Literary Language: A Unique Experimentation

Asemka , 2016

This study is premised on the sociolinguistic assumption that “ human beings have the capacity to use language appropriately by selecting from their total linguistic repertoires those formal elements which match the communicative needs of particular situations” (Lawal, 2012, p. 26). One such formal element, foregrounding, is described by Yankson (1987) as occurring when there is prominence of a literary facility that draws attention to itself. This principle of foregrounding shows that even everyday conversations reveal literary properties (Carter, 2002), so is ritual verbal communications such as the funeral libation text. The study proposes that Bɔrbɔr Mfantse funeral libation texts achieve both artistic and content relevance through the use of schematic foregrounding. Twenty-four libation texts were recorded during funeral ceremonies held in the Bɔrbɔr Mfantse Nkusukum traditional area of the Central Region. The texts were then transcribed, translated into English, and analysed in the source language, using the formalistic approach. The analysis of the texts revealed that specific schemes such as refrain, parallelism, free repetition, anaphora, epistrophe, anadiplosis, antistrophe and symploce are used by performers. The paper concludes that the schematic patterns evinced in the texts establish their essence in achieving poetic effect of foregrounding both content and artistry. The paper, therefore, demonstrates that stylistic tools could be used to interpret oral literary data.

Kampala International University Journal of Education

It is noted that scholars of linguistics have argued and proved that stylistics is a two-faced sub-linguistic field. In essence, stylistics is relevant in the study of both linguistic and literary texts which serves as the basis for distinguishing linguistic stylistics from literary stylistics. Literary texts are usually analysed to bring to fore the essence of focusing on the language of literature but to also demonstrate the concerns of literary-stylisticians as they set definite boundaries in analysing literary texts. In this paper, a poem titled “Goloba” by Ademola Dasylva is analysed to justify the claim that linguistic stylistics is a veritable approach for analysing and interpreting literary texts, by looking into the graphological features, phonological features, lexico-syntactic features and lexico-semantic features inherent in the poem. These linguistic features are distinctive in interpreting literary texts and the distinctions between linguistic stylistics and literary s...

3L Language Linguistics Literature, 2012

Most likely, many literary scholars first encounter the word poetics when reading Aristotle's celebrated treatise which attempts to give a descriptive template to (dramatic) literature. In modern times the word seems to have been transformed beyond the simplistic frame that Aristotle gave it. Interestingly, the emergence of the linguistic and critical avant-gardes like de Saussure, Chomsky, Jakobson, Halliday, Todorov, and Scholes, brought fresh and radical insights into the world of language/literary studies. Hence, as poetics is applied in linguistic/literary discourse today, it gives prominence to the study of language as a component of literature on one hand, and on the other, it provides indelible insights into what literature does to language expressions when they find definitive stance in the form. Considering poetics as indexical compass in the evaluation of literature, this essay probes into the applications of the term in literary criticism, taking-off from the standpoints of linguistic aestheticians who have somewhat attempted to apply it. The analogous result of this ambition is suggestive of literary theory. This then raises the question of the applicability of the several poetics-oriented theories to the evaluation of African literary aesthetics, which from the post colonial angle, is unparaphraseably extraneous to the scientific critical postulations of the West.

The Language of African Literature

This paper examines the practical application of linguistic and creative tools in Chika Unigwe' s On Black Sisters' Street and Night Dancer. This study relies significantly on the notion of stylistics, with its creative and linguistic naunces, to enhance a more holistic understanding and appreciation of the select texts. Based on linguistic evidence, the novels reveal the physical and psychic effects of the postcolonial realities on the post-colonial subjects. The descriptive system of the texual analysis shows that the artistic values of the novels are illuminated primarily through the language and creative techniques employed by the author in the select novels. Unigwe's creative manipulation of languages in the select texts shows that most Nigerian writers in particular have eventually arrived at a linguistic compromise between the target and the indigenous languages as well as pidgin. This does not just reflect the dexterousness of the author as a story teller with exciting linguistic, stylistic, and structural awareness but indeed, the nature of Nigeria as a dense linguistic ecology. The author's skillful manipulation of the English language in such a way that it still encapsulates the indigenous knowledge and culture, as well as the striking creative techniques employed makes her message vigorous and captivating to the readers since they invoke clear mental pictures, code variation, linguistic appositioning/substitution, transliteration, narrative framing and other stylistic peculiarities, all for linguistic foregrounding, artistic beauty and signification. It is the opinion of this paper that more African writers, especially young and developing writers should creatively use the languages both foreign and indigenous at their disposal not just to suit the African milieu or experience but to promote the indigenous languages, and also widen and deepen the aesthetic taste of their artistic productions.

ABSTRACT This article aims to discuss some points on literary aesthetics and interpretation with a focus on African literature and within the framework of the theory of stylistic criticism. The aesthetic dimension distinguishes African literature as a specific artistic creation in the comity of global culture. Literature like any work of art is prone to different interpretations and reactions as the phenomenologist Roman Ingarden has pointed out. But the criticism and interpretation of African literature must be carried out within the context of Africa’s peculiar tradition and values. In the attempt to discover the artistic status of a work, the interpretations must decipher the extraordinary in the formal aesthetic features of the work. The way a writer has made an ordinary story to look special beyond what is familiar gives the work its aesthetic value. Artful African work of fiction seeks to present the meaning of African social and cultural issues in a malleable poetic and narrative language, richly symbolic, that is imaginatively persuasive with a power to capture attention and emotionally sanctify the reader. Key words: African literature, aesthetics, criticism, judgment, appreciation. ABSTRAIT Cet article a l'intention de discuter un certain nombre de points sur l'esthétique et l’interprétation littéraires en se concentrant sur la littérature africaine dans le cadre de la théorie de la critique stylistique. La dimension esthétique distingue la littérature africaine comme une création artistique spécifique dans le comité de culture globale. La littérature comme n'importe quelle œuvre d'art est encline à de différentes interprétations et aux réactions, comme Roman Ingarden, le phénoménologiste a montré. Mais la critique et l'interprétation de la littérature africaine doivent être réalisées dans le contexte de la tradition particulière de l'Afrique et de ses valeurs. Dans la tentative de découvrir le statut artistique d'un travail, les interprétations doivent déchiffrer l'extraordinaire dans les traits esthétiques formels du travail. La façon dans laquelle un auteur a transformé une histoire banale en un texte particulier au-delà de ce qui est familier donne au travail sa valeur esthétique. La création artistique d’une œuvre de fiction africaine cherche à présenter le sens des problèmes sociaux et culturels africains dans un langage poétique et narratif malléable, richement symbolique, qui est imaginativement persuasif, capable de capturer l'attention et sanctifier le lecteur avec émotion.

2006

This paper establishes Igbo English, in creative writing, as a deliberate but significant stylistic device, which arises from the influence or interference of the Igbo language and culture. This mode of writing transfers the oral style into the written tradition, and this way, it captures the Igbo worldview in English. Often, this peculiar and very effective linguistic style creates no problems for the Igbo or African reader. But for the Western reader whose language has been used, there are semantic problems arising from lack of knowledge of the African culture and worldview. This paper is, therefore, of the view that for a proper interpretation and understanding of Igbo English works, non-African readers have to understand the traditions, which give rise to such texts and also the contexts in which such adaptations are used. ______________

Stylistics is considered as a branch of applied linguistics. It analyses literary or non-literary text in an objective way. It has got immense vitality in analysing, understanding and comprehending literary work of art. Therefore I have taken this topic for the discussion. This very article will focus on the term stylistics ,it's role and its distinction from literary criticism. Two approaches of stylistics : linguistic stylistics and literary stylistics are discussed in general terms. This study will focus on which approach is better or more apt for the readers understanding of the literary piece. After all literature is created for the readers/audience(drama, one act plays) so, their understanding it is important. This article will also discuss the relationship between linguistics, stylistics and literary criticism.

2019

A linguistic analysis of literature has caused debates among linguists and between linguists and literary critics. The debate among linguists occurs because they have different opinions regarding the nature of literary language, while the debate between linguists and literary scholars arises as literary scholars question the authority of linguistics to study literary writings. Therefore, in this paper I argue that the language of literature is similar to that of non-literary texts, and I also believe that because the centrality of language in literary writings, linguistics, as the study of language, has the authority to study literature. One linguistic approach to literature is stylistics, which studies the forms, functions, and meanings of literary language in a detailed and systematic way.

Trends Journal of Sciences Research

This study is a critical analysis of the language and themes used by the under listed five African poets: The Cathedral by Kofi Awoonor, Troubadour by Dennis Brutus, Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka, I Will Pronounce Your Name by Leopard Seder Senghor, and If You Should Know Me by Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali. Its main thrust is, therefore, the isolation and discussion of the elements of language and the themes that make up the artistic framework upon which their individual poems are based. The writers employ Critical Race Theory as the framework for this work. It looks at how individually and collectively they tackle the theme of racism as well as their choices of language in expressing their contempt to this social canker. The study narrows down to a discussion of the artistic positions of the authors within these two basic narrative variables. An examination of the various artistic strategies employed to create a multi¬plicity of poetic fronts and their attendant scenes as well as backgrounds are what these divisions of the study target. It is this primacy of the artistic theme that this study dwells upon. The study intends to condemn this social injustice that brings separation rather than cohesion to human race. It is recommended that the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service should organise essay competition on these African Poets' books to bring social cohesion among students in Ghana and Africa as a whole.