CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF DECEPTIVELY SIMPLE QUESTIONS IN TALAT ABBASI’S SHORT STORY “SIMPLE QUESTIONS”

Abstract

This paper intends to analyze the multilayered narrative and discourses of the Nameless Narrator in Talat Abbasi’s short story “Simple Questions” whose poignant life and shattered discourses represent her status at her home in particular and society in general. The major purpose of this research is to explore and understand the psychological point of view of the Nameless Narrator whose only identity is mentioned by the writer and that is Haleema ki Maa. Haleema ki Maa, void of any proper identity, asks questions from the Ustani ji (the school headmistress) regarding her life, her circumstances, her haplessness in giving her husband a baby boy and the extreme poverty she is facing. These questions, according to the Narrator, are the simple ones, but they demonstrate the harsh truths of life. The questions asked by the Narrator or Haleema ki Maa and the responses by the Ustani ji which have also been communicated by the Narrator have been analyzed while keeping in view the Critical Discourse Analysis. This specific analysis has been incorporated in the research to understand the structural expressions of Abbasi in this short story. In this short story, Abbasi has established a strong narrative and discourse structure to make the reader realize the complicated and chameleonic status of Narrator’s discourse. With the help of various theorists’ approaches related to Critical Discourse Analysis, this research has made an attempt to explore and analyze this specific short story by Talat Abbasi to find out people’s response to unheard questions and their failure to recognize the harsh realities faced by a common individual, especially a woman.