Transitivity Analysis of Indian Newspapers' Editorials on the Revocation of Kashmir’s Special Status

This study explores transitivity in the ideational meta-function of language in the editorials of two Indian English newspapers, namely the Indian Express and the Hindu. This research aimed to examine the representation of Kashmir’s special status in Indian newspaper editorials and to find the frequently appearing types of transitivity processes in Indian newspapers about revoking Kashmir’s special status. The transitivity analysis was carried out by using the UAM corpus analysis tool through which the text of the editorials was first tagged and then analyzed. The study selected 31 editorials from the Indian Express and the Hindu for the study. This was a clause analysis, and all the types of processes, participants and circumstances were investigated. The study utilized quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods. The quantitative findings UAM corpus tool revealed: Transitivity processes =498, Participants=897, Circumstantial elements = 257. The material process accounted for 59.58% of the total (600), the mental process accounted for 5.06% (51), the relational process accounted for 16.39% (165), the verbal process accounted for 6.06% (61), the existential process accounted for 1.49% (15) and the behavioral process accounted for 1.99 percent (20). The transitivity analysis stood as one of the significant discourse models to unveil the hidden meaning present in the text. Transitivity analysis allowed for the in-depth analysis of the selected editorials. The analysis revealed three major themes, including the justification of the decision about the revoked Article 370, the regional and international implications of the decision and the counter-narrative of the decision. These three themes were decoded using transitivity analysis. The Indian editorials strategically utilized participants, process and circumstances to present the decision about the revocation of Kashmir's Special status. The linguistic choices used in the editorials unveiled power dynamics, tension, prospects, consequences, threats and other aspects.