Abstract
This study has investigated how the language in Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy’s Oscarwinning documentary A Girl in the River: The price of forgiveness assigns different gender roles to men and women. The analysis was carried out using a qualitative method based on the approach of critical discourse analysis. In this regard, Reisigl and Wodak’s referential strategies (2001) and Walby’s theory of patriarchy (1990) were used as the theoretical framework of the study, which also provided us with the tools to conduct an in-depth analysis. The findings of this study reveal that the documentary orbits around the theme of patriarchy. With the help of strategies of critical discourse analysis such as spatialization, somatization, the findings show that the language of men, e.g. Saba’s father Maqsood, her uncle and even the elderly neighbor exercise power not only on her but also on other women in their families. Overall, the documentary attempted to challenge the prevalent patriarchal structures in the society, however; it paradoxically ends up reinforcing them by framing a firm system of patriarchy where men have been given more agency not only in domestic affairs but also in social and legal shperes.
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