Journal of English Studies Dialogue (JESD)

Fourth Wave Feminism and Digital Activism in Contemporary Women’s Writing

Fatima Batool — 2026-03-28

Fourth wave feminism has emerged as a powerful social and cultural movement characterized by its deep integration with digital technologies and online activism. Unlike earlier feminist waves that primarily relied on traditional forms of mobilization, the fourth wave is strongly associated with digital platforms such as social media, blogs, and online literary spaces. These platforms have significantly transformed the ways feminist ideas are articulated, circulated, and contested within contemporary women’s writing. The present study investigates the relationship between fourth wave feminism and digital activism and examines how these forces influence themes, narrative strategies, and ideological frameworks within contemporary women’s literary production. The research particularly focuses on how digital feminist movements such as MeToo, Times Up, and online feminist campaigns shape literary expression and empower female authors to challenge patriarchal structures. Using a quantitative analytical approach supported by Smart-PLS structural equation modeling, the study examines the relationships between digital activism, feminist consciousness, literary empowerment, and narrative transformation in contemporary women’s writing. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire distributed among scholars of literature, feminist researchers, and postgraduate literature students familiar with contemporary feminist texts. The conceptual model proposes that digital activism positively influences feminist consciousness and literary empowerment, which subsequently enhance feminist narratives in contemporary literary works. The results reveal that digital activism significantly contributes to the development of feminist awareness among authors and readers and promotes the emergence of transformative literary narratives that challenge gender inequality. Additionally, feminist consciousness mediates the relationship between digital activism and literary empowerment. The findings demonstrate that contemporary women’s writing increasingly reflects the concerns of digital feminism, including gender justice, online solidarity, intersectionality, and resistance to systemic oppression. This study contributes to feminist literary scholarship by empirically demonstrating the connection between digital activism and literary production. It highlights the transformative role of digital platforms in shaping feminist discourse within contemporary literature and emphasizes the importance of digital activism in expanding feminist literary voices

Patriarchy and Female Agency in English Literary Texts

Nayab Qasim — 2026-03-28

This paper examines the relationship between patriarchal structures and female agency in English literary texts through a feminist critical framework. Drawing on the theoretical contributions of Simone de Beauvoir, Elaine Showalter, Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, and Judith Butler, the study analyzes how literary narratives construct and regulate female identity within patriarchal systems. Using a qualitative, text-based methodology grounded in close reading, the paper explores how female characters are confined to symbolic roles, restricted to domestic spaces, and denied narrative authority. At the same time, the analysis highlights the subtle and complex forms of agency that emerge within these constraints, including negotiation, reinterpretation of social roles, and moments of narrative self-assertion. The study argues that female agency in English literature is rarely absolute but is instead characterized by ambivalence and partial resistance. By examining both patriarchal control and female resistance, the paper contributes to feminist literary scholarship by offering a nuanced understanding of how gendered power relations are reproduced and contested within literary texts

Perceived Teaching Quality and Student Academic Engagement

Nimra Subhan Qureshi — 2026-03-28

This study examines the relationship between perceived teaching quality and student academic engagement in a university context. Drawing on engagement theory and institutional support perspectives, the study investigates how students’ perceptions of instructional clarity, organization, feedback, responsiveness, and teaching methods influence their level of academic involvement. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was employed using Likert-scale measures collected from university students across different disciplines and years of study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, correlation, and multiple regression techniques. The results indicate that perceived teaching quality is a strong and statistically significant predictor of student academic engagement, even after controlling for demographic variables. The model explains a substantial proportion of variance in engagement, highlighting the central role of instructional practices in shaping student academic behavior. The findings suggest that effective teaching is a key institutional mechanism for promoting student participation, effort, and interest in learning. The study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the instructional determinants of engagement and offers practical implications for higher education institutions seeking to improve student outcomes through enhanced teaching quality.

Human Creativity versus Machine-Generated Narratives: A Critical Study of AI-Generated Literature

Subhan Qureshi — 2026-03-28

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed creative writing, introducing machine-generated narratives that challenge traditional notions of human creativity. This study critically examines the interplay between human authorship and AI-generated literature, evaluating whether machine-produced narratives can replicate or enhance the artistic and cognitive dimensions of human creativity. By exploring the technological, cognitive, and literary frameworks underpinning AI narrative generation, this research investigates the aesthetic, thematic, and structural characteristics of machine-authored texts compared to human-authored works. The study also explores the reception and evaluative criteria applied by readers and critics to AI-generated narratives, highlighting ethical, cultural, and literary implications. A quantitative research design was employed using structured surveys and expert evaluations of AI-generated and human-authored texts. Data were analyzed the relationships between key constructs, including Perceived Creativity, Narrative Complexity, Emotional Resonance, and Authorial Authenticity. The conceptual model posits that while AI narratives exhibit high structural and syntactic complexity, human creativity maintains superiority in emotional depth, thematic originality, and cultural contextuality. The results indicate that AI-generated narratives can complement human creativity in enhancing plot structure, linguistic variety, and genre experimentation. However, human authors retain a decisive advantage in conveying nuanced emotions, cultural insight, and imaginative originality. Perceived creativity is positively associated with narrative complexity and emotional resonance, with human authorship significantly mediating these relationships. The findings underscore the hybrid potential of AI-assisted writing as a collaborative tool rather than a replacement for human imagination. This study contributes to literary theory, computational creativity, and digital humanities by providing empirical evidence of the strengths and limitations of AI in literature. It emphasizes the ethical, creative, and aesthetic considerations that must guide the integration of machine-generated narratives into literary production and critical evaluation frameworks.

Voices from the Margins: Identity, Power, and Exclusion in English Literary Texts

Tuqeer Zafar — 2026-03-28

This paper examines the representation of marginal voices in English literary texts, focusing on the interrelated dynamics of identity, power, and exclusion. Drawing on postcolonial theory, feminist literary criticism, and cultural studies, the study explores how literary discourse constructs marginality and regulates whose voices are rendered visible, legitimate, or silenced. Using a qualitative, text-based methodology grounded in close reading and critical discourse analysis, the paper analyzes how marginalized characters and narrators negotiate identity within structures shaped by gendered, colonial, and class-based power relations. The analysis demonstrates that marginal voices in English literature are frequently constrained by dominant narrative frameworks that mediate or suppress subaltern perspectives. At the same time, literary texts provide contested spaces in which marginalized subjects articulate resistance, challenge dominant meanings, and expose the instability of hegemonic discourses. Rather than presenting marginality as inherently liberatory, the study highlights its ambivalent nature, shaped simultaneously by resistance and structural limitation. By foregrounding voices from the margins, the paper contributes to literary debates on representation and power, emphasizing the importance of examining exclusion not as absence but as a discursive process embedded within literary form and narrative authority.