A Cognitive Stylistics Analysis of Tariq Rahman’s “The Anthropologist”

Abstract

Here, I look at the link between language and culture in The Anthropologist by Tariq Rahman (2023), utilizing techniques from cognitive stylistics, conceptual metaphor theory and postcolonial literary criticism. This research intends to redress the lack of South Asian English texts in cognitive stylistics by studying Rahman’s techniques of contrasting space and time, using culture-linked metaphors and changing, who sees the story, to depict the feelings of people experiencing cultural and mental unrest. By analyzing the text qualitatively, the study identifies that the author repeats many stylistic features. These are highlighted by using “here” and “there,” describing a fractured mirror for identity and by switching between speaking about situations from within the text and describing them from the outside. Apparently, psychological studies show that Rahman’s choice of language makes readers move between understanding and judging, much like the main character is caught between being objective and joining in his culture. The paper shows that certain cultural metaphors such as seeing memory as a maze, link shared bodily experiences to postcolonial settings and help people from different backgrounds empathize with each other. Decolonial recalibration of cognitive stylistics is encouraged by the study and its application is discussed specifically for multilingual narratives from countries outside the West. Teaching South Asian Literature uses stylistic analysis to help develop critical thinking and a better understanding of culture. Not only does this research improve our knowledge of Rahman’s art, but it also confronts accepted Eurocentric ways of thinking and places Pakistani English fiction at the heart of efforts toward interdisciplinary.