Black Bodies White Culture: A Black Feminist [Re]Construction of Race and Gender in Morrison's Paradise
'This article intends to explore and expose through the analysis of Morrison's Paradise how the Afro American female writers [re]construct the potential of Afro American ecriture feminine to seek the true freedom and empowerment of black women by appealing them to 'write-through bodies'. To achieve this purpose, this article articulates its theoretical agenda, through the exploration of the work of the outstanding, widely acknowledged award-winning, English speaking Afro American female writer: Toni Morrison. Though it aims to highlight the significance and contribution of the Afro American female novelists towards broadening the frontiers of 'ecriture feminine', it does not aim to offer the generalized history of women writing in Afro American literature. It seeks to propose alternative ways of informed analysis, grounded in discourse and Feminist theories, to evaluate Toni Morrison's contribution to 'ecriture feminine'.
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Race, Gender, Culture, Black Feminism, Morrison.
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(1) Mumtaz Ahmad
Assistant Professor, Department of English, Government Guru Nanak Postgraduate College, Nankana Sahib, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Fatima Saleem
Lecturer, Debarment of English, National University of Modern Languages, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Ali Usman Saleem
Assistant Professor, Department of English, Government College University Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
Structure, Function and Historical Importance of Watermills in the Swat Valley
The paper deals with the architecture and function of watermills in Swat valley. Watermill is a seldom-used term; however, it has played a significant role in the socio-cultural and economic lives of people in the past. This research work explores the case study of water mills in the Swat region. It examined in detail its processing and operation. The watermill was not only an instrument used for grinding purposes but also determined the mode of production, class system and social values of people. Modern technology has though changed people's behaviors and social formations up to a large extent, but it couldn't erase people's memories and history. A qualitative method has been used for conducting this research work. An ethnic-archaeological method was focused on recording the history of this tremendous ancient technology which contributed widely to the socio-cultural context of people.
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Water Mill, Swat, History, Archeology, Culture
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(1) Faisal Khan
Visiting lecturer, University of Swat, Mingora, KP, Pakistan.
(2) Junaid Babar
Lecturer, University of the Poonch, Rawalakot, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan.
(3) Zahir Hussain
MPhil, Quaid Azam University Islamabad, Pakistan.
Religious Universalism in Bulleh Shah's Selected Poetry
The Indian subcontinent had been ruled by the Mughal Empire for almost three hundred years. The regime was marked for its ethnic, cultural, and religious multiplicity. The Mughals utilized the narratives of belonging as a part of their state-building objectives for which diverse cultural, social, and to a great level, religious identities merged. This article concentrates on the significance of poetry in history as a social and political instrument via the selected poems of Bulleh Shah, a poet of the Punjabi language (1680-1757). It aims to exhibit the linkage between the religious, political, and cultural aspects of the Mughal Regime in the sub-continent to pinpoint a liaison between the political and social dynamics of power while establishing statehood. In this regard,the poetic heirloom of Bulleh Shah is persistent in understanding not only the cultural prominence of the Mughal Regime but also the cultural bridge between the religious and political hierarchy of the region.
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Bulleh Shah, Culture, Mughal Regime, Punjabi, Sub-continent
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(1) Asma Ghulam Rasool
Assistant Professor, Department of Punjabi Government College University Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Maham Akram
Lecturer, Department of English, University of Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Kaneez Fatima
PhD Scholar, Department of Sociology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
The Relationship between Quality Culture and Core Practices of Quality Management System and their Direct and Indirect Effects on Organizational Performance
This research work empirically assesses the relationship between the Quality Culture (QC) practices and core practices of Quality Management System (QMS) and investigates their direct and indirect influences on organizational performance. Data for this research work is collected from 80 Technical Services Organizations of Pakistan through mail survey and the proposed framework and hypotheses have been examined through Structural Equation Modelling. The results of hypotheses show that synergies among QCPractices have a positive impact on QMS-Core practices as well as organizational performance. Moreover, QMSCore practices mediate the relationship between QC-Practices and organizational performance. This empirically validated model can be used as a benchmark by future researchers for further examinations in other industries sectors, especially in manufacturing.
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Quality Culture, Quality Management Core Practices, Organizational Performance
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(1) Khurram Rehmani
PhD Scholar,Department of Engineering Management,NUST, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Afshan Naseem
Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering Management,NUST, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Yasir Ahmad
Assistant Professor,Department of Engineering Management,NUST, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.
An Exploratory Case Study of Non-Entrepreneurs (Thematic Analysis)
Non-entrepreneur refers to a person who is non-actor and absent from entrepreneurial actions and not making intention towards entrepreneurship. An exploratory case study method (Yin, 2014) was used to carry out the research. Unstructured interviews were conducted with four non-entrepreneurs and field notes were written down on the notebook with the pencil to save the data. Thematic analysis was applied to the text to reach the important themes deducted from views and perceptions of the participants. Finding of the study depicted that lack of personal intention and will, lack of knowledge and information about entrepreneurship, lack of understanding the entrepreneurship, no familial association with business, family involvement in the selection of career and education were major impediments. In the end, important implications were drawn i.e. seminars and conferences must be conducted to overcome the hurdles of lacking the understanding of entrepreneurship.
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Non-entrepreneurs, lack of entrepreneurship knowledge and understanding, family involvement in career selection, lack of personal desire and will, family business, self-efficacy, culture
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(1) Muhammad Furqan Ashraf
PhD Scholar,Department of Sociology, Government College University, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Babak Mahmood
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology,Government College University, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Mudassar Mushtaq
PhD Scholar,Business Administration,National College of Business Administration and Economics (NCBA&E) Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
Magical Realism Revisited in Erdrich's Tracks: An Interactional Thick Inscription
This study revisits Louise Erdrich's practice of 'magic realism' to explain how the realistic presentation of unreal elements in Erdrich's writings differs from the western expression of magic realism. With the interactional thick inscription of Erdrich's magic realism, this study argues that the unreal events in Tracks are not based on Erdrich's imagination but the spiritual facts of her inheritance. Her description of naturalcum-supernatural elements cohesively achieves a synthesis of the Chippewa Anishinaabe magic-realistic world and, simultaneously, derives the social and cultural hierarchy of the Native American world. She appropriates the western concept of 'magic realism' to enlighten her oral tradition in 20th-century non-native societies. This appropriation explores the individuality of Native American traditional ways of being that have been considered cultural nonsense in modern academia. This interactional thick inscription of delimited text systematically inscribes the pre-Columbian context of 20th century Chippewa Anishinaabe, the Canadian border, and defines Erdrich's quest for her native identity.
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Anishinaabe, Culture, Erdrich, Magic Realism, Myth, Oral Tradition
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(1) Qasim Shafiq
PhD Candidate, Department of English, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(2) Sardar Ahmad Farooq
Lecturer in English, Department of English, Government Postgraduate College Mansehra, KP, Pakistan.
(3) Asim Aqeel
Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities and Linguistics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
Longing for Belonging in Erdrich's The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse
part from its predecessors Tracks and Four Souls, Louise Erdrich's Last Report on the Miracle sat Little No Horse does not narrate the struggle and suffering of natives to preserve native lands,traditions, and culture, but the auto/biographical notes of the leading characters of the novel, their longing and belonging for/to the particular places or people. Both non-Native and native narratives of the novel critically engage this claim that Erdrich approaches indigenous values from many perspectives: the liminal, native, or western.This study claims that the contemporary tribal view of the indigenous culture cannot be restricted to pure Native American voice but is also determined by Euro-American voice because the contemporary Native American culture is the interaction of Native and non-Native elements.
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Belonging, Erdrich, Euro- American Voice, Native American Culture, Oral Tradition.
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(1) Nafees Pervez
PhD Scholar, Department of English, Government College University, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Sidra Khalil
Lecture in English, Department of English, Institute of Southern Punjab, Multan, Punjab, Pakistan
(3) Muhammad Asaf Amir
Assistant Professor, Department of English, Institute of Southern Punjab, Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.
Factors of Reduced Level of Affective Commitment: Evidence from the Banking Sector
Affective Commitment (AC) is a key determinant of positive organizational outcomes. However, certain climatic factors like lack of leader openness to voice (LLV), lack of open communication opportunity (LOC), defensive norms of organizational culture (DNO) and defensive silence (DS) may lead to low level (AC). A mixed method, sequential explanatory design based on quantitative phase followed by qualitative phase is used. The quantitative phase used the probability sampling, questionnaire, structural equation modelling, whereas the qualitative phase used a semi-structured interview, thematic coding and causal networking for sampling, data collection and interpretation respectively. All hypotheses were supported by evidence and explanation was provided for why such relationships exist in the banking context of Pakistan. The implications, future guidelines and study limitations are also discussed.
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Affective Commitment, Lack of Leader Openness to Voice, Lack of Open Communication Opportunity, Defensive Norms of Organizational Culture
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(1) Amen Imran
Lecturer,Institute of Management Studies, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, KP, Pakistan.
(2) Sundus Wasai
Lecturer, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University, Peshawar, KP, Pakistan.
(3) Henna Gul Nisar
Lecturer,IBMS,The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, KP, Pakistan.
Indigenous Culture and Academic Discourse: A Critique of English Textbooks in Pakistan
The paper aims to explore how far English textbooks in Pakistan embody Pakistan and its culture. In this connection, the reading passages and pictures/images of the textbooks taught at secondary level in the government schools of Punjab were analyzed. It was a mixed method study and the specific method employed was content analysis. For this purpose all the reading passages of both the textbooks were firstly categorized and quantified into three categories; Source Culture/s, Other Culture/s and Neutral and then the cultural elements of Source Culture/s were discussed qualitatively using an adapted checklist. The results of the study reveal that the English textbook of class 9 has 12 passages out of which 75% have Source cultural elements, 8.83% have cultural elements of Other Culture/s and 16.66% are Neutral. As far as the English textbook of class 10 is concerned, there are 13 reading passages out of which 23.07% have Source cultural elements, 15.38% have cultural elements of Other Culture/s and 61.53% are Neutral. The findings of the study show that English, being an international language and as a result of globalization, has become compulsory for people belonging to different countries to learn it. However, in order to retain their identity, they try to appropriate English language to underpin their own culture/s through English language used in the textbooks of Pakistan.
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Indigenous Culture, Academic Discourse, English Textbooks, Pakistan, Appropriation
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(1) Azhar Habib
PhD Scholar, Air University, Islamabad & Research Fellow, University of North Texas USA
(2) Inayat Ullah
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, Air University, Islamabad, Pakistan
Pattu: The Dying Fabric Making Art of Baltistan
The traditional Balti dresses were made with a beautiful material, "Pattu". We conducted a survey regarding the procedure of pattu making in Baltistan. The data was collected through in-depth interviews of 30 personnel who were associated with pattu making art. Thematic analysis has been adopted to examine the responses. Pattu fibre was obtained from sheep next convert into yarn and then into the fabric. Pattu was dyed with the help of leaves and fruits. Pattu was used in garments, caps, shawls and carpets. It is the need of time to work on the revival of this dying art of making pattu with new innovations to improve the procedure and speed of making fabric. This study will provide knowledge to our new generations about traditional fabric which helps them build a strong bond with the culture. Bringing the skilled persons from Baltistan on the front line and create economic opportunities for them.
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Baltistan, Culture, Fabric, Heritage, Pakistan, Pattu, Traditional Dress
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(1) Sarwat Halima Haider
Assistant Professor, Government College for Women, Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
(2) Afsheen Masood
Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Psychology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Samia Kalsoom
Professor, College of H. Economics, Gulberg, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.