Appraising the Portrayal of Female Characters in Folktales: A discourse-based study of the Heer Waris Shah

Abstract

This paper aims at exploring the use of language in portraying the characters in folktales by employing Martin and White’s Appraisal Theory (2005). The study focuses on how the female characters are portrayed as an ambassador of the Punjabi culture, and how the protagonist has been attributed through language in the given circumstances. Folktales are embedded into the fabric of every society and the individuals and tales are inextricably linked. Each living society has its folktales that characterize the fundamental texture of that society. Above all, folktales of all locales of the world, races, and religions have widespread examples that rise above the limits and make a whole. The data selected for the present study comprises a folktale of Heer (Shah, 1766) where each stanza comprises 150 to 200 words and 10 to 15 clauses approximately, and transliteration is done by following the IPA standards. The findings reveal that the attitude toward female characterization is the epitome of a patriarchal mindset, though Shah’s Heer is courageous and knows about her rights but is very much at the mercy of the male members of the society. The females are exploited at the hands of males as male-centric voice controls generally through the record and the amount to need of magnanimity in supplementing women or perhaps, this express inclination against them makes his work disturbing.