From the Chief Editor's Desk

Medical journals are a credible source of disseminating research and innovations, and Launching a medical journal is a challenging task. Many medical science journals are establishing a platform to publish quality research but still the task is tough and requires perseverance and hard work. Shalamar Medical and Dental College (SMDC) Lahore, strives to promote a culture of research. As part of this initiative, SMDC had launched ‘Medical Journal of Sakina Begum Institute’, but publication of the second volume was delayed due to the pandemic. Moreover, the name of the journal had to be changed due to some administrative issues. However, the committed editorial team was successful in bringing efforts for the latest issue to fruition.

Language as a Discursive Practice: A Critical Study of Scarlett Thomas's Novels

Language as a Discursive Practice: A Critical Study of Scarlett Thomas's Novels This qualitative study takes language as a discursive practice and applies this concept to the texts of two novels (PopCo & The End of Mr. Y) of Scarlett Thomas — contemporary British novelist. It is a theoretical work done with the aim to understand what language as a discursive practice is and to find how this propositionisimplicitlyworkinginnarrativetextsofThomas.Thestudystartswiththis assumption/hypothesisthatlanguageispotentiallyamulti-meaningphenomenonhowever,its meaningfulness is contingent upon the context of its use. Relevant literature has been critically reviewed in Chapter 2 concerning significant aspects of language as a discursive practice. This discussion opens up spaces and creates rationale for the study of language use in the texts of Scarlett Thomas. Poststructuralism as methodological perspective, Discourse Analysis as Research Strategy and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as a method of study have been critically discussed to find out their relevance to the texts under study in Chapter 3. A certain amount of criticism, particularly about the application of Discourse Analysis as Research Strategy and justification of CDA as a relevant method is also part of Chapter 3. The Analysis and Interpretation of the text using framework procedures of Fairclough (1989) is the focus of Chapter 4. Language as a discursive practice is discussed and critiqued with this understanding that how language use in the given texts is presented in a common sense way but implicitly the linguistic constructs are positioned to influence the reader for ideological interests. Based on this discussion of language use in the novels, insights are drawn in Chapter 5 mainly concerning that language is a multi-meaning phenomenon and its social use is always perspectival. Finally limitations/suggestions are also given with focused consideration for reader of narratives specifying that there is an essential need to adopt a creative approach to understanding language as a discursive practice in its possible entirety.