A Corpus-Based Analysis of the Construction of Identities in the BBC Sitcom Citizen Khan by Sayed Mohammed Bilal Kadiri
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A Corpus-based analysis of the Construction of Identities in the BBC Sitcom Citizen Khan By Sayed Mohammed Bilal Kadiri Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Linguistics and English Language May 2017 Abstract An abundance of studies post 9-11 have critically evaluated the representations of Islam and Muslims in the media. In spite of this, very little work has focused on portrayals of Muslims in fictional television programming. This thesis aims to address this gap by investigating language usage and the construction of identities in the BBC sitcom Citizen Khan, which is centred around a family living in the Sparkhill area of Birmingham. In order to carry out this analysis a 40,000 word corpus was created, consisting of transcripts of the thirteen episodes from the first two seasons of the sitcom. The analysis utilised an array of different analytical tools and approaches to carry out an in- depth textual and visual analysis. Corpus software was used to carry out an initial quantitative analysis which identified salient aspects of identity within the sitcom. This was followed by a qualitative analysis which employed a modified version of Fairclough’s 3 stages of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) framework to assist in interpreting the data from a wider contextual standpoint. Incorporated into the framework were aspects of Conversational Analysis and Multimodal Analysis, in order to provide evaluation of some of the textual and visual aspects of the programme. The analysis indicated that the lead character Mr Khan has a hybrid of intersecting identities: Pakistani, British and Muslim; and his negotiation of these multiple identities was used by the writers to generate humour. Due to aspects of the Muslim and Pakistani identities overlapping with one another, the scriptwriters employed negative stereotyping around Pakistanis within the sitcom, as opposed to directly stereotyping Muslims as a whole. The findings also identified an association between Pakistani and family identity, with aspects of Pakistani culture dictating the dynamics within the household. Namely, through the importance attached to producing male offspring, coupled with Khan attempting to construct himself as i the patriarch of the family and Mr and Mrs Khan’s first names never being revealed to the audience. The gendered identities of the characters were also found to be intersecting with other facets of their identity. A visual analysis identified a correlation between Khan’s usage of good girl and his religious expectations for his daughters. Additionally, analysis of male-related terms indicated Khan’s views were male-centred, with him drawing upon constructions of hegemonic masculinity and patriarchal order. Overall, the study identified that Citizen Khan reinforced negative stereotyping of Pakistanis and Muslims. However, by portraying Muslims in a normalised setting on a primetime slot on BBC One, despite its many flaws Citizen Khan could be seen as providing a positive step in the right direction in enabling more diverse and honest representations of Muslims in the media. ii Acknowledgements Firstly, all praise and thanks are due to Allah for enabling me to stay patient over the duration of my doctoral studies and reach the stage of completion, as at times it seemed an impossibility. I would also like to especially thank my supervisor Professor Paul Baker for staying patient with me over these past few years, especially during the periods of low productivity. Additionally, his valuable insight in the field of corpus-based discourse studies was of immeasurable assistance. Special thanks must also go to the programme coordinator Mrs. Marjorie Wood, for her assistance over the duration of my studies and for providing me with a work space during my time in Lancaster. Finally, I would like to thank my family, friends and colleagues who have shown me great patience and invaluable support during this stressful period in my life. iii Declaration This thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in substantially the same form for the award of a higher degree elsewhere. Sayed Mohammed Bilal Kadiri May 2017 Lancaster University iv Table of Contents PAGE NO: INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Rationale 1 1.3 Research Questions 3 1.4 Defining Key Terms 4 1.4.1 Terms Relating to Islam 4 1.4.2 Terms Relating to Identity 5 1.4.3 Terms Relating to Corpus Linguistics 6 1.4.4 Terms Relating to Critical Discourse Analysis 6 1.5 Thesis Overview 6 CHAPTER TWO : LITERATURE REVIEW I – ISLAM 2.1 Introduction 9 2.2 Media Representation of Islam and Muslim Identities 9 2.2.1 Newspapers 11 2.2.2 Television 22 2.2.3 Other Media Platforms 24 2.3 CDA Research on Islam in the Media 30 2.4 Corpus-Assisted Research on Islam in the Media 39 2.5 Conclusion 49 CHAPTER THREE : LITERATURE REVIEW II – FICTIONAL TELEVISION 3.1 Introduction 51 3.2 Genre and the Situational Comedy (sitcom) 52 3.2.1 The British Sitcom 53 3.2.2 Representation of Sitcom Identities 55 v 3.2.2.1 Gender and Family 55 3.2.2.2 Ethnicity and Religion 60 3.3 Previous Studies Analysing Fictional Television 63 3.3.1 CDA and Related Research 64 3.3.2 Corpus-Assisted Research 75 3.4 Conclusion 86 METHODOLOGY CHAPTER FOUR: DATA AND METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES 4.1 Introduction 89 4.2 The CK Corpus 90 4.2.1 Corpus Linguistics 90 4.2.2 Data 90 4.2.2.1 Transcription 92 4.2.2.2 Sub-corpora 95 4.2.2.3 Annotation 97 4.2.2.4 Reference Corpus 100 4.2.3 Corpus Software 101 4.2.4 Corpus Techniques 102 4.3 Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) 105 4.3.1 Fairclough’s 3 Stage Model 109 4.4 Combining CL and CDA 111 4.5 Supplementary Methodological Techniques 111 4.5.1 Conversational Analysis 111 4.5.2 Multimodal Analysis 115 4.6 Step-by-Step Methodology (Framework of Analysis) 117 4.6.1. Step One: Collect Data and Prepare Corpus 120 4.6.2. Step Two: Initial Corpus Analysis 120 4.6.3. Step Three: Re-Formulation of Main Research Question 123 vi 4.6.4 Step Four: Initial Contextual Research 123 4.6.5 Step Five: Detailed Corpus Analysis 124 4.6.6 Step Six: Detailed Qualitative Analysis 124 4.6.7 Step Seven: Detailed Contextual Analysis 125 4.6.8 Step Eight: Formulation of Critique 126 4.7 Initial Corpus Analysis 126 4.8 Conclusion 134 ANALYSIS CHAPTER FIVE: ANALYSIS I – IDENTITY: RELIGION 5.1 Introduction 136 5.2 Religious Salutations 136 5.2.1 Contextual Information 137 5.2.2 Asalaam Alaikum and Waleikum Asalaam 139 5.3 Religious Labels 145 5.3.1 Contextual Information 145 5.3.2 Muslim and Muslims 147 5.3.3 Islam 156 5.4 Religious Deity and Acts/Places of Worship 160 5.4.1 Contextual Information 160 5.4.2 God and Allah 162 5.4.3 Mosque 167 5.4.4 Pray, Praying, Prayer, Prayers and Prayed 173 5.5 Conclusion 178 CHAPTER SIX: ANALYSIS II – IDENTITY: NATIONALITY 6.1 Introduction 181 6.2 Contextual Information 182 6.3 Pakistan and Pakistani(s) 189 6.4 British 207 6.5 India and Indian(s) 211 vii 6.6 Conclusion 217 CHAPTER SEVEN: ANALYSIS III – IDENTITY: FAMILY 7.1 Introduction 220 7.2 The Khan Family 221 7.2.1 Mr Khan and Mrs Khan 221 7.2.2 Other Family Members 228 7.3 Parental Relationship 233 7.3.1 Contextual Information 234 7.3.2 Dad, Father and Papaji 236 7.3.3 Mother and Mum 245 7.3.4 Daughter, Beti and Son 253 7.4 Marriage and Marital Relationship 259 7.4.1 Contextual Information 259 7.4.2 Wedding 261 7.4.3 Husband and Wife 265 7.5 Conclusion 270 CHAPTER EIGHT: ANALYSIS III – IDENTITY: GENDER 8.1 Introduction 274 8.2 Contextual Information 274 8.3 Male 276 8.3.1 Man and Men 276 8.3.2 Boy and Boys 285 8.4 Female 290 8.4.1 Woman, Women and Womens 290 8.4.2 Lady and Ladies 296 8.4.3 Girl and Girls 297 8.4.3.1 ‘Good Girl’ – Multimodal Concordance Lines (MCLs) 299 8.5 Conclusion 307 viii CONCLUSION CHAPTER NINE: CONCLUSION 9.1 Introduction 309 9.2. Summary of the Findings 309 9.3 Strengths of the Study 316 9.4 Limitations of the Study 318 9.5 Scope for Further Research 320 9.6 Concluding Remarks 322 REFERENCES Religious References 324 References 325 APPENDICES APPENDIX A: Frequency Data from CK Corpus 351 ix List of Tables NO. Table Name Page 2.1 Previous studies which utilised newspaper data to investigate media representations 12 of Islam and/or Muslims 2.2 Previous studies which utilised television data to investigate media representations of 23 Islam 2.3 Previous studies which utilised data from other forms of media to investigate media 25 representations of Islam 2.4 Studies which have utilised CDA Approaches to analyse media representations of 31 Islam 2.5 Strategies employed by BBC journalists when referring to the veil 35 2.6 Studies which have incorporated corpus methodology to analyse media 40 representations of Islam 3.1 CDA studies and other relevant studies related to this research 65 3.2 Studies which have incorporated corpus methodology to analyse fictional television 76 4.1 Breakdown of token count for CK corpus and sub-corpora for each episode/season 96 4.2 Breakdown of token count for each character across the two seasons 96 4.3 List of Keywords found within the CK Corpus 127 4.4 Words found within the Z99 Semantic Category.