Gendered Silences and Critical Openings in Nepal’s Grade XII English Textbook: An FCD Analysis

Abstract

The focus of this article is on how gendered power, female agency, and resistance are discursively represented in a Grade XII English textbook published by Nepal's Curriculum Development Center. Through reading passages, literary choices, visual cues, and post-reading exercises, Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (FCDA) of textbook discourse investigates the reproduction and resistance of patriarchal common sense, as well as the potential of textbook discourse to advance gender equality. The study analyzes chosen gender-related units from the Grade XII English textbook using FCDA. It takes the ideological structure and practice of gender, following Lazar´s FCDA principles, as its basis, treats gendered power as a complex phenomenon, and identifies dispositional discourse as both a site where gender is constructed, negotiated, and resisted. Results demonstrate four interrelated patterns: the normalization of heterosexual and patriarchal family forms, the partial historicization of women's subordination, the inclusion of strong feminist and intersectional voices, and a shifting of gender critique to reflective exercises that rely heavily on teachers' mediation. This article argues that the textbook offers important openings for feminist pedagogy, particularly through the works of Audre Lorde and Julia de Burgos. Still, these remain positioned within a context of male authorship or heteronormative marriage discourse and lexical objectification of women at times throughout. The research has implications for the literature on gender and English Language Teaching frameworks in South Asia by illustrating how textbooks can function at once as conduits of hegemonic ideology and as sites of feminist consciousness-raising.