Gender Resistance: A Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis of Qaisra Shahraz’s ‘A Pair of Jeans & Other Stories’

Abstract

This research aims at critically examining the theoretical notion of gender
resistance in Qaisra Shahraz (2013)’s ‘A Pair of Jeans & Other Stories’ to
explore the dynamic and complex nature of gender representation in all of
its intricacies within the context of Pakistani patriarchal society. Therefore,
the primary focus of the research is to analyze whether selected short
stories of Qaisra Shahraz reproduce or challenge traditional and
stereotypical notion of femininity. This research paper, further, exclusively
focuses on the female characters as depicted in the short stories to
investigate the ways through which females resist the patriarchal
assumptions embedded in hegemonic gender ideology to redefine their
positions and/or to empower themselves. The data for this research is
purposefully selected from the key epistemological site of short fiction
which is not only the reflection of real life but also critically important in
exploring the issues which have social and cultural relevance and gender is
the most important of them. The theoretical and methodological approach
of Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (Lazar, 2005) is used to analyze the
data for its potential strength in decoding and deciphering gendered
discourses since it entails the theoretical and methodological insights from
two key fields to the study of gender i.e. feminism and critical discourse
analysis. On the basis of conclusion drawn from the data analysis, the
research reveals that Qaisra Shahraz’s short stories do not reproduce
traditional and stereotypical notion of feminity and her female characters
often contest and challenge the patriarchal assumptions embedded in
hegemonic gender ideology to carve out new identities for them. In the
light of conclusions drawn, it is safe to assert that Qaisra Shahraz’s selected
short fiction is predominantly feminist in nature.