Abstract
The Wedding Invitation is one of the significant text genres. Following genre analysis approach and discourse analysis (DA), the present research analysed the wedding invitation genres in Pakistan to explore generic structures, as well as the role played by the broader socio-cultural norms and values in shaping this genre. Therefore, a corpus of 50 wedding invitations in Urdu and English was randomly selected from cards received from January to June 2018. The results of this genre analysis revealed seven obligatory and one optional move in Urdu, while six obligatory and one optional move in English invitations. Through discourse analysis, it has been uncovered how religious association and cultural influence in Pakistani society shape textual selection. Little variation was displayed in the invitations of the two languages, presumably due to regional cultural reflections and recent influence of western values. A comparison of Pakistani and UK invitations showed differences not only in move selection but also in lexical choices which are shaped by the respective cultures.
References
Al-Ali, Mohammed Nahar. 2006. Religious Affiliations and Masculine Power in Jordanian Wedding Invitation Genre. Discourse & Society, 17 (6), 691–714. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926506068428.10.1177/0957926506068428Search in Google Scholar
Al-Zubaidi, Nassier Abbas. G. 2017. Wedding Invitation Genre: Communicating Sociocultural Identities of Iraqi Society. Lublin Studies in Modern Languages and Literature, 41 (1), 129–55. https://doi.org/10.17951/lsmll.2017.41.1.129.10.17951/lsmll.2017.41.1.129Search in Google Scholar
Alavi, Hamza A. 1972. Kinship in West Punjab Villages. Contributions to Indian Sociology, 6 (1), 1–27.Search in Google Scholar
Barth, Fredrik. 1960. The System of Social Stratification in Swat, North Pakistan. In Aspects of Caste in South India, Ceylon and North-West Pakistan, 113–46.Search in Google Scholar
Clynes, Adrian, and Alex Henry. 2004. Introducing Genre Analysis Using Brunei Malay Wedding Invitations. Language Awareness, 13 (4), 225–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658410408668809.10.1080/09658410408668809Search in Google Scholar
Faramarzi, Sajad, Atefeh Elekaei, and Hossein H. Tabrizi. 2015. Genre-Based Discourse Analysis of Wedding Invitation Cards in Iran. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 6 (3), 662–68. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.0603.25.10.17507/jltr.0603.25Search in Google Scholar
Kachru, Yamuna, and Larry E. Smith. 2008. Cultures, Contexts, and World Englishes. New York, NY: Routledge.10.4324/9780203891346Search in Google Scholar
Kadar, Dániel Z. 2017. Politeness, Impoliteness and Ritual : Maintaining the Moral Order in Interpersonal Interaction. Cambridge, UK: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS. https://www.bookdepository.com/Politeness-Impoliteness-Ritual-Daniel-Z-Kadar/9781107052185.10.1017/9781107280465Search in Google Scholar
Kádár, Dániel Z., and Marcel M.H. Bax. 2013. In-Group Ritual and Relational Work. Journal of Pragmatics, 58, 73–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2013.03.011.10.1016/j.pragma.2013.03.011Search in Google Scholar
Kadar, Dániel Z. 2013. Relational Rituals and Communication. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9780230393059Search in Google Scholar
Liddle, Joanna, and Rama Joshi. 1986. Daughters of Independence: Gender, Caste, and Class in India. Rutgers University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Miller, Carolyn R. 1984. Genre as Social Action. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 70 (2), 151–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/00335638409383686.10.1080/00335638409383686Search in Google Scholar
Momani, Kawaakib R., and Dana F. Al-Refaei. 2010. A Socio–Textual Analysis of Written Wedding Invitations in Jordanian Society. The LSP Journal - Language for Special Purposes, Professional Communication, Knowledge Management and Cognition, 1 (1), 61–80.Search in Google Scholar
Ruiying, Yang, and Desmond Allison. 2004. Research Articles in Applied Linguistics: Structures from a Functional Perspective. English for Specific Purposes, 23 (3), 264–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0889-4906(03)00005-X.10.1016/S0889-4906(03)00005-XSearch in Google Scholar
Sawalmeh, Murad. 2015. Ceremonial Arabic Writing: A Genre Based Investigation of Wedding Invitation Cards and Obituary Announcements in Jordanian Society. University of Huddersfield. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/28708/.Search in Google Scholar
Sharif, Maryam, and Lotfollah Yarmohammadi. 2013a. On the Persian Wedding Invitation Genre. SAGE Open, 3(3), 215824401350382. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244013503829.10.1177/2158244013503829Search in Google Scholar
Sharif, Maryam, and Lotfollah Yarmohammadi. 2013b. On the Persian Wedding Invitation Genre. SAGE Open, 3 (3), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244013503829.10.1177/2158244013503829Search in Google Scholar
Swales, John M. 1990. Genre Analysis : English in Academic and Research Settings / John M. Swales. - Version Details - Trove. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Usman, Ahmed. 2017. A Comparison of Hindu and Muslim Caste System in Sub-Continent.. A Research Journal of South Asian Studies, 32 (1), 91–98.Search in Google Scholar
Yasmin, M., and A. Sohail. 2017. Realizing Learner Autonomy in Pakistan: EFL Teachers’ Beliefs about Their Practices. International Journal of English Linguistics, 8 (2), 153. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v8n2p153.10.5539/ijel.v8n2p153Search in Google Scholar
Yasmin, Musarat, and Farhat Naseem. 2019. Collaborative Learning and Learner Autonomy: Beliefs, Practices and Prospects in Pakistani Engineering Universities. IEEE Access, 7, 71493–99. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2918756.10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2918756Search in Google Scholar
Yasmin, Musarat, Farhat Naseem, and Isamar C. Masso. 2019. Teacher-Directed Learning to Self-Directed Learning Transition Barriers in Pakistan. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 61,34-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2019.02.003.10.1016/j.stueduc.2019.02.003Search in Google Scholar
© 2019 Musarat Yasmin et al., published by De Gruyter Open
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Public License.
