CORPUS-DRIVEN COMPUTATIONAL STYLISTICS: A POSTCOLONIAL ANALYSIS OF LITERARY ENGLISH IN THE POETRY OF TAUFIQ RAFAT

Abstract

This study examines Taufiq Rafat’s poetry through a corpus-driven computational stylistics framework, with a specific focus on postcolonial linguistic and literary practices. Five poems, Arrival of the Monsoon, Wedding in the Flood, Children Understand Him, Time to Love, and The Stone Chat, were analysed for word frequency, lexical density, collocations, concordances, and stylistic deviations. The findings indicate that Rafat’s verse is characterised by high lexical density, rhythmic repetition, and frequent use of nature-centred imagery. These features foreground his indigenisation of English, where local ecological, cultural, and ritualistic elements merge seamlessly with poetic form. From a postcolonial perspective, Rafat’s work demonstrates how English can be reshaped to represent indigenous identity, everyday experiences, and collective memory. The study concludes that computational stylistics not only highlights Rafat’s stylistic innovations but also situates his poetry within the broader discourse of postcolonial literary production in South Asia.