Pakistan Research Horizon Volume 1, Issue 1

Digital content has a big effect on people and has changed the way we watch movies in many ways. Movies and series aired on modern streaming  services, especially Netflix, have grabbed the attention of the masses. The essence of historical phenomena and iconic artists has been observed in the  modern cinema of the 21st century. Likewise, this study is based upon the  top-rated Spanish series of 2019, Money Heist (La casa de Papel). Through  symbols, the researchers tried to find Dali in the two characters, that is, Professor and Berlin in the TV show Money Heist. The study intended to find how these characters reflect Dali through symbols, colors, and actions. The study followed Jung’s theory of symbolism (1964) from his book “Man and  His Symbols.” The researchers conducted the study through the methodology of Leewen’s multimodal approach (1996) of visual analysis, which states that meanings are communicated not just through verbal
mode but also through visual mode. This study is significant because of its innovative methodology. The findings of the study confirm the traces of the iconic artist Dali in the characters of Professor and Berlin through their symbols, colors, and actions in Money Heist

Mehwish Sahibzada, Maheen Yousaf, Shazia Tareen

Corresponding author: Mehwish Sahibzada: mehwishsahibzada@gmail.com

01-18

This paper aims to comparatively analyze the politics of pandemics. The central question, it addresses, is how the governments of the US, and Pakistan tried to respond to the pandemic and how the ruling parties and oppositions in these states manipulated the crises for their respective political gains at the cost of citizens’ health. This paper argues that the strategies adopted by the governments of the aforementioned states included medical care, quarantine, and the introduction of a culture of social distance. The medical strategies included funding medicinal projects to discover a cure for the pandemic. On the quarantine front, these states adopted a strategy to impose the lockdown and established quarantine centers. However, the opposition parties used the
loopholes in the stated strategy to delegitimize the ruling parties. This paper found that the inconsistent approach adopted by the Trump administration in the US towards COVID 19 resulted in its decline and ultimate defeat in the recent elections. Similarly, Imran’s strategy in the medical sector was not effective. There were many similarities in the strategies and discourses of the two leaders. The state in both cases distanced itself from the citizens and opted for herd immunity which led to a health disaster. The methodology adopted in this study is primarily descriptive and qualitative. This research will open new research avenues for political science students to enquire further into the relationship between state and society during pandemics

Dr. Adil Khan, Dr. Nazakat Awan, Abdul Waheed

Corresponding author: Dr. Adil Khan: adilseemab@gmail.com

01-09

In educational life, every student has to decide about the major field that  would ultimately affect his prospects and career. The objective of this study  is to find out the role of economic factors in determining the choice of  major subjects. The major fields are categorized into four broader categories; arts and humanities; social sciences; computational sciences, and natural sciences. Data is collected through questionnaires while the  multinomial logit model is used to estimate the relative risk ratios. The  empirical results of the model confirm that Pakistani students do not  consider different important economic factors while selecting their major  fields of study. This study recommends that students should start thinking fairly, practically, and scientifically to attain the optimal results from their  choice of major fields.

Waqas Ahmed, Maria Siddique, Hilal Mubarak, Shahwana Sadaf

Corresponding author: Waqas Ahmed: malik.waqas9390@gmail.com

01-12

This study is based on the most critical phenomenon of contemporary times that is cyberbullying. For this purpose, Cybernetics is considered to be a milestone in introducing a technology-oriented age. Advancements in the field of scientific studies furnished the traditional ways of life. Social media and websites are used for communication purposes. Such a virtual medium is known as cyberspace. In this study two television films, Cyberbully (2011) and Unfriended (2014) are selected for analysis. To meet the objectives of the research, the theoretical underpinnings of the space transition theory of Jaishankar (2008) and the content analysis of Berger (1991), are adopted. It is described that by utilizing popular modern-day apps, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Skype, Gmail, Spotify, and Instagram, the technophiles have been facilitated but it has its devastating impacts too. By the dark usage of technology, humanity can also suffer as the characters from the selected movies have suffered. This study depicted that people in virtual communities behave differently as there is no sense of fear or guilt. Individuals are easily targeted and bullied online. Cyber security is the issue of the day due to which critical information and shreds of evidence can be leaked even by close friends, mates, and relatives. The analysis of the characters emphasized that transient attitudes can bring remarkable twists in one’s life. Laura and Taylor faced victimization and discrimination due to cyberbullying. Additionally, cyberbullying can bring notable psychological annoyance, depression, anxiety, and stress. The study is substantial in depicting that technology is indispensable.

Ulfat Bano, Nabia Abdullah

Corresponding author: Ulfat Bano: ulfatbanO44@gmail.com

01-12

In the novel, Paulo Coelho takes on the man’s old quest for self[1]realization. This study suggests the method preached by Paulo Coelho to acquire knowledge about the Self. Paulo Coelho’s novel The Alchemist is a tale about a Spanish boy, confronted by a quest for treasure. This internal conflict intrigues him to embark on a journey for a treasure hunt. The tale is more of an allegory, a story within a story. He is on a treasure hunt. But deep inside he seeks to find the treasure that lies inside him. The current study on the novel intends to search for the execution plan, adopted by the protagonist in realizing his journey towards self-realization. The researchers have applied the Close Reading technique to analyze Santiago’s journey towards self-realization. Thematic analysis has been employed to seek the protagonist’s journey towards self-realization.

Hashir Iftikhar, Momina Amjid, Huria Khan

Corresponding author: HashirIftikhar: hashir.iftikhar@gmail.com

01-07

The present study is based on an exploratory analysis of The God of Small Things (1997). The novel exposes 1960s Indian politics and social life. Roy has presented strong images. It urges readers to distillate into the standards and mythologies of Indian contemporary emerging racial discrimination and struggles for class, enclosed in the direction of the time in Ayemenem. The story revolves around families which are still under the influence of colonization. The text of the novel has been interpreted under the lens of post-colonialism from the perspective of existentialism and colonialism to explore the identity crisis in post-colonial literature. The present research depicts that after the period of colonization, existentialism’ has been intersected with post-colonial philosophy due to the emergence of identity crisis in the masses. People of the post-colonial era have badly suffered from the self-adjusting process due to their hybrid identity and chaos. They have been in a continuous struggle to adapt to the colonizer’s identity and to maintain it as well. They are made to feel that their language, culture, and way of living do not befit the standards. This is why the decolonized nations are still struggling to maintain their own native identity and to get modernized as per western standards

Corresponding author: Bakht Bibi Sanzar: sanzarbakht@gmail.co

01-08