From dharma to drama: A Corpus-based exploration of the word Karma in contemporary English

Deckker, Dinesh and Sumanasekara, Subhashini (2025) From dharma to drama: A Corpus-based exploration of the word Karma in contemporary English. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 26 (3). pp. 1203-1223. ISSN 2581-9615

This study examines the semantic evolution, frequency trends, and cultural representation of the term “Karma” in Western English, with a particular focus on corpus-based evidence from the COCA (Corpus of Contemporary American English), NOW (News on the Web), and Google Ngram Viewer. The research aims to explore how the concept of Karma, rooted in Eastern religious and philosophical traditions, has been adopted, adapted, and transformed in Western discourse. Using quantitative methods including frequency counts, collocation analysis, and genre-based distribution tracking, the study examines how Karma appears across spoken, fictional, academic, and journalistic texts, with temporal and regional variations. The findings reveal that Karma is used predominantly in secular, humorous, or ironic contexts, particularly in digital media and entertainment genres. Collocates such as “instant,” “bad,” and “peanut butter” reflect a notable semantic drift, indicating commercialization and cultural appropriation. Google Ngram data supports a significant post-2000 increase in usage, aligning with the rise of internet culture. Cross-country data reveal a slightly higher frequency and more creative collocates in Indian and Sri Lankan English; however, Western discourse dominates in volume and reinterpretation. The study concludes that Karma has transformed sacred doctrine into a culturally flexible meme, raising questions about the ethics of popularisation. While the concept has gained accessibility, it often loses philosophical depth. This analysis contributes to ongoing debates in corpus linguistics, cross-cultural semantics, and digital discourse analysis