of Back Mirror Discourse: Understanding the Need and Influence of the Inscriptions Written on the Vehicles in the Malakand Division

Abstract

Languages play an important role in the identification and representation of cultural differences. This study aims to identify the cultural traces inscribed on the back mirrors of vehicles in the Malakand division. This research adopts a mixed-method approach for data collection and data analysis. The data has been collected through rigorous field activities and surveys. The data has been analyzed with the help of the Critical Discourse Analysis framework. After a thorough analysis of the data, it has been found that there is a heavy influence of cultural nuances, political ideologies, and local customs in the discourse of back mirrors. Similarly, the public perception also shows that such inscriptions are always written to express their personal feelings, religious, cultural, political, and family inclinations. This research is crucial to understanding this new yet important and unexplored dimension of Asian culture and discourse. In the future, researchers can further explore such discourse in other areas of Pakistan.