Evaluating Emotional Language: A Comparative Appraisal Analysis of Urdu Poetry of Bhabha and Ajami

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the language of emotions in the Urdu Poetry of Bhabha and Ajami. The study also explicated how meanings were construed through the use of certain linguistic choices pertinent to the representation of emotions. The study was qualitative as the textual data was analyzed qualitatively. The data for the analysis comprised the Urdu Ghazals of Bhabha and Ajami. For analysis, a sample of 25 ghazals of each poet was collected using the technique of purposive sampling. Drawing on Systemic Functional Linguistics, particularly on Appraisal Framework (Martin & White, 2005), an analysis of the sample ghazal was carried out. The results of the study highlighted that linguistic choices made in the Urdu ghazals of both the poets were significant in construal of meanings. It was also revealed that both the poets were significantly different in their use of appraisal resources. Further, the results showed that the differences in the used appraisal resources highlighted the unique meanings construed in the poetry of both poets.