How Matrilineal are the Khasis in Northeast India? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Gender and Identity

Discourse on the Khasi matrilineal community in Northeast India, allude to identity from a gendered perspective. This research article examines Khasi identity in newspaper discourse using critical discourse analysis in six editorial and reporting articles from local and national English newspapers that have focused on Khasi collective life. Structural relationships of dominance, power, control, and discrimination are evident in language use in discourse. A schism exists between perceived and real experiences of Khasi men and women in the news texts that depict the role of gender in identity. Implications of gender in perceptions of identity threat are echoed in the texts.