THE INFLUENCE OF LANGUAGE ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER IDENTITIES IN SOUTH ASIAN LITERATURE

Abstract

Language is not merely a tool for communication; it plays a fundamental role in shaping identities, particularly gender identities, within literary texts. This study explores how South Asian literature constructs and negotiates gender roles through linguistic choices, narrative techniques, and cultural discourse. By examining selected novels, short stories, and poetry from authors across Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, the research highlights the ways in which language reflects, reinforces, and at times challenges prevailing societal norms related to masculinity and femininity. The study also investigates how dialect, style, and rhetorical strategies serve as instruments of both conformity and resistance, allowing characters to assert agency within rigid gender frameworks. Furthermore, the paper addresses the intersection of language, culture, and power, illustrating how writers employ linguistic strategies to question patriarchal structures and provide nuanced perspectives on identity formation. The findings reveal that South Asian literature not only mirrors social attitudes toward gender but also actively participates in reshaping them, offering readers a critical lens to understand the dynamics of language and gender. Ultimately, this research underscores the transformative potential of literature in engaging with complex issues of identity, representation, and cultural discourse in South Asia.