THE SUBVERSIVE DIVINE: A FEMINIST CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE MALE "FEMALE VOICE" IN PAKISTANI SUFI POETRY

Abstract

This paper utilizes the theoretical frameworks of established Western feminist thought and Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (Lazar, 2005; Talbot, 1998) to examine the distinct linguistic practices within 18th and 19th-century Pakistani Sufi poetry (Kafi). While Western feminism defines itself through resistance to patriarchal discrimination and language that "otherizes" women, Punjabi and Siraiki Sufi poets—Bulleh Shah, Shah Hussain, and Khwaja Ghulam Farid— paradoxically adopted a female persona (diction, style, and expression) to articulate their spiritual devotion. This paper argues that while the metaphors often reinforce patriarchal definitions of passive femininity, the structural act of a male poet assuming a marginalized female identity operates as a subversive critique of both social dogma and spiritual hierarchy, suggesting an indigenous "feminism" centered on spiritual equity rather than political equality.