Van Leeuwen’s Categorization of Lower Caste Christians are in Our Lady of Alice Bhatti

This study tries to explore how the lower caste Christians are represented in the text of a novel, Our Lady of Alice Bhatti, by Mohammad Hanif. Applying van Leeuwen’s categorization from the SAR (Social Actor Representation) model, it deconstructs the textual representation of lower caste Christians in the text by the Muslim social actors and middle and upper-class Christians. Also, it attempts to highlight how the discursive representation of lower caste Christians as identification (what they are) and functionalization (what they do) presents them as marginalized characters. How these characters are appraised negatively owing to their caste and religion in the text is also presented. Van Leeuwen’s SAR emphasizes that such discursive recontextualization of the social actors by the writers reflects discrimination against these characters. These social roles given to them show their suppression in society. The analysis reveals that the representation of lower caste Christians demonstrates the following characteristics: they are represented as Choohras shit cleaners, untouchables, which is the major cause of discrimination in Pakistan. Through such depiction of lower caste Christians, the writers want to highlight the sorry plight of lower caste Christians in Pakistan.