The Mediatised Identity of Pakistani Women: A Chronological Multimodal Discourse Analysis

Abstract

The previous seemingly-feeble media which only mirrored the sociological and cultural activities is able to mould and bestow meaning to them in existing times. Thus conceiving a process known as mediatization. This marvel of mediatization leads to the transformation of stereotypical representation of Pakistani women into mediatised identities influencing the females to chase alternative identities. To carry out an investigation of how these identities are shaped through media and in what ways the females are enticed to pursue the alternative roles, is the key objective of this study. 18 Pakistani television advertisements, both time-worn and contemporary juxtaposed, which enact these multi-semiotic representations of women, are analysed and interpreted with regard to multimodal social semiotic approach devised by Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006). Interpretation of verbal semiotic resources aligned with visual ones i.e., representational, interactional and compositional indicate how these meaning-making resources produce and impact the socially-constructed identities.