Speech Act Theory

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Looking at the female madrasas (FeMs) one finds a unique atmosphere inside them. They keep intact a subculture inside their walls. The question arises that where from does this institute acquires its special aura? FeMs keep multiplying in number without any state support and the network of madrasas has established its branches in both the rural and urban areas throughout the country. The status of this institute is the result of its acceptance among people and their support in the form of charity and active participation. The institute since its inception around three decades ago has been growing in terms of the number of madrasas as well as the number of graduates produced, outnumbering its male counterpart. I start with a general theory…show more content…
As I aim to study the institute of madrasa through the lens of language I will be explaining the two major perspectives that I will be employing for the linguistic analysis. The first tool will be the speech act theory which has been developed to understand institutions and their deontology. The second tool will be the phenomenon of Pidgin and Creole(PC) formation.The phenomenon of PC formation will be explained and then I will explain why I term the language used at FeM as a PC language and the culture inside them as a PC culture. In this paper, though I will be focusing exclusively on the Speech act…show more content…
In order to achieve solidarity humans need to be ready to suffer for the larger group. For strong solidarities to be achieved, the social bond needs to be accepted as unquestionable and a given fact. However, once the basis of social bonding becomes questionable, it leads to a development of mistrust which makes the functioning of social cooperation impossible. (Douglas, 1986)It is the social solidarity, systems of cooperation which enable institutions to run and mediate amongst the individuals. For the FeM the acceptance came from the society readily and the charity provided by the society helped in establishing this strong and widespread network. The ground was tilled by the shared belief in religion. Another shared conviction is that of religiosity being synonymous to goodness, which increases the belief of the members of the social order in the regulative power of this institute too. Particularly, in the case of females who are considered to be the repositories of tradition on the micro level inside the house and on the macro level in the society on the whole. (Mernissi, 1987) This argument of females trained in religious studies, as the keepers of tradition leaves the least ground for questioning the inherent value of institute of FeM amid a community of

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