Pakistani undergraduate students learning English fiction: an insight into perceptions of identity, rights and duties in relation to four novels

ABSTRACT

This paper presents original research which investigates university students’ perceptions of identity, rights and duties in relation to four novels at a public-sector university in Sindh, Pakistan. Reader-response framework and model of citizenship are used as theoretical frameworks guiding this study. The findings are based on data supplied by 26 participants through interviews. The key arguments based on findings of this study are that the participants discussed and connected to identity, rights and duties in the novels that were geographically, socially and temporally close in terms of their context which was as expected in light of Rosenblatt’s framework. These results are important for curriculum designers, teachers and researchers of citizenship, fiction and education in the context as they provide significant insights into students’ perceptions in relation to fiction.

KEYWORDS:

• Identity
• rights
• duties
• fiction
• Pakistan

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan [1]; Charles Wallace Trust [2].

Notes on contributors

Ghazal Kazim Syed

Dr Ghazal Kazim Syed works as an Assistant Professor at University of Sindh, Pakistan. She completed her doctoral studies from University of York, UK. Her research interests include teaching of citizenship through literature and readers' response to fiction.