Edith Cowan University Research Online Theses: Doctorates and Masters Theses 2011 Death's laughter (novel) and crafting a novel (exegesis) Fémi A. Adédínà Edith Cowan University Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses Part of the Creative Writing Commons Recommended Citation Adédínà, F. A. (2011). Death's laughter (novel) and crafting a novel (exegesis). https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ theses/388 This Thesis is posted at Research Online. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/388 Edith Cowan University Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorize you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. A reproduction of material that is protected by copyright may be a copyright infringement. Where the reproduction of such material is done without attribution of authorship, with false attribution of authorship or the authorship is treated in a derogatory manner, this may be a breach of the author’s moral rights contained in Part IX of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Courts have the power to impose a wide range of civil and criminal sanctions for infringement of copyright, infringement of moral rights and other offences under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Higher penalties may apply, and higher damages may be awarded, for offences and infringements involving the conversion of material into digital or electronic form. USE OF THESIS The Use of Thesis statement is not included in this version of the thesis. death’s laughter Death’s laughter (novel) and Crafting a novel (exegesis) Thesis submitted by Fémi Adékúnlé Adédínà B.A (Hons) Theatre Arts, PGDE, M.A (Communication and Language Arts) for the requirements of Doctor of Philosophy (Writing) in the Faculty of Education and Arts, Edith Cowan University April 2011 ABSTRACT This thesis consists of a creative component, a novel, Death’s laughter and an exegetical essay, Crafting a novel. The novel centres on a true Nigerian story: a Pentecostal pastor, who died in a plane crash, was a government official found out to have amassed large sums of money and assets that were far greater than could be accrued from his modest salary. In addition, he was accused of bigamy because he had two wives who did not know each other in two different cities within the country. This basic story serves as the nucleus of the novel. The novel tells the stories of various characters who were created with the intention of telling their own stories and, in doing this, giving the readers a montage of the pastor who was passive but ever present in the novel. Though the pastor dies in Chapter One of the novel, each character -- who is related or has a relationship with the pastor -- tells their own stories and together builds a picture of what happened to the pastor and the kind of person he was. Pastor Jude Akanmu Babajide in the novel represents the Pastor Femi Àkànní, who was the character in the true Nigerian story. This novel does not paint a picture based on the research into the Nigerian pastor, it creates a fictional account of the pastor and of the various characters who populated the novel. As the reader goes through the various tales he/she is given an insight into Nigerian society and an introduction to some Yoruba cultural concepts. The exegesis explores the processes and techniques used in crafting the novel. The exegesis starts with an exploration of how the novel was devised, the triggers for the novel and the various influences that affected the writing of the novel. The second chapter examines the themes, subthemes and their treatment in the novel after laying a basis through the examination of such themes in literature. The third chapter is an assessment of language use and narrative devices within the novel. In addition it examines the challenges of a second language user of English and the tools used in facing these challenges in respect to Death’s laughter. The fourth and last chapter explores character creation and the roles they played in the novel. The exegesis concludes by examining the various experimentations in the novel such as in dialogue, narrative styles and language. i ii iii dedication GOD: olodumare, arinu-rode, ogbagba ti ngba ara adugbo, o gba ara ile t’omo t’omo, gbani- gbani ti a n s’aya, ojiji firi, alaafin orun. and my late mother: yinyin-ola, tigbalaloju, remilekun, ikoyi eso omo a di gangan l’ogun, eso to ba t’oju gbofa, iru won l’akikanju, eyi to ba t’ehin gbofa, oju ni tii baba won. sunre o, ma j’okun, ma j’ekolo’ ohun won n je lajule orun, ni ko ba won je. v vi acknowledgements. a book is a product of many hands, brains,ears and eyes; same with this thesis. to those who made THIS possible, i give THANKS. my SUPERVISORS all, i give my appreciation. mark balnaves and cynthia vanden drissen, grilled me through proposal and candidature; marcella polain brought out the writer in me and polished the rough stone to a shine; susan ash and rod giblett, burnished my scholarly writing skills. and most especially, mark hackling who found a way, of untying the knot. to ffion murphy and chris crouch, you went beyond the call of duty, and contributed to this; more than you can imagine or think! to the research crew, and the graduate school bunch, marziya,silvia,heather,emma chessel-keever, danielle brady,susan hill and sally knowles, your suggestions,listening acuity, and interest in this work helped a lot. to leke adeeko and ayo agbonjinmi, friends who inspite of being busy, contributed commentaries, and eagle-eyed sub-editing, a heap of thanks. to janice strensrude, your first editorial advice, suggestions and questions; puts more than a shine on this work; thank you very much. i must not forget john hall, who gave the writings a last polish, with aplomb and panache. borrowing a line from the bard: i have nothing to offer ALL of you, except THANKS. vii you see further, when standing on others’ shoulders, to the various authors, minds and writers; who serve as foundations to THIS, thanks for contributing. friends are oases in life's desert, you can' t survive without them. glen phillips, the first to introduce me to Western Australia. shamimar, janice strudence, janice routledge, kara jacob, ,jo macfarlane, anne beveridge, bethany, joanna, danielle, sarah, gloria anthony, finola, karen, sally, anita krefl,elaine, isaiah, emeka, the ephraims, owoyemi and ' the fairy godmother-angela' YOU all made a stranger a ' home boy'. colleagues from home here in Perth: buraimo, bolanle, stephen, omolola and shina, you are all pillars of support. fellow travellers of the PhD' s marathon: emma, nathan, jane, the 2 matts,ahmad and others in Bld.17 PhD room, the other PhD lab in Bld. 16, you served as my abode and sounding board, to eunice sari, khairiah, agatha and the creative writing group; you all made this long and lonely race, something worth bearing and running. to my spiritual and praying support, canningvale’s Christ redemption assembly members, adesanya and family and, most especially pastor john adegboye and family. the beautiful people of maylands' grace fellowship's church, especially: pastor julian,sue,bev and bruce thyer, daniel law,grenville,yean wei,darrel and the praying band. and the praying crew at home’ pa agosu, pa oyelola, pastor gideon and many others, your prayers worked; and this is the results of the vigils. you all confirmed the truism of: one body in Christ of many races and tongues, and being brothers and sisters in CHRIST! viii to the big masquerade, my big brother, mentor, and inspiration, femi osofisan, the journey started more than 30 years ago; educative ,fulfilling and enduring, this is part of the journey’s products. thank you for holding my hand. good friends are rare to find, friends who stick with you, in your absence are even rarer, abu ajisegiri, waheed hassan, pa ayoola and taju, and not to forget edu, the ‘man Friday’, you are no more friends but brothers, your watching my back, gave me the assuarrance to forge on, and this is the product. AND finally to my children: dami, femi(jnr.),bolu,ore and ayanfe, you all have calmly borne the brunt of these three years' absence. to my jewel of inestimable value, my wife, - temi- ni- temi, the pillar, the confidant, strong woman of unimaginable strength , who held the fort and held forth, coping with my three year's absence, while holding the home front; HOW CAN I THANK YOU ENOUGH? FA. ix x CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... I DECLARATION ............................................................. ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. ...................................................................................................... V CONTENTS .................................................................................................................... XI DEATH’S LAUGHTER ......................................................................................................... 1 2005 ................................................................................................................................... 3 PROLOGUE ......................................................................................................................... 5 the story ...................................................................................................................................5