Beliefs, Ideology And Social Discourse Analysis

Findings and Discussion

1. Beliefs, Ideology and Social Representation

Critical Discourse Analysis involves ideological analysis as ideologies are expressed and reproduced by discourse. Van Dijk (2009) defines Ideology as “the shared, fundamental and axiomatic beliefs of specific social groups” (p.65). Pakistan is a diverse society with people belonging to various religious, ethnic, social and cultural groups. Life in Pakistan and its ideals are mostly formed on religious foundations. People believe in spiritual and ethical values of their religion. They believe that no morality and good can exist which do not find its place in religion. The moral concepts of the people here are based upon the teachings of their religion. They are influenced

Van Dijk (2009) defines Cognition as “the set of functions of the mind, such as thought, perception and representation” (p.64). But there are no personal ideologies or personal mental models and the beliefs systems are socially shared by the members of the groups. According to Van Dijk (2009), “a cognitive approach also needs to account for social cognition, that is, the beliefs or social representations they share with others of their group or community. Knowledge, attitudes, values, norms and ideologies are different types of social representations” (p.78). Social representations describe social identity of a group, that is, “its shared beliefs about its fundamental conditions and ways of existence and reproduction. Different types of ideologies are defined by the kind of groups that 'have' an ideology, such as social movements, political parties, professions, or churches, among others.” (Van Dijk, 2006, p.116). Both personal ideologies and collective group ideologies may influence discourse but latter shapes the former. Groups may include people who are unmarried or married but childless etc…When analyzing spiritual healers advertisements here show that the problems highlighted affect these collective groups and how members of the society perceive them. Examples include, ‘Aulaad ka na hona’ (couples without children), ‘Aulaad ka hona, hokay mar jana’ (Child is born but dies after sometime). It is a sign of misfortune and curse for the family due to which they have to face a lot of embarrassment in the society. People here believe it is necessary to have a child and couples should be able to conceive within first few years after marriage. They become the subject of the gossip wherever the couple moves. It is assumed that either they have serious sexual issues or they do not love each other. Sometimes people make fun