International Journal Of Literature And Languages

Ethnographic Mapping of Betadut-Mediated Circulation, Reproduction, And Contextual Reinterpretation of Islamic Texts Among Besemah And Serawai Communities

Dr. Xiaomei Zhang — 2026-07-01

This study examines the ethnographic dynamics of Islamic textual circulation, reproduction, and contextual reinterpretation mediated through Betadut performance traditions among the Besemah and Serawai communities in South Sumatra, Indonesia. By integrating discourse analysis, semiotic theory, and folklore studies, the research explores how Islamic texts are not merely transmitted as static doctrinal entities but are actively reconfigured within oral-performance systems embedded in local cultural practices. Drawing upon Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis framework (Fairclough, 1995; Fairclough, 2004), Saussurean linguistic theory (de Saussure, 1988), and semiotic interpretations of meaning-making (Danesi, 2004; Merrell, 1997), the study identifies Betadut as a cultural mechanism that facilitates both preservation and transformation of Islamic knowledge.

Findings indicate that Islamic textuality within Besemah and Serawai societies is deeply entangled with oral traditions such as Tadut, Rejung, and related performative genres. These forms act as mediating structures that reinterpret religious narratives in localized socio-cultural idioms. The study further demonstrates that the Islamization process in Bengkulu and surrounding regions, as documented by Ismail (2019), significantly shaped the adaptive integration of Islamic texts into indigenous expressive systems. The research concludes that Betadut functions as both a mnemonic and ideological apparatus, enabling continuous negotiation between orthodoxy and local epistemologies.

Factors Stimulating the Scientific Study of Color Lexemes in The Chinese And Uzbek Languages

Durdona Asliddinovna Kulieva — 2026-07-24

This article examines the formation, development, and scientific investigation of the lexeme color, which occupies a significant place in the cultural heritage of every nation. Through a comparative analysis of the Chinese and Uzbek languages, the study explores the historical development of the concept of color, its definitions in explanatory dictionaries, and the major linguistic, cultural, and philosophical factors that have stimulated its scholarly investigation.

The article also highlights the similarities and distinctive features of color terminology in the two languages, thereby contributing to comparative linguistic and linguocultural research.

Alisher Navoi’s Prose Heritage and Ottoman Turkish Literature: An Analysis of Literary and Cultural Relations

Ochilova Maftuna Shukhratovna — 2026-07-13

This article provides a scholarly analysis of the influence of Alisher Navoi’s prose heritage on the development of Ottoman Turkish literature. The study comparatively examines Navoi’s works such as “Muhokamat ul-lug‘atayn,” “Majolis un-nafois,” “Nasoyim ul-muhabbat,” “Mahbub ul-qulub,” and “Munshaot” within the context of the Ottoman literary environment. It also explores the impact of Navoi’s prose writings on the development of Ottoman biographical writing (tazkirachilik), linguistics, Sufi prose tradition, and moral-didactic literature. The research concludes that Navoi’s prose heritage played a significant role in the literary and cultural integration of Turkic peoples.

Family Discourse in Contemporary Uzbek Literature

Ulashova Dilnura Nizomjon qizi — 2026-07-09

This article analyzes the place, content-essence, and features of artistic expression of family discourse in contemporary Uzbek literature. The family, as an important social institution in human life, has always been one of the central themes in literature. In Uzbek literature of the independence period, family relations, intergenerational communication, national values, gender issues, and spiritual-ethical problems are reflected in new artistic interpretations. The article examines the linguistic and literary aspects of family discourse, its manifestations in contemporary prose and dramaturgy, and highlights the importance of the family in shaping national mentality and cultural identity.

Staging Postcolonial Displacement: Performed Masculinity in Ajoka Theatre's Lawrence in Lahore

Alina Akbar — 2026-07-07

This article critically examines Ajoka Theatre's Lawrence in Lahore: The Lost Years (2024–2025) through the intersecting lenses of postcolonial displacement and performed masculinity. Situating the play within Pakistan's tradition of political theatre and Ajoka's four-decade legacy of cultural resistance, the analysis argues that the production constitutes a significant decolonial theatrical intervention. The play disrupts imperial historiography by reimagining T.E. Lawrence's lesser-known sojourn in colonial Punjab, foregrounding marginalized historical actors including Kashmiri nationalist Abdul Qadeer, revolutionary Bhagat Singh, and the enigmatic Pir Karam Shah. Drawing on postcolonial theory (Said, Bhabha, Spivak), gender performativity (Butler), and cultural resistance theory, the article demonstrates how the play represents displacement on multiple interconnected levels geographical, political, cultural, and epistemic—while simultaneously exposing masculinity as a fluid, performative, and politically charged construction. The analysis reveals that Ajoka's theatrical strategies multilingual script, fragmented narration, incorporation of diverse performance traditions, and rejection of linear historiography—function as formal enactments of dislocation that challenge both colonial ideology and postcolonial nationalist exclusions. The article contributes to postcolonial theatre studies, gender and masculinity studies, and Pakistani cultural studies by demonstrating theatre's capacity to contest dominant narratives, amplify subaltern voices, and participate in broader decolonial projects.

A Critical Discourse Analysis of the New Labour Discourse of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Across Schools in England and Wales

Muhammad Zeeshan — 2026-07-14

This paper reports on a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the New Labour (1997–2010) discourse of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in schools, examining how it was understood and enacted by policymakers in England and Wales within the context of devolved government across the UK. Drawing on data from eight semi-structured interviews with key national-level policymakers, alongside documentary analysis of policy texts, this study employs Fairclough's Three-Dimensional Model of CDA to interrogate the relationship between language, political ideology, and SEL policy formation. The findings reveal that in England, particularly during New Labour's second term, SEL—operationalised through the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) programme—was adopted as a tool of managerialism designed to shape self-managing, entrepreneurial subjects in service of the neoliberal economic model. By contrast, the Welsh Assembly Government adopted SEL as a practical and progressive instrument for developing a more equal society, rooted in normative precepts of collective community cohesion and notions of the child as a democratic citizen with agency and rights. The study concludes that the relationship between language and political ideology during the New Labour years powerfully shaped SEL policy discourse. In England, this resulted in a thin version of SEL co-opted into the service of the neoliberal marketplace; in Wales, a similar outcome occurred after a transformative version of SEL was gradually relinquished due to the invasive neoliberal forces affecting Welsh education. The research unveils implicit reified notions of childhood and children's wellbeing that were central to SEL development, and reveals the influence of national tradition, domestic power structures, and cross-societal inequities on the conceptualisation and delivery of SEL.

A Call to Vigilance: From the Airport Alarm to the "Helpline"

Haydarova Zilola Akmal qizi — 2026-07-10

This article presents a comparative analysis of the "telephone" motif used in Khayriddin Sultanov’s novella "Ishonch Telefoni" (The Helpline) and Erkin Vohidov’s poem "Dehli Aeroportida Bo‘lgan Voqea" (The Incident at Delhi Airport). Through the lens of the primary characters, the study explores the author's creative conception and core artistic ideas within the novella.

Satirical Discourse in The Prose of Kim Yujeon: A Linguistic Perspective

Kweon Nam Jung — 2026-07-09

This article examines satirical discourse in the prose of Kim Yujeon from a linguistic and discourse-analytical perspective. Unlike traditional literary approaches, the study focuses on how satire is constructed through language structures, pragmatic strategies, and discourse mechanisms. The research analyzes linguistic means of irony, evaluative modality, lexical repetition, colloquial register, metaphorization, and pragmatic implicature. Special attention is paid to how satirical meaning emerges through interaction between explicit and implicit levels of utterance. The study demonstrates that satirical discourse in Kim Yujeon’s prose functions as a complex linguistic system of evaluation, where meaning is produced through contextual inference and pragmatic contradiction. The findings show that satire operates as a discourse strategy that encodes social criticism through linguistic ambiguity, evaluative markers, and interactional positioning. The article contributes to discourse linguistics by revealing how satirical meaning is structurally embedded in language use rather than solely in literary form.