http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/4 Arts 2026-03-08T23:43:28Z http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/2405 STYLISTIC CHOICES AND FUNCTIONS IN SELECTED NOVELS OF CALIXTHE BEYALA JIBRIN, Lucy Jummai Francophone novels, including Calixthe Beyala’s, are prominent for their stylistic choices and aesthetics. Previous studies on Calixthe Beyala's novels focused largely on feminism, anti-patriarchal preoccupation and graphical portrayals of sex and violence, with little attention paid to the connection between stylistic features and thematic concerns. This study was, therefore, designed to examine stylistic choices and functions in the novel of Calixthe Beyala, with a view to determining the stylistic strategies deployed to negotiate meaning in relation to her socio-cultural context. M.A.K Haliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar was adopted as the framework, while the interpretative design was used. Four novels of Calixthe Beyala, were purposefully selected because of their thematic and stylistic relevance. The texts were subjected to the ‘explication de texte’. Five linguistic choices are deployed in the novels: diction, sentence structure, literary tone, figurative expressions and sound devices. Diction is seen in the use of pidgin ‘mec’, ‘caca’ and ‘babingues’ in TTT, derogatory words ‘pute’ in TTT and word contractions ‘p’tet’ in MAA, as the language of the narrators to reflect familiar situations and that of characters in their regular interactions. The variation in sentence structure captures the multiple layers of the characters’ feelings and attitude. Short and truncated sentences are used for exclamation ‘Grand Dieu!’ in MAA, derogation ‘t’es malade ou quoi?’ in CSB and expression of snub ‘pourquoi pas a Paris?’ in TTT. The tone is set by the attitudes and feelings of the narrators or some characters: sadness in Aissatou's song in CCM expressing unreciprocated love, disillusionment by Mariam (MAA) whose expectation of a better life crashes in spite of her migration to France, pessimism about African men's show of affection to their spouses in MAA. Figurative expression, rooted in African oral traditions such as proverbs and metaphors are used in the texts. The proverbs ‘a chaque jour suffit sa peine’ in CSM, and ‘le vent a des oreilles’ in TTT convey fatalism and wisdom. Metaphoric expressions such as ‘l’acceuil est glacial’ in CSB and ‘tu as des mains de passoir’ in TTT explicate coldness of mothers’ unwelcoming towards their daughters who come home empty-handed and women’s extravagant lifestyles. Sound devices such as reiteration, syntactic parallelism and dialogue are deployed for narrative aesthetics. The reiteration of ‘je voulais…’ in CSB conveys the obsession of a wish, while musicality is enforced with rhythmic reiteration. Syntactic parallelism runs across the texts. In CCM, Aissatou reacts four times ‘un temps pour…’ with corresponding syntactical relations ‘partir’, ‘retrouver’, ‘perdre’ and ‘revenir’, to heighten a pleasing melody. Beyala uses dialogue copiously in TTT, CCM and CSB to express feelings. Ada in CSB addresses Jean: ‘ceux qui s'occupent des culottes et oublient de s'occuper de la carrotte …’ to evoke the resonance of ‘culottes’ and ‘carrotte’ Stylistic choices in Calixthe Beyala's novel are characterised by diction, syntactic structure, literary tone, figurative expressions and sound devices that reflect situations, feelings and masculinity. 2023-08-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/2403 REPRESENTATIONS OF TRAUMA IN AFRICAN MIGRANT FICTION AJIBOLA, OPEYEMI OMOWUMI African migrant fiction, which recreates characters’ experiences at home and abroad, is increasingly preoccupied with the representation of dystopian realities. Critical appraisals of the fiction have largely focused on the representation of varied mobilities – migration, exile, transnationalism and afropolitanism – without adequate attention to the depiction of migrant characters’ experiences of traumatic stress, despite its ample representation in the fiction. This study was, therefore, designed to examine the recreation of trauma and characters’ responses to traumatic stress in selected African migrant fiction with a view to establishing that traumatic experiences are not limited to characters’ natal homes. Homi Bhabha’s model of the Postcolonial Theory and Cathy Caruth’s and Judith Herman’s models of Trauma Theory, served as the framework. The interpretative design was used. Ali Farah’s Little Mother (LM), Laila Lalami’s Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits (HODP), Ben Jelloun’s Leaving Tangier (LT), Chika Unigwe’s On Black Sisters’ Street (OBSS), Alain Mabanckou’s Blue White Red (BWR), Brian Chikwava’s Harare North (HN), Fatou Diome’s The Belly of the Atlantic (TBA), and Noviolet Bulawayo’s We Need New Names (WNNN) were purposively selected for their depiction of loss, trauma and suffering. The novels were subjected to critical analysis. Trauma in the novels is doubled-edged, aligning with the dominant estimation of trauma as a double wound. Traumatogenic contexts and events in the postcolony as well as in the diaspora dominate the novels. Pre-migration stressors such as unemployment, poverty and sexual assault characterise the postcolony in LT, OBSS, HODP and TBA; while displacement, deprivation and violence abound in WNNN, HN, LM and BWR, all leading to characters’ experience of Continuous Traumatic Stress. Characters’ response to pre- migration stressors in all the novels is flight. Repetitively traumatised by oppressive poverty, displacement and the inconsistencies that define life in the postcolony, the characters fled their fatherland for the West through legitimate and illegitimate routes. In the diaspora, post-migration stressors are activated by characters’ experiences of disillusionment, racism, joblessness, physical and mental assaults, unhomeliness, the trauma of a paperless existence and the perpetual fear of police brutality. Characters’ responses to post-migration stressors range from developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to committing suicide. Azel in LT and the nameless protagonist in HN experience dissolution of self and suffer from PTSD. In WNNN and LM, Tshaka Zulu, Uncle Kojo and Axad suffer from mental illnesses, while Moussa in TBA commits suicide. However, characters like Massala-Massala in BWR, Aunt Fostalina and Darling in WNNN, Faten in HODP and Efe, Ama and Joyce in OBSS largely display resilience in the face of trauma. There is recurring adoption of multiple narrative voices, symbolism and journey motif in OBSS, LM, HODP and HN, while irony and traumatic realism are employed in LT, WNNN, TBA and BWR. Migrant characters’ precarious, liminal and subaltern existence, both at home and abroad, bears witness to trauma’s mobility across space and time in African migrant fiction. This destabilises the hegemonic conception of the West as the Promised Land. 2021-12-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/2391 A PHONOLOGICAL STUDY OF SELECTED YORÙBÁ-ENGLISH BROCA’S APHASICS AT THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL, ÌBÀDÀN AWÓNÍYÌ, Fó̩ló̩runs̩ó̩ Emmanuel Bilingual aphasia, an acquired language disorder in which individuals exhibit parallel impairment in the different modalities of speech in two languages, is a major global public health issue. Extant phonological studies on aphasia in Nigeria have focused mainly on the description of segmental and prosodic features of spoken English in bilingual aphasics, with scant attention paid to the description of their sound patterns in local languages. This study was, therefore, designed to examine the phonology of Yoruba-English Broca’s aphasics, with a view to determining their phonological processes and language preference. Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle’s Generative Phonology was adopted as the framework, while the descriptive design was used. Twelve Nigerian Yoruba-English Broca’s aphasics were purposively selected from the University College Hospital, Ibadan, based on their availability and suitability. Unstructured interviews were conducted with the aphasics using culture-related drawings that depict different aspects of a typical Nigerian traditional and social life. The data were subjected to phonological analysis. The articulation deficits of the participants revolved around substitution, deletion, and insertion. Substitution patterns involve fricative stopping, in which the voiceless alveolar fricative [s] was consistently substituted with the voiceless alveolar plosive [t]. Both segments differ in their manner of articulation features. While [t] is [-continuant], [s] is [+continuant]. Lateralisation of approximant was also common with the substitution of [l] for [r]. The two segments differ in their manner of articulation features. While [r] is [-lateral], [l] is [+lateral]. Backing of alveolar manifested in the substitution of [f] for [s] where a [-labial] replaced a [+labial]. Lowering and backing of vowels were exhibited in the substitution of [i] for [u] or [a], where [i] is [+high] [-back], [u] is [+back], and [a] is [-high]. Deletion of a segment was common with palato-alveolar affricate [ʤ] in word-initial position, #[+del rel]  Ø and alveolar nasal [n] in word medial positions, －[+nasal]－ Ø. Simplification of complex segments manifested mainly in doubly articulated sounds such as [k͡p] and [g͡b]. Insertion was noticeable in Yoruba words which begin with mid-front vowels [e] and [ԑ], where #[+syll] is realised as #[+cons]. The lack of certain segments which are present in English but absent in Yoruba often induced interference in the speech of these bilingual aphasics, even in their pre-morbid stage. Such segments are voiced labiodental fricative [v], voiced alveolar fricative [z], schwa [ə] and cuneiform [ʌ]. In describing the culture-related drawings, the participants showed a preference for the Yoruba language when compared with English. They expressed more enthusiasm as they engaged in diverse conversations using the Yoruba language. The speech of the selected Yoruba-English Broca’s aphasics in the University College Hospital, Ibadan is dominated by substitution, deletion, and insertion, and they exhibited a preference for spoken Yoruba instead of English. Caregivers and rehabilitation experts should, therefore, consider the linguistic background of the aphasics in determining treatment protocol. 2023-12-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/2389 THE PRAGMATICS OF APOLOGY IN SELECTED PLAYS OF WOLE SOYINKA AND OLA ROTIMI ODEKUNBI, Sunday Kehinde Apology, a face-supporting act that maintains harmony between interactants in discourses, also occurs in drama texts, including those of Wole Soyinka and Ola Rotimi. Extant linguistic studies on apology largely focused on the functions and strategies for realising apologies in different languages and cultures, with scant attention paid to the use of apologies in drama texts. This study was, therefore, designed to investigate the deployment of apology in selected plays of Wole Soyinka and Ola Rotimi, with a view to determining their types, contexts and pragmatic acts. John Gumperz’s Theory of Interactional Sociolinguistics, complemented by M. A. K. Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar and Jacob Mey’s Pragmatic Acts Theory, was adopted as the framework. The descriptive design was used. Wole Soyinka and Ola Rotimi were purposively selected because of their literary versatility and prominent deployment of apology in their plays. Four texts (two from each playwright) were purposively selected because of their thematic relevance. The ones from Wole Soyinka were Alapata Apata (AA) and Kongi’s Harvest (KH), while those from Ola Rotimi were The Gods Are Not to Blame (TG) and Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again (OH). The data were subjected to pragmatic analysis. Four types of apology were identified: review apology, constraint apology, offence- reducing apology and routine apology. These apology types captured the rationale for apology performance in the texts. Review and constraint apology types are motivated by self-realisation of mistakes committed and prevention of imminent problems. Offence-reducing apology downplays the seriousness of an offence committed, while routine apology reveals the role of power in apology performance. Four context types were found: cultural, political, elitist and cognitive. Cultural context captures apologies that are employed when cultural issues are discussed, and it is found in all the apology types (OH, TG and AA and KH). Political context embraces the discourse of politics- related issues and features in routine and offence-reducing apology types (OH). Elitist context captures apology performance influenced by educational and intellectual superiority, and it manifests in offence-reducing apology (OH). Cognitive context projects apologies influenced by mental realisation of offence committed; this manifests in review apology (TG, AA and OH). Four categories of practs characterise the apologies, namely wrong-admitting, relationship-mending, favour-seeking and wrong-ascribing. The practs indicate the implications of the apologies for enhancing individual self-assessment and ensuring social cohesion. Wrong-admitting practs indicate admittance of offence; they manifest the allopracts of pleading, regretting, soothing, disdaining and repairing (AA, TG, KH and OH). The relationship-mending practs capture relationship-restoring capacity of apologies; they display the allopracts of pleading, regretting, soothing, disdaining and repairing (AA, OH, TG and KH). Favour-seeking practs have pleading allopracts (AA and TG). Wrong-ascribing practs demonstrate opposing and ignoring allopracts (OH). The apology types in the selected plays of Wole Soyinka and Ola Rotimi and practs in different contexts reflect the harmony-restoration orientation of apologies. 2023-09-01T00:00:00Z