CONVERSATIONAL DOMINANCE IN MIX GENDERED PAKISTANI POLITICAL TV TALK SHOWS

http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-II).40      10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-II).40      Published : Jun 2021
Authored by : Madiha Shams , ShamimAraShams , Ubaidullah Khan

40 Pages : 406-417

    Abstract

    Cooperation in conversation is managed by all participants through turn-taking. In most cultures, generally speaking, only one person speaks at a time. It is generally believed that women are subjected to interruptions and overlapping more in cross-sex conversations. This research has been carried out by using mixed method approach where both conversational analysis and content analysis have been used to prove that the female gender overlaps more in Pakistani political talk shows and it has also been exposed how the cultural advantage of “being a woman” is exploited by the female speakers. For this, two episodes of a famous political talk show, "On the Front," have been studied. This study proves how the female speakers have successfully used power and cultural advantage of being a woman through excessive use of interruptions, which resulted in their dominance in the conversation, preventing male members from taking their turn.

    Key Words

    Turn Taking, Conversational Dominance, Power, Interruption, Overlapping

    Introduction

    Participants of a conversation manage cooperation through turn-taking. Speakers speak turn by turn, i.e. the second person must speak when the first one has completed his / her turn. All cultures have their own preferences as to how long a speaker should hold a floor. When speakers do not wait until the TRP (Transition Relevance Place:   A point in the conversation where a change of turn is possible), this is called an interruption but if the speaker thinks it’s a TRP, but actually it is a pause, then it is called overlapping (Cutting, 2002). The basic function of interruption is to prevent the first speaker from being able to finish what s/he wants to say and to allow the second speaker to take over the floor (James & Clark, 1993). Interruption behaviors have long been related to gender, power and status in previous studies. Zimmerman and West (1975) note that in cross-sex conversations, females find themselves subjected to interruption more frequently than men. Interruption is something that men do to women but women hardly ever do it to men. Men are more likely to interrupt women and overlap speech (Rosenblum, 1986). This research has explored that in political talk shows where men and women share equal power, women equally interrupt men and overlap their talk more, or maybe even more. The reason for their interruptions and overlapping is not only power but also a culture where in Pakistani culture, women are more vocal and are respected and allowed to speak first and to complete whatever they are saying. Two episodes of a live political TV talk show, “On the front” with Kamran Khan (aired on 22nd November and 8th December 2013) has been studied as a sample where members of opposite genders belonging to different political parties are defending their respective opinions on the current issues related to Pakistani political scenario. These episodes were selected as a sample for this study because the stance of different parties about drone attacks by America after the 11th May 2013 elections were being brought to light for the layman and the performances and contributions of different parties were also being inquired, being a part of the government. 

    This research will make use of conversational analysis. It will take into account both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Quantitative analysis is used for analyzing the frequency of interruptions and overlapping used by the two genders and qualitative analysis for exploring the reasons why one gender uses more interruptions and overlapping than the other.

    Research Objectives

    This research has been carried out with the following objectives in mind:  

    To observe which gender interrupts or overlaps the other more in Pakistani political talk shows on TV.

    To identify the reasons which make this interruption and overlapping possible or impossible.


    Research Questions

    The research aims to answer the following questions:   

    Which gender interrupts and overlaps the other more in Pakistani political talk shows on TV?

    What are the reasons which make this interruption and overlapping of the two genders possible or impossible?

    Significance

    Linguists like Fishman (1980) suggest that interruption and overlapping is one of the strategies used mostly by men to show their dominance over women in all walks of life. This research will try to explore whether it applies to the Pakistani context, where women are respected more by men in the context of public conversation as compared to western cultures or is it the other way round. This uniqueness of Pakistani culture makes it worthwhile to study the theory of Fishman (2008) as it deals with turn-taking by different genders, a social interactional feature. This study will explore which gender uses interruption more in political talk shows where they share equal power and what are the reasons that help in making it successful. The research is significant as it explores whether the notion of males interrupting women is true in the context being studied in this research or not.

    Literature Review

    Turn Taking in Different Cultures

    People participate in a discussion by taking turns. Speakers in practically every culture take turns while speaking. Cultural attitudes vary regarding floor holding or yielding it to the next speaker, whereas, overlapping and interruptions also vary (Cutting, 2002). Pakistanis like short pauses, but the Japanese prefer extended pauses. Culture determines the length of the pauses in any conversation.

    A transition relevance position, or TRP, is a point in a dialogue where a change of turn is feasible. The next speaker cannot be certain that the current speaker's turn is over, but they will normally take the end of a statement as an indication that the turn has finished. An interruption is when the participants do not wait until the TRP.

    Turn-taking is a prominent feature of male-female interactions. Male interlocutors routinely dominate conversations by interrupting females and, in conversations commonly treat them in the same way as toddlers are (Zimmerman, 1975). This pause, however, is not the result of female interlocutors failing to take the floor. "Deep" interruption, or interruption at least two syllables before a potential utterance area, is more usually directed towards women by men, regardless of how women navigate it (West, 1979).

    Timing is another indication related to turn-taking. Timing may signal the hearer that it is their turn to make an utterance or speak in turn-taking. Because of the nature of turn-taking and the fact that it is context-dependent, timing fluctuates within a turn. Similarly, culture determines the length of a pause. Japanese people, for example, take extended pauses, whereas Pakistanis take brief pauses.

    Conversation and language are the basic means of organizing social interaction. As a result, unequal communication designs reflect wider power discrepancies between the genders. In one study, Zimmerman and West observed that in same-sex pair talks, overlapping and interruption are evenly distributed across the two interlocutors, and interruptions are clustered — that is, just a few of the pairings did all of the interrupting. Male interlocutors interrupt far more frequently, and interruptions are much more widely distributed — that is, most males did it (Zimmerman, 1975). Gender disparities in turn-taking, on the other hand, are still not invariable and are connected to the context and conditions of the discourse. Gendered characteristics of turn-taking and speech must be understood as a cultural reflection of the speaker. Questions have been put up about the relationship between dominance and interruption and its relevance other than other social categories. Studies conducted by Beattie reflected a status difference of more important than the difference in gender in expecting which speakers practised interruptions more.


    Interruptions and Overlapping

    When more than one person is involved in a conversation, there is the possibility of interruptions or overlapping as more than one person is speaking simultaneously.   Overlap in turn-taking might be inconvenient for those concerned. Terminal overlaps, conditional access to the turn, cordial overlaps and continuers are the four types of overlap. Terminal overlaps occur when one speaker thinks that the other person has completed or is about to complete their turn and begins to talk, resulting in the overlap. Continuers are a technique for the listener to acknowledge or comprehend what the person has said. As stated by Schegloff, examples of the continuer's utterances include "mm hm" and "uh huh". Conditional access to the turn indicates that the current interlocutor encourages another speaker to join the conversation, usually as a collaborative effort. Another example given by Schegloff is when a speaker invites the other speaker to take his turn when searching for a term in the word search. Chordal overlap is characterized by a non-series occurrence of turns, which means that both speakers' turns occur at the same time, such as laughter. It should be emphasized that the aforementioned overlaps sorts are considered non-competitive overlaps in the discussion.

    According to Esposito (1979), interruption happens when a second speaker begins speaking at a rate that cannot be TRP and when speaker A breaks off more than one word of speaker B's unit type. According to Beattie (1981), interruption happens when an interlocutor loses the floor before intending to relinquish the floor, leaving his present statement incomplete. Similarly, Clark and James (1993) observed that disruptions occur when one person commences a conversation while another is already conversing.

    Possible Reasons for Interruptions and Overlapping

    The most important function of an interruption is to stop the first speaker from finishing what he or she wants to say and to give the floor to the second speaker (James & Clark, 1993) and thus the person interrupting the conversation or turn achieves some control on the conversation by having an opportunity to speak when it is not his or her turn (Grief &Gleason). Interruptions are regarded as confrontational, impolite, and disrespectful, with the interrupter acting as the aggressor and the interrupted acting as an innocent victim (Tannen, 1994).

     In contrast to the prior viewpoint, James and Clark (1993) argue that a considerable percentage of disruptions in conversation may not be intrusive or dominance related. Interruption, on the other hand, can be a supportive and cooperative speaking act (Furguson,1977). With interruptions, the speakers can flesh out a topic or a tale together and establish shared meaning. In other words, the interruption can signal and foster speaker solidarity (James & Clark, 1993). It is a technique of expressing one's interest and involvement in the discussion by giving feedback, information, or elaboration on the present speaker's topic (Coon & Schwanenflugel, 1996).


    Interruptions, Gender, Power and Status

    Previous researches have long linked interruption behaviors to gender, power, and position. Interruptions are initiated extremely rarely in same-sex conversations, while females are interrupted more frequently than men in cross-sex dialogues, according to Zimmerman and West (1975). Interruption is something that guys do to women but never do to men. Men are more likely than women to interrupt and overlap their discourse (Rosenblum, 1986). Brody and Smith-Lovin (1986) found that men interrupt women's speaking considerably more frequently than men. In terms of power and status, it is reported that higher status or powerful people talk more and interrupt more and through the violation of turn-taking, they obtain more access to important interpersonal resources, the floor, at the expense of their low-status partners (Lovin & Brody, 1986).

    Contrary to prior findings, James and Clark (1993) argues that a review of studies on using interruptions in mixed-sex conversations reveals that men do not necessarily interrupt women more. According to several surveys, females interrupt others more than males (Kennedy & Camdem, 1983). Beattie (1981) discovered no gender differences in frequency, types, or interpretations used. She came to the conclusion that women were regarded to have the interactional competence to indulge in interruption as effectively and frequently as males.

    Interruptions and overlapping employed by both genders have varying interpretations in diverse cultures and contexts based on many factors, resulting in diverse findings.

    Methodology

    This research will make use of mixed method research. It will take into account both conversational analysis and content analysis. Quantitative analysis will be sued to analyze the frequency of the interruptions and overlapping used by the two genders and qualitative for explore the reasons for the success and failure of the use of these interruptions and overlapping.


    Sample

    Two episodes of a live political talk show, “On the Front" with Kamran Khan, have been taken as a sample where members of opposite genders and different political parties are defending their respective opinions. The reason for the difference between the episodes is the fact that the episodes that were telecast between these dates had either male members only and in the ones where they had both the genders, the interaction between them was very less, i.e. restricted to a few exchanges. The recordings have been transcribed for the purpose of analysis. The criteria for selecting this discussion are the fact that Pakistan got its new government after the 11th May elections, where PTI, for the first time with a majority of votes, got hold of the provincial government and PPP's regime in the national assembly came to an end during the 

    same time period. In this regard, the stance of these parties on the crucial issue of drone attacks is being taken up on the show.


    Data and Limitations

    The recordings of the conversation between the interlocutors have been transcribed. In the first episode, there are three members invited; one female and two males; the female member Sharmila is from Pakistan Political Party, the male member Murad is from Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf and Abid Shair Ali from Pakistan Muslim League (N) but this research has not included his utterances as he rarely interacts with the female member during the show.

    In the second episode again there are three members; one female member; Shehla Raza, who joined People's Students Federation of PPP in 1986 and was elected as Deputy Speaker of Sindh Assembly in 2014 and two other male members, Murad Saeed from PTI who started his political career in 2013 after being elected as a member of the National Assembly from Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and Ahmed Shah Kasuri who is a lawyer and belongs to All Pakistan Muslim League. Talal Chaudhry from PML (N) has been excluded from the analysis as he had no direct interaction with the female member.

    The anchor’s interruptions and overlapping is also not included as he is a neutral body who has to control the conversation.

    Data Analysis

    Episode # 1:   Anchor, Murad and Sharmila

    In this section, we present the interruptions and overlapping done by the two interlocutors, i.e. Murad (M) and Sharmila (F). As can be seen in the table, the interruptions and overlapping done by the female outnumber the ones made by her male counterpart. Sharmila (F) interrupts 6 times, whereas Murad (M) interrupts her 5 times. Overlapping done by the female interlocutor is 11 as compared to 8 by the male member.


     

    Table 1. Interruptions and overlappings by Murad and Sharmila

     

    Murad

    Sharmila

    No of Interruptions

    5

    6

    No of Overlapping

    8

    11

    Total

    13

    17

     


    Overlapping is more than interruptions, as can be seen in the table above. In political talks, during the course of a discussion, if one member interrupts, the other member often continues overlapping, ignoring the interruption done by the other member. As the analysis reveals, there is almost a similar use of interruptions by both the genders but more overlapping is observed by the female member. Strikingly their interpretations are quite different. Though the male member committed a more or less equal number of interruptions as the female member but surprisingly, the female member’s overlapping is more powerful than his interruptions. She, too successfully interrupted him time and again. It is because of the fact that she is more vocal and secondly, she is aware of the bare truth that Pakistan is a multicultural country where women are respected more and are given an upper hand in discussions, especially in Pakhtoon culture, women are respected a lot as we can hear her saying, “to jb aik khatoon baat kr rhe ho to pathan ka kam hy k munh band rakhay(when a lady is speaking than a Pathan (pakhtoon) must keep his mouth shut). This factor of cultural respect is also visible in the anchor’s utterance where he says,“yar sharmila g ko bolnay dain Murad sabb. Bolain Sharmila sahiba..complete kijeyay yay ap ka haq hy” (Let Miss Sharmila speak, Mr Murad. Sharmila you speak. It’s your right to complete). The theory of dominance of men in talk seems to be under a bit of question in view of the scenario developing in episode 1 discussed in this section.

     

    Episode # 2:   Anchor, Murad and Shehla

    In Episode 2, Murad (M) and Shehla (F) are the interlocutors. Here, as opposed to episode 1, the male interlocutor is seen to be involved in interruptions (8), whereas no interruption is observed on the part of his female counterpart. However, both are involved in an equal number (8) of overlapping. 


     

    Table 2. Interruptions and overlappings by Shehla and Murad

     

    Shehla

    Murad

    No of Interruptions

    0

    8

    No of Overlapping

    8

    8

    Total

    8

    16

     


    Episode # 2:   Anchor, Kasuri and Shehla

    The next part of episode 2 is based on the conversation between Shehla (F) and Kasuri (M). Here we see Shehla (F) involved in 7 interruptions as compared to just 2 by her male counterpart. Shehla is also seen to be involved in 4 overlappings compared to just 1 by her male counterpart. In this section, obviously, the female interlocutor is seen to be asserting her authority over the male counterpart, who seems to be listening to her patiently and is speaking in his own turn. No interruptions by the male indicate that he is respecting the lady who is older in age than him, and senior ladies are accorded special respect in Pakistani society in which it is considered rude to interrupt the elders.


     

    Table 3. Interruptions and overlappings by Shehla and Kasuri

     

    Shehla

    Kasuri

    No of interruptions

    7

    2

    No of Overlapping

    4

    1

    Total

    13

    3

     


    Overall Number of Overlappings and Interpretations

    The analysis presents an interesting mix of interruptions and overlapping done by male and female participants of the TV talk show. The overall number of interruptions done by the male members of the show is slightly higher (15) than the ones done by females, i.e. 13. However, female participants of the talk show are involved in a greater number of overlappings, that is, 23, compared to the male participants, who overlapped 17 times.


     

    Table 4. Total Number of Interruptions Done by Male and Females

    1

    The total number of interruptions by the female members: 

    13

    2

    The total number of interruptions by the male members: 

    15

    3

    The total number of overlapping the female members:           

    23

    4

    The total number of overlapping by the male members: 

    17

    Findings

    As far as the frequency of interruptions and overlapping is concerned, both the genders made use of it but the female member observed more overlapping and a more or less similar number of interruptions was observed by both the genders but surprisingly, their usage did not serve its original purpose. Unlike Rosenblum (1986) stated that men are more likely to interrupt and overlap speech, the female member here observed a nearly equal number of interruptions. Beathie (1981) notes that interruptions occur when a speaker loses floor before he has intended to relinquish it, leaving his current utterance incomplete as we can see here that the floor is rather being snatched by the female members through vocal overlapping. She concluded in her research that women certainly seem to possess the interactional competence to engage in interruption as frequently and as effectively as men, but here in Pakistani TV political talk shows, we can see that the interruptions observed by the female members were not adding to the success of the conversation. James & Clark (1993) add to it by saying that interruptions create solidarity between the speakers, but here the interruptions showed the disharmony among the speakers.

    Dominance here in Pakistani political TV talk shows is reflected more in the speech of the female members who are more vocal, politically powerful and who, at some point, are taking the cultural advantage of being a woman, as in the Pakistani context, a man is expected to let the woman speak first no matter how right or wrong she may be. She is fully aware of this fact as Sharmila says, “to jb aik khatoon bol rahe hon to pathan ka kam hy k mu band rakhay” (then when a lady is speaking then a Pathan (pakhtoon) keeps his mouth shut). This factor also reflects the height of respect given to women in Pakhtoon culture, under which he is pressurized to cease his interruptions. She again takes the cultural advantage of this element of respect by exploiting it, as she says “khabr pakhtoon khwan mardoo may bht tameez hoti hy” (males of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province are quite civilized), which also reveals her strategy of using his own cultural norms against him and to empower herself, ultimately silencing him and leaving him with no other option but asking the anchor to make the female member quiet too.  

    Furgurson (1997) states that interruption can be supportive and cooperative in a speech act, but here interestingly and surprisingly, the interruptions made by the male members were futile in getting a chance to speak in comparison to the overlapping observed by the female members who were more vocal in her attempts. Interruptions, as discussed in section two, make conversations successful but here acted as an unsuccessful attempt to take the turn (transition relevance place) as the female members are not letting the other speakers take their turn. Even the overlapping that was exercised by both the genders was not supporting the conversation but rather taking it to a deadlock as both genders seemed uninterested in what the other was speaking. Rather, they were more concerned with reflecting on their own opinion. This fact again negates Ferguson’s (1997) stance that interruptions can be supportive, as here, the interruptions and overlapping made the conversation impossible to continue. Ultimately the anchor finds the programme going out of control and the voices of all the members are then muted.

    Conclusion

    Turn taking is considered fruitful for any conversation, as it allows the participants to share their opinions and views equally. But this particular situation reflects a reality of Pakistani society where even the literate women exploit the respect accorded to them culturally. The selected sample proves that during a conversation with the members of parliament belonging to other parties, the female speakers took the cultural advantage of “being women” and interrupted the male participants quite frequently during the conversation and kept on overlapping the male speakers, thereby creating a deadlock by ceasing their turn instead of letting the conversation happen smoothly. They exercised equal power and tried to put forth their argument forcefully, being representative of the opponent party. This research highlights how peculiarities of certain cultures affect conversational patterns and how they can be different from one culture to the other. Established theories of conversation, then, are also subject to different interpretations in different cultures as the facts in those cultures may not necessarily endorse them. 

    Annexure 1:

    Transcription of the TV Talk Show

    Episode # 1:   Anchor, Murad and Sharmila

    Anchor: Pakistan jin mahazoo may ghira hua hy….Aj hum jin 3 issues pay baat krain gay unka taluq waakiatan Pakistan ki existence and survival say hy…Agy hum chalain drones k uper to America nay FATA cross kr dia hy…FATA cross kr k hangu k andr  jo attack kea hy wo bht ziada significant daikha ja rha hy. Is lihaz say k FATA nay Imran Khan Sahb ki call, Chaudhry Nisar ki call pukar, Nawaz Shareef Sahb ka jo ailan hy k unho nay issue uthaya drones attacks ka….

    Anchor: Kal aap kea krain gay Murad Sahb?

    Murad: Hum nay kal NATO supply route ko band krna hy. Wahan pay hamara bharpoor ehtajaj hoga…

    Anchor: Aap supply route band krain gay ya protest kr k a jayain gay?

    Murad: Hum protest krain gay. Foreign policy wafaki hakoomat ka kam hy.

    Anchor: Sharmila Farouqi Sahiba ap ko to koe ehtaraz nhe hoga k  naazrein kehtay hain k yay to usi policy ka tasalsul hy k  drone hamlay ho rhay hain k ap ki hakoomat nay b Pervaiz Musharaf  Sahb ka tasalsul barqarar rakha k foreign policy may jo agreements huay thay…drone hamlay roak nhe sktay thay. Ap ka bus nhe chalta tha ..to ap to condemn nhe krtay na PMNL ko is issue pay? Sharmila Sahiba.

    Sharmila: Shukria Kamran Sahb. Daikhain pehli baat to yay hy  k jb drone attacks shuru huay thay…Imran Khan Sahb nay referendum may vote be dala is himayat may. Imran Khan Sahb to kehtay thay hum drone mar girayain gay. Yay to jb television k upper pressure aya. Talks Shows. Hum nay pucha k bhae Khaber Pakhtoon Khaawh say route jata hy to ap NATO supply roak dain. To us k bad goor o fikr k bad. jub yay sun sunk itni lanatain malantain huein to inho nay kaha g k hum rok dain gay. Ab b aap rooktay q nhe hain? Dusroon ko to app kehtay hain k wicket k dono tarf khail rhay hain. Aap kea kr rhay hain? Kal aap jayain gay wahan per. Jalsa karain gay.2 ganta time zaya krain gay. Wapas a jayain gay. Aap ki haqoomat hy Khaber Pakhtoon Khaw.

    Murad: Aap baad may bat karain(interruption)

    Sharmila: Sunain mjay, may nay beech may aap k nhe interrupt kea. Bht sari baatain kr skti the. To jub aik khatoon baat kr rhe ho na to pathan ka kam hy k mu bnd rakhay.

    Anchor: Yr Murad sahb aap ko moka milayga. Sharmila sahiba to complte kr lain yr. Sharmila sahiba complete kr lain aap.

    Sharmila: Daihain Khaber Pakhtoon Khawh k mardoo may bht tameez hoti hy. Baat yay hy k Kamran sahb hona to yay chaheyay k ..

    Murad: ……

    Anchor: Break pay jana hy hamain. Aap ki bari ayaygi Kea ho gya hy Murad sahb.Yaar Murad sahb Sharmila sahiba to complete kr lain yaar. Aap interrupt kr rhay ho. Sharmila sahiba complete kijeyay aap.

    Sharmila: Daikhain yay to ajeeb baathy..(overlapping)

    Anchor: Nhe nhe complete krain. Yay aap ka haq hy.

    Sharmila: Daikhain Kamran Sahb hona to yay..

    Anchor: Break pay jana hy g

    Murad: Kamran daikhain akhri baat..ap apnay reforms… daikhain Shrmila hum nay corruption ko khatam kea hy..hum nay corrupt logo ko hataq dia..ap ko pta he nhe hy..daikhain sharmila galat tarf na jayain aap. May keh rha hun policy ko..policy ko (overlapping)

    Sharmila: Aap chup rahaaain aap chup rahaaain. Aap chup rahain. Aap baat sunain. Hosla rakhain baat sunnay ka… (interruption)

    Murad: Aram say aram say.. May yay keh rha hun(overlapping)

    Sharmila: Daikhain..rokain yay NATO supply ab tk drone attacks ruktay nhe. Yay aj tk hain k Mulla Masood ki moat pay ro rhay hain. Yay dashat gardoo ki moat pay ro rhay hain..magr much k ansoo baha rhay hain..rokain supply line..jalsa krnay q ja rhay hain..why an hour or two hours?(interruption)

    Anchor: Bara valid point hy Sharmila Sahib aka…is k upper… 

    Sharmila: Mazrat… (interruption)

    Anchor: Murad Sahb yay jis ka b moakaf ho, bara valid point hy.. (interruption)

    Murad: Kamran Sahb aap nay jis tarha inko moaka dia hy, mjay b bolnay ka moaka dijeyay ga aap

    Anchor: G bolyay

    Murad: Number aik yay ..inka dour tha…Gilani Sahb Prime Minister thay or Gilani Sahb farma rhay thay k hum parliament k andr ehtajaj krtay rhain gay.Phr isko ignore krtay rhain gay. Aap drone hamlay krtay jayain…jin logo ka bahr paisa parha hy wo ehtajaj nhe kr sktay. In k aik minister nay NATO supply ka bayan dia to inho nay unki membership cancel krdi the…khatm kr di the….

    Anchor: Acha Murad Sahb aik sawal krun.. (interruption)

    Murad: Nhe Kamran..Kamran sunyay..Kamran sunyay.. (overlapping)

    Anchor: Aap nay Kerry Lugar bill parha hy?

    Murad: G? gg

    Sharmila: Nhe parha hoga (overlapping)

    Murad: Yaar Sharmila aap may nay jo sawal kea hy  uska jawab dain. (overlapping)

    Anchor: Aap Sharmila Sahiba ko choryay . Mayri baat ka jawab day dain…

    Sharmila: May nay to nhe interrupt kea tha aap ki baat ko (overlapping)

    Anchor: Shah Mehmood Kuraishi Sahb jo hain Murad Sahb…

    Sharmila: Jawad to may day dunge (overlapping)

    Murad:  g g..(overlapping)

    Anchor: Gayay Amrica…

    Murad: g g (overlapping)

    Anchor: Kerry Lugar bill lay k… Review krwa k jb ayay dubara…protest hua..l hamaray interest may hy….

    Murad: Daikhyay.. (interruption)

    Anchor: Mairi baat …point to sun lain yr…jawab digeyay..Aap nay khabe Shah Sahb say yay baat puche hy?

    Murad: Hakoomat us waqt PPP k pass the..

    Sharmila: Hunh hmm… (overlapping)

    Murad: …Lakin yay to apnay maal ko bachanay may lgay huay thay…

    Anchor: …acha Murad Sahb maira sawal bara..

    Murad: May nay jawab day dia uska..(interruption)

    Anchor: …Shah Mehmood Kuraishi jaisay…

    Murad: Daikhain..Kamran..aap yahan.. (overlapping)

    Sharmila: May nay Kamran Sahb is ka jawab daina hy(interruption)

    Anchor: May aap ko pura time dunga..G

    Murad: Hum wahan pay dharna day rhay hain. Inho nay patwari k nizam ki khatir….

    Sharmila: Ayay hye hye masoomiat (overlapping)

    Murad: May nay aap say jo jo sawal keay jawab nhe diay aap nay..

    Sharmila: Masoomiat (overlapping)

    Murad: Yahan jo apna sunyay.sunain sunain.aram say sunain…

    Sharmila: Masoomiat (overlapping)

    Murad: Jitnay b waday kr k hum ayay hain…

    Anchor: Break pay jana hy… (overlapping)

    Murad: Aap apnay reforms may….

    Sharmila: 90 days may, nawway din, 90 days may aap nay corruption khatm krni the.kea baat krtay hain manshoor ki? Aap ko kea pta k manshoor kea hota hy? Aap ko kea pta hakoomatain kaisay chalatay hain?Aap ko kea pta k awam ko deliver krna kea hota hy?Aap apni..yay kea heelay bahanay hain k hum United Nations k daftar k bahar dharna dain gay. Nationl Assembly k bahar dharna dain gay. Aap batain na supply line k samnay. Baith jayain. Aap k Parvaiz Khatak, Chief Minister ko bithana chaheyay. Aap ko vote dia hy awam nay. Kam as kam aap say behtar thay wo ANP walay thayjo, dashat gardoo say lartay thay Shaheed hotay thay. App to un say milay huay b hain or un k kam b nhe kr rhay hain.(overlapping)

    Murad: yay bolnay ka tareeka nhe hota hy(interruption)

    Sharmila: Boltay rhain.

    Murad: App ko pta nhe hy q k corrupt logo ko baat krnay ka tareeka he nhe hota. Q k aap corrupt hain. App corrupt hain.(interruption)

    Sharmila: Aap nihayat parsa bn gayay hain..(overlapping)

    Murad: Aap k account khulay hain aap baat nhe kr skte hain(interruption)

    Sharmila: Khursheed…(overlapping)

    Anchor: Murad shb break lay laytay hain

    Sharmila: In say puchain Khursheed Kusuri shb kis k wazir e kharja thay? PPP ka wazir e kharja aap nay lia hua hy. Sb k wazir e kharja aap nay liay huay hain or aap baat krtay hain.(interruption)

    Murad: Jo kch b hy hum nay yahan pay naya culture introduce kea hum nay corrupt ko khariz kr dia.(overlapping)

    Anchor: Murad shb break break..

    Murad: Yahe farq hy hum may or aap may

    Anchor: Chalain ab ho gya farq wazay

    Sharmila: Bht farq hy. Bht farq hy. Aap hamari party k shaheedo ki juti k brabr nhe hain.

    Murad: Sharmila hum nay corrupt logo ko hata dia(overlapping)

    Anchor: May break lay lun na yr

    Sharmila: Aap k leaderan ki tarha buzdil nhe hain mayray leaderan(interruption)

    Anchor: Sharmila sahiba ab aap b khamosh ho jayain. Program ka waqt ho gya hy khatm...Pakistan tanazoo may khara ho chukka..program shuru honay say pehlay b tha ab b hy..or kb niklayga bahr yay sb say important sawal hy. Kal tk k liay mjay izazat digeyay.


    Episode # 2:   Anchor, Murad and Shehla

    Anchor: Bismillah hir rehman nir Raheem, but warm welcome. May hun Kamran Shahid. Aj subh ka din puray Faisalabad or Pakistan k liay sohgawar or clash ka din, ehtajaj ka din jub Faisalabad may Imran Khan Sahb ki call hue or us k bad jo hy wo mubaeyina tor pay ilzam aya hy k Hakoomat ki tarf say, jo PMNL k mubaeyina log faisalabardar, unki firing say jo hy PTI ka karkun jo hy wo janbahaq ho gya. Is k bad jo hy protest nay puray Pakistan may agg pakr li. Haiderabad, Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad massive protest daikhnay may aya.. Lahore may to position yay hy k may abhe ponay gantay walk kr k program ko krnay k liay ayah un, pura Lahore jam hua hua tha…..jo pur amn ehtajaj Imran Khan Sahb nay shuru kea tha wo violent ho chukka hy. Aj hakoomay kitni ghair mustehkam nazr ie is pay hum baat krain gay. Q k hakoomat pay bhari zimidari hy k wo police ki mojoodgi may law and order ko control nhe kr skay….Hamaray sath Ahmed raza Kasuri Sahb mojood hain, Murad Chaudhry Sahb, Shehla Raza Sahiba mojood hain.Kasuri Sahb yay tehreek jo hy kea ap ko nhe lgta k tehreek ki surat ikhtiyar krti ja rhe hy. Purap Pakistan may ehtajaj phailta ja rha hy, rightly or wrongly. Aj ki zimidari kis ki banti hy jo PTI ka karkun janbahaq hua hy.

    Kasuri: Daikhain Kamran may koe pechlay 2 haftay say keh rha tha TV programs may k mjay dar hy k Faisalabad or Lahore may tasadam ho jayayga…

    Murad and Kasuri fight verbally

    Anchor: Band kr dain yr band kr dain …may nay band kra di hy awaz..bnd krain,,,dono parties ki..

    Shehla: Kamran Sahb yay to… (overlapping)

    Anchor: …Shehla Sahiba yay kaisay hua hy

    Shehla: Jaisi parties waisay wakeel(overlapping)

    Shehla: Daikhain Kamran Sahb baat yay hy k, jb may analyze krti hun to daikhti hun k sawal sb k zehn may ata hy k g k pehlay is mulk may dhandli pehlay b hoti the…

    Anchor: G..(overlapping)

    Shehla: Lakin phr aik bht kamzoor hakoomat ie jo 2 saal b nhe chal saki. Lakin is nay National Assembly or Subae Hakoomat k elections aik din may krayay takay shafafiat rhay. Aik or jhamooriay ie jis nay constitutional reforms bnayay. Imran Khan to dharna day k nhe baithay thay na..

    Anchor: G.G. (overlapping)

    Shehla: Dusri hakoomat ie, jo jo electoral reforms ki tarf ja rhe hy. Imran Khan k dharnay say pehlay yay sb ho rha tha.. Yay in logo nay is liay kea k daikhain…

    Murad: Yahan pay hum ehtajaj kr rhay hain… (interruption)

    Shehla: Imran Niazi nay Rasheed Butt k sath yay sb kch is liay kr rhay hain k…

    Murad: Kamran Sahb ap hi btayain yay koe lehja hota hy… (overlapping)

    Shehla: Aik to bilkul tameez nhe hy, hr jga D Chok samajtay hain…. (overlapping)

    Anchor: Murad Sahb … (overlapping)

    Shehla: Daikhain q k yay keh chukay hain k may shumi Waziristan may fauj nhe bhaijta. Inhain bura lg rha hy Zarb e Azb q k yay pro Taliban hain yay chah rhay hain k fauj ko wahan say lay k …..

    Murad: Ap nay fauj ko bhaija k logo ko… (interruption)

    Shehla: …jo hamari baat na manain, usay mar do jala do, gira do…

    Murad: Hum nay Pakistan ko… (overlapping)

    Shehla: ..Yay to ro rhay hain k hum say istifa na lo… (overlapping)

    Anchor:  acha? Murad Sahb ap rotay hain? (overlapping)

    Murad: nhe nhe yay jhoot hy..(overlapping)

    Shehla: Imran Niazi…

    Murad: Kamran Sahb..Kamran Sahb.. (interruption)

    Anchor: Ap aik min rukain jawab day dain…

    Shehla: G Imran Niazi jhoot boltay hain k yay…

    Murad: Galat baat …daikhain Kamran..(interruption)

    Shehla: Nhe may inhay bolnay nhe dunge, may in hain bolnay nhe dunge….

    Murad: Sunyay Kamran Sahb Sunyay Kamran Sahb… (interruption)

    Sheha: May apni baat k bad khamosh….

    Anchor: Mayray to aj control say he bahr chala gya hy program.. (overlapping)

    Shehla: Inho nay seekhay he nhe parliamani..(overlapping)

    Murad: May yahan baitha hua hun..(overlapping)

    Shehla: Kuch seekh lain..yay daikhain  (overlapping)

    Murad: …jb mayray leader nay hukm dia k resign  dain. May wahan… (overlapping)

    Shehla: PTI ki….hy he badzuban.. (overlapping)

    Murad: ..inaudible.. (overlapping)


    Episode # 2:   Anchor, Kasuri and Shehla

    Anchor: Murad Sahb mayra ap say aik sawal hy ruk jayay…..Kasuri sahb yay to mamla kahein jata hua nazr nhe a rha. Matlab dono apnay apnay moakaf pay datay huay hain . Kore referee nazr a rha hy jo a k beech may dono ko samjayay k hat jao pechay?

    Kasuri: Daikhain ap nay kahein deehaat may daikha hy k tang gali ho or aik bhainsa udhr say a rha ho or aik idhr say a rha ho to wo dono seengh gussa laitay hain….

    Ahmed Kasuri and Talal Chaudhry start abusing each other so their voices are muted

    Shehla: Daikhain(interruption)

    Anchor: Thanday ho jayain Kasuri Sahb. Chalain calm down. Shehla Raza Sahiba daikheyay ap k samnay yay halaat ho gayein hain, to ap ko kea lg rha hy k parliament is ka kea hul nikal skti hy?

    Meanwhile the male members continue abusing each other

    Anchor: O bus kr dain bus kr dain

    Shehla: Daikhain Kamran Sahb yay to..

    Anchor: Bus band kr dain yr awaz dono parties ki awaz band kr dain. Yr...Talal Sahb ap chup ho jayain …

    Kasuri and Talal continue to abuse each other verbally

    Anchor: O bus kr dain yr bus kr dain bus kr dain. Kasuri Sahb ap ko lgta hy k speaker quomi assembly …Kasuri sahb zaruri baat puch rha hun ap say

    Kasuri: Daikhain sari cheezain control, sari cheezon ko control kea ja skta hy, provided, senate he ho…

    Anchor: Theil hy.

    Kasuri: Jo log solve krnay walay hain un may hosla or himmat ho..jahan ap is tarha k ghatia logo ko apna representative bula k bhaij dain to wahan to intashaar or phailayga…I tell you yay jo shakhs baitha hy is ka…

    Shehla: This is not a warning this is a threat. (interruption)

    Kasuri: May member parliament tha jb tum paida nhe huay thay…

    Shehla: But that time you were exactly the same thing (interruption)

    Kasuri: Ghatia admi…

    Shehla: Kamran Sahb yay ap k programme ki kamzoori hy k ..(interruption)

    Anchor: Dono ny deay hain aik dusray ko bhae, live show hy

    Kasuri: ..inaudible.. (overlapping)

    Shehla: ..inaudible.. (overlapping)

    Shehla: Ahmed Raza Sahb may ap k mu nhe lgna chah rhe (interruption)

    Murad: Yay wohi.. (interruption)

    Shehla: Kamran Shb yay ap k programme ki ghalti hy… (overlapping)

    Anchor: May to janab aj apni ghalti man rha hy…aj hona he nhe chaheyay tha mayra programme

    Murad: ..samnay a chuki hy (overlapping)

    Shehla: Ap parhay likhay logo ko bulayain. Degree yafta logo ko nhe (interruption)

    Anchor: Hum sub parhay likhay hain mayri nazr may

    Shehla: Degree yafta logo ko na bulayain.. (interruption)

    Kasuri: Parhay likhay log aisay ghatia logo say baat krain?... (interruption)

    Shehla: Kasuri Sahb ap ko kch keh he nhe rhe.. (overlapping)

    Kasuri: …yay badbudar.. (overlapping)

    Shehla: Ap kasoor krtay rhain gay you are Kasuri..(overlapping)

    The voices of both the male and the female members are muted

    Anchor: Bus programme khatam….May sirf ap ko aik baat bta dun jo log yay kehtay hain na k yahan pay hum baith k kch kratay hain ya kch krtay hain aisa kch b nhe hy jo log samnay baithay hain….jaisay log hain waisay he un k representatives hain. To yay ap ksamnain hain..bahr haal afsos k sath programme ka ikhtatam kr rha hun.

References

  • Beattie, G. (1983). Talk: An analysis of speech and nonverbal behaviour in conversation. Milton Keynes, England: Open University Press.
  • Coates, J. (1996). Women Talk. London: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
  • Coates, J. (2004). Women, Men and Language. London: Pearson Educated Limited.
  • Cutting, J. (2002) . Pragmatics and Discourse: A resource book for students. USA: Routledge .
  • Edelsky, C. (1981) . Who’s got the floor? Language in society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Fishman, P. (1980) . Conversational Insecurity’. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
  • Hirsch, R. (1989). Argumentation, information, and interaction: Studies in face-to-face interactive argumentation under different turn-taking conditions. In Gothenburg: Gothenburg monographs in linguistics. Department of Linguistics, University of Göteborg
  • Sacks, H. (1992). Lectures on conversation. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.

Cite this article

    APA : Shams, M., Shams, S. A., & Khan, U. (2021). Conversational Dominance in Mix Gendered Pakistani Political TV Talk Shows. Global Social Sciences Review, VI(II), 406-417. https://doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-II).40
    CHICAGO : Shams, Madiha, Shamim Ara Shams, and Ubaidullah Khan. 2021. "Conversational Dominance in Mix Gendered Pakistani Political TV Talk Shows." Global Social Sciences Review, VI (II): 406-417 doi: 10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-II).40
    HARVARD : SHAMS, M., SHAMS, S. A. & KHAN, U. 2021. Conversational Dominance in Mix Gendered Pakistani Political TV Talk Shows. Global Social Sciences Review, VI, 406-417.
    MHRA : Shams, Madiha, Shamim Ara Shams, and Ubaidullah Khan. 2021. "Conversational Dominance in Mix Gendered Pakistani Political TV Talk Shows." Global Social Sciences Review, VI: 406-417
    MLA : Shams, Madiha, Shamim Ara Shams, and Ubaidullah Khan. "Conversational Dominance in Mix Gendered Pakistani Political TV Talk Shows." Global Social Sciences Review, VI.II (2021): 406-417 Print.
    OXFORD : Shams, Madiha, Shams, Shamim Ara, and Khan, Ubaidullah (2021), "Conversational Dominance in Mix Gendered Pakistani Political TV Talk Shows", Global Social Sciences Review, VI (II), 406-417
    TURABIAN : Shams, Madiha, Shamim Ara Shams, and Ubaidullah Khan. "Conversational Dominance in Mix Gendered Pakistani Political TV Talk Shows." Global Social Sciences Review VI, no. II (2021): 406-417. https://doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-II).40