Language, Social Class, and Power: A Critical Social Analysis (CSA) of English and Urdu Proverbs

Abstract

Proverbs are expressions of wisdom, which serve as the representatives of cultural values and societal norms.  They are loaded with cultural and religious connotations. The present research attempts to decode  Urdu and English proverbs to lay bare underlying ideologies and power dynamics embedded in the selected proverbs The data for the study related to  English and Urdu proverbs has been collected from the Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs by Jennifer Speake and Urdu Zarb-ul-Imsal by  Nazeer Ahmad Tashna.   It employs Fairclough’s (2012) Critical Social analysis (CSA) research design to analyze the data. This model deals with the concepts of language, power, and economy. It argues that in order to analyse language comprehensively one needs to know about Marxist and Normative critique of language. The Findings of the study reveal that the concept of positive representation of power and negative representation of powerless is a prominent feature of Urdu and English proverbs. The study contends that the concept of power is knowledge, and instead of knowledge, power is pliable through the proverbs. The concept of honor and power has mostly been associated with power. It finds that discourses are class-specific and highlight the existing order of a particular society.