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A Linguistic Stylistic Analysis of Chukwuemeka Ike's Novels

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A Linguistic Stylistic Analysis of Chukwuemeka Ike's Novels i A LINGUISTIC STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF CHUKWUEMEKA IKE’S NOVELS ISIDORE CHUKWUMA NNADI B.A. English (Jos), M.A. English (Calabar) PGA/UJ/11212/00 A thesis in the Department of ENGLISH, Faculty of Arts. Submitted to the School of Postgraduate Studies, University of Jos, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in English Language of the UNIVERSITY OF JOS. OCTOBER, 2010 ii DECLARATION I hereby declare that this work is the product of my own research efforts, undertaken under the supervision of Professor M.N. Azuike. It has not been presented elsewhere for the award of a degree or certificate. All sources have been duly distinguished and appropriately acknowledged. August, 2010. ISIDORE CHUKWUMA NNADI PGA/UJ/11212/00 iii CERTIFICATION This is to certify that this thesis has been examined and approved for the award of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in ENGLISH LANGUAGE. External Examiner: Prof Emeka Otagburuagu ____________________ Internal Examiner: Prof. Kanchan Ugbabe ____________________ Supervisor / Head of Dept: Prof. M.N. Azuike ____________________ Dean, Faculty of Arts: Prof. John S. Illah ____________________ Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies: Prof. Ufot A. Ibanga ______________ iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS At some point in the course of this thesis, some apparently insurmountable obstacles threatened its progress. The climax was my hospitalisation and subsequent major surgery. But in total supplication, I asked that the will of God be done. He answered me. I survived the car accident, and survived a major abdominal surgery. To Him, I owe all the glory there is. I cannot thank Professor M.N. Azuike enough: here is a supervisor, a friend, a mentor, a brother, all rolled into one. I did not have to go looking for material on my topic. He provided even more than needed: so, what was my problem? When I thought it was all over, he stood firmly by me, admonishing me, prodding me into going ahead in spite of all odds. And here is the work today – a manifestation of his unequalled support, his unwavering co- operation, his sweet tongue-lashing. To you, sir, my gratitude is absolute. Professor Kanchana Ugbabe – the mother figure, with humility running in her veins – ever ready to get down to your level, suggest, assist and encourage you. Without her, how could I have got those scarce novels? Thanks a million for this unfading goodness. My special thanks also go to Professor E.B. Ajulo, Professor D. Jowitt, Dr (Mrs) Azuike and Dr (Mrs) Iwoketok for the pieces of advice and encouragement from them from time to time during the course of this thesis. For your goodwill, my siblings: Aunty Nurse, Mrs C. Ugbala, Ndidi, Philingo and his family, I thank you all. v My children – Bobby and Ossey. I do not know how to express my gratitude to Bobby, a medical student, but his versatility in computer made it possible for him to type the whole work single-handedly, sitting by me, typing as I was writing, and also collecting for me, related internet material for this work. God will grant your aspirations. And for Ossey who is always missing me, who has never been without my presence for so long, I love both of you. My wife, Vitaleen – a bundle of patience, encouragement, endurance, care, goodwill and love. What else do I need from you? God will crown all your efforts in life. I love you. vi To: All who understand the meaninglessness of existence. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE - - - - - - i DECLARATION - - - - - - - ii CERTIFICATION - - - - - - - iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - - - - - - iv DEDICATION - - - - - - - vi TABLE OF CONTENTS - - - - - - vii ABSTRACT - - - - - - - xi CHAPTER ONE BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1.0 INTRODUCTION - - - - - - 1 1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM - - - - 4 1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY - - - - 5 1.3 METHODOLOGY - - - - - 6 1.4 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY - - - - 8 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 INTRODUCTION - - - - - - 9 2.1 STYLE: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE - - - - 9 2.1.1 Rhetoric and the Evolution of Stylistics - - - 11 2.2 STYLE VERSUS STYLISTICS - - - - 19 2.2.1 The Reception Theory and Affective Stylistics - - 20 viii 2.3 THE CONCERN OF LINGUISTIC STYLISTICS - - 22 2.4 FORMS OF CRITICISM: STRUCTURALISM, POST-STRUCTURALISM, DECONSTRUCTION - - 33 2.5 DEFINING STYLE - - - - - - 41 2.6 THEORIES OF STYLE - - - - - 43 2.7 CHOICE OF MODELS - - - - - 47 CHAPTER THREE THE USE OF DICTION IN THE NOVELS 3.1 TOADS FOR SUPPER - - - - - 51 3.1.1 Synopsis - - - - - - 51 3.1.2 Diction in Toads for Supper - - - - 52 3.1.3 The Use of Pidgin English in Toads for Supper - - 57 3.2 THE BOTTLED LEOPARD - - - - 65 3.2.1 Synopsis - - - - - - 65 3.2.2 Diction in The Bottled Leopard - - - - 67 3.3 THE NAKED GODS - - - - - 71 3.3.1 Synopsis - - - - - - 71 3.3.2 Diction in The Naked Gods - - - - 74 3.4 THE POTTER’S WHEEL - - - - - 84 3.4.1 Synopsis - - - - - - 84 3.4.2 Diction in The Potter’s Wheel - - - - 87 3.5 SUNSET AT DAWN - - - - - 102 ix 3.5.1 Synopsis - - - - - - 102 3.5.2 Diction in Sunset at Dawn - - - - 105 3.6 THE CHICKEN CHASERS - - - - - 128 3.6.1 Synopsis - - - - - - 128 3.6.2 Diction in The Chicken Chasers - - - - 131 3.6.3 Peer-group Slang in The Chicken Chasers - - 142 3.7 EXPO ’77 - - - - - - 146 3.7.1 Synopsis - - - - - - 146 3.7.2 Diction in Expo ’77 - - - - - 149 3.7.3 The Use of Pidgin English in Expo ’77 - - - 157 3.8 OUR CHILDREN ARE COMING! - - - - 159 3.8.1 Synopsis - - - - - - 159 3.8.2 Diction in Our Children are Coming! - - - 162 3.9 THE SEARCH - - - - - - 179 3.9.1 Synopsis - - - - - - 179 3.9.2 Diction in The Search - - - - - 182 3.10 CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE - - - - 187 3.10.1 Synopsis - - - - - - 187 3.10.2 Lexical Foregrounding in Conspiracy of Silence - - 190 CHAPTER FOUR SENTENCE AND PUNCTUATION PATTERN/FUNCTIONS; PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE AND ITS EFFECT ON THE NOVELS 4.1 SENTENCE PATTERN IN The Bottled Leopard - - 197 x 4.2 SENTENCE PATTERN IN The Naked Gods - - - 204 4.2.1 The Use of Punctuation Marks in The Naked Gods - 215 4.3 SENTENCE PATTERN IN The Potter’s Wheel - - 218 4.4 SENTENCE PATTERN IN Sunset at Dawn - - - 234 4.5 SENTENCE PATTERN, PUNCTUATION, PHRASAL AND CLAUSAL TYPOLOGY IN The Chicken Chasers - 248 4.6 SENTENCE AND PUNCTUATION PATTERN/FUNCTIONS IN Our Children are Coming! - - 257 4.7 PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE AND ITS EFFECT ON THE NOVELS 269 4.8 PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE IN Toads for Supper - 271 4.9 PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE IN The Bottled Leopard - 281 4.10 PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE IN The Potter’s Wheel - - 284 4.11 PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE IN The Search - - - 294 CHAPTER FIVE LINGUO – LITERARY FEATURES IN THE TEXTS 5.1 HUMOUR - - - - - - 304 5.2 IDIOMS AND PROVERBS - - - - - 314 5.3 AMERICANISM - - - - - - 318 5.4 RHETORICAL QUESTIONS AND REPETITION AND THEIR DRAMATIC EFFECTS - - - 320 5.5 THE USE OF ‘YOU’ - - - - - 327 5.6 ECHOISM IN The Potter’s Wheel - - - - 332 5.7 ONOMASTICS IN The Potter’s Wheel - - - 335 5.8 FORMS OF PROPAGANDA IN Sunset at Dawn - - 341 xi 5.9 THE USE OF SYMBOLS IN Sunset at Dawn - - 360 5.10 THE USE OF PROVERBS IN Sunset at Dawn - - 366 5.11 THE USE OF DIALOGUE AND DREAMS IN The Search - - 370 5.12 AYO’S DREAM, THE DĒNOUEMENT AND SUSPENSE IN Conspiracy of Silence - - - 381 CHAPTER SIX SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE 6.1 SUMMARY - - - - - - 391 6.2 FINDINGS - - - - - - 399 6.3 CONCLUSIONS - - - - - - 400 6.4 RECOMMENDATIONS - - - - - 400 6.5 CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE - - - 402 WORKS CITED - - - - - - 403 xii ABSTRACT This work is a linguistic stylistic study of Chukwuemeka Ike’s novels. It involves a rigorous analysis and synthesis that examine how a special configuration of language has been used in the realization of a particular subject matter, quantifying all the linguistic means that coalesced to achieve a special aesthetic purpose. These linguistic means as applied here to Ike’s novels include how, through a network of lexical selection (diction), the various tones in the texts are revealed; how the stylistically significant phrasal and clausal typology, sentence structures and punctuation patterns have combined to produce the aesthetics of the novels under study. The linguistic means also extend to paragraph structure and other linguo-literary schemes Ike used for the internal ordering of the message structure in each of the novels. In undertaking this research, we have relied on primary and secondary sources. An intensive research into related published works and internet material helped to provide adequate theoretical framework, which paved the way for the application of linguistic standards to the novels. Ike’s lexical selection delivers the message of the novels in spite of the presence of native words, some idiosyncratic coinages and his flair for neologistic style. His clausal nesting, even when it appears heavy, does not blur comprehension; it is woven to match the prevailing situations in the stories. Truncated sentence patterns signal fast movement of scenes. Thus, Chukwuemeka Ike has established himself as a prolific writer with great aptitude for presenting the socio-cultural and political themes of his novels with amazing flexibility and linguistic dexterity. 1 CHAPTER ONE BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1.0 INTRODUCTION Stylistics, which has variously been regarded as an eclectic and relatively new concept, in fact, has its origin in traditional rhetoric. Scholars such as Richard Bradford and Graham Hough have linked the 20th Century stylistics with the art of rhetoric as obtained in ancient Greece. In those ancient times, the Greeks recognized the informative, cohesive and persuasive qualities of a good speech in public speaking. The skills of this ‘oral forensic craft of rhetoric’, with the discovery of writing in the 5th Century B.C., began to be taught and learnt as a practical discipline.
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