Transitivity Analysis of U.S. Media’s Representations of the Muslim World in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor News Discourses: A Postcolonial Perspective

Abstract

The present study which is grounded in Said’s Orientalism has carried out transitivity analysis of U.S. digital media’s discourses on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with the purpose to explore the way the Muslim world - Pakistan, Afghanistan and Uighur Muslim community of China - has been portrayed in these. For this purpose, four feature articles have been selected from the websites of four digital news outlets for the clause-based analysis of data. The study is qualitative in nature with focus on the interpretation of data on the basis of recurrent motifs and themes. The results indicate the presence of the Orientalist bias in the representations of the Muslim world which has been linked with terrorism, extremism, corruption, greed and weakness. In comparison U.S. civilizing role in the form of economic and military endeavours in Pakistan and Afghanistan have been emphasised. The transitivity patterns highlight the ideology of a superior  U.S./the Occident  set against an inferior Muslim World/ the Orient. The study is significant in foregrounding the relevance Said’s theory hold in 21^st century and in highlighting how language can become a stake in the empowerment or marginalization of social groups.