PROFANITY IN NAWAL EL SAADAWI’S WOMAN AT POINT ZERO

Abstract

This study examined the negative effects of profane words on the individuals. Swearing isprevalent in our society and men are said to be bigger swearers than women. Although swearingis not gender-specific, it is believed to be reserved for men because women are expected tospeak ‘properly’. (Knyazyan, 2015). One of the purposes of the study is to investigate theeffects of swear words on the individuals. The work achieved this by investigating throughqualitative descriptive method the literary workof Nawal el Saadawi’sWoman at Point Zero,to reveal the negative effect of profane words on the individuals. A total number of five (5)utterances were purposively selected from the texts. Impoliteness theory propounded byJonathan Culpeper in 1996 formed the theoretical framework. This theory helps in analysizingthe selected utterances from El Saadawi’sWoman at Point Zero. An attempt was made to seethe extent profane words affect individuals. The researcher found out that most people swearto ridicule a person, to attack the face, the damage the face, to accuse, to express one’s feelingsand so on. The study recommends that other researchers should broaden the study using otherapproaches (i.e pragmatic and stylistic approaches) other than sociolinguistic approach.