REPRESENTATION OF FEMALE AGENCY IN CONTEMPORARY URDU FICTION: FEMINIST CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF NEMRAH AHMED’S NOVEL JANNAT KAY PATTAY

Abstract

The study looks at the image of agency in the popular and contemporary Urdu novel, Jannat Kay Pattay by Nemrah Ahmed, whose It is an investigation of the construction, regulation and negotiation of gendered identities in a novel as researched under the lens of Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (FCDA) proposed by Lazar (2007) and Fairclough (1995, 2003) and the fundamental idea of Structuration Theory derived from and advocated by Anthony Giddens (1984). The study uses qualitative textual analysis of purposively selected passages, which enables the identification of six interlocking discursive themes: female agency and decision-making; patriarchal control and family authority; moral policing and surveillance; religious discourse and negotiated agency; competing masculinities; and the negotiation of socially acceptable femininity. The results show that the role of women in the novel is not omnipotent or invisible, but is allowed only insofar as it aligns with religious morality, family expectations, and women's culture. Through the study, the author not only recreates and questions the dominant norms of maleness but also portrays Pakistani women as agents of negotiation who maneuver through social systems rather than merely moving in and out of them. This study makes a valuable addition to the considerable feminist literature on modern Urdu literature. It illustrates the fruitful use of FCDA in the analysis of popular literature in South Asia.