Pattern, Preference, and Proof: A Corpus-Based Analysis of Authorial Identity through Linguistic Patterns and Self-Representation in Contemporary Pakistani Fiction

Abstract

This study examines how linguistic patterns and stylistic preferences function as empirical markers of authorial identity and self-representation in contemporary Pakistani fiction. Despite growing scholarly interest in identity construction, existing research largely relies on qualitative interpretation, thereby leaving a gap in empirical, corpus-based evidence. Therefore, this study aims to identify recurrent linguistic patterns and analyze how these patterns construct and signify authorial identity. The research is grounded in a combined theoretical framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics, corpus stylistics, and discourse theory, which together conceptualize language as a meaning-making system shaped by choice and context. A mixed-method corpus-based approach was adopted to achieve these objectives. A corpus of contemporary Pakistani fiction (2000–present) was compiled and analyzed using corpus tools such as AntConc. Quantitative techniques, including frequency, keyword, collocation, and concordance analyses, were employed, followed by qualitative interpretation of linguistic patterns. The findings revealed that identity-related lexical fields, first-person narration, metaphorical expressions, and collocational patterns of silence and voice dominate the corpus. These patterns were found to function as consistent markers of fragmented subjectivity and self-representation. The study concludes that authorial identity is not merely interpretive but linguistically traceable through systematic patterns. These findings have contributed to bridging the gap between qualitative literary analysis and quantitative corpus evidence. It is recommended that future research expand corpus size, include multilingual texts, and apply comparative approaches across South Asian literature.