DOCSLIB.ORG

Euphemism in Animated Films a Multimodal And

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Euphemism in Animated Films a Multimodal And Seeing the unseen: Euphemism in Animated Films A Multimodal and Critical Discourse Study by Dalia Abyd Asseel M.A. (Linguistics) A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in THE DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE LANCASTER UNIVERSITY, UK JULY 2020 Abstract Animated films are contemporary popular cultural products recreating the ‘real’ world and engaging massive worldwide audiences of adults and children. Children as the ostensible viewers of animated films may acquire their cultural and ideological knowledge and beliefs about the world from the representations in animated films. Although during the past decade animated films have increasingly been the focus of attention of researchers across different disciplines, including education, gender, sexuality and literacy, studies tackling the discourse and language of animated films are still in their early stages. More specifically, very few studies have investigated the use of euphemism as a major micro-level linguistic device reflecting macro-level discourse and extending to sociocultural structures. To this end, this thesis examines euphemism constructed through the discourse of animated films by employing the strategies of Critical Discourse Studies (CDS). Moreover, Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA) is employed to examine discursive strategies involving visual representations accompanying euphemism and what underpins those strategies, and to shed light on the multimodal relations between the representation of both. Euphemism is frequently associated with the notion of taboo. Consequently, new words or phrases are designated to refer to linguistic taboos as alternatives used by speakers to minimise the threat to the audience’s face as well as to their own. In addition, euphemistic occurrences represent a self-interested version of reality by pushing a topic into the background and highlighting instead a particular view of a topic. Therefore, euphemism is a speaker-oriented tool implying the reaction the speaker intends to prompt in the audience. This study shows that euphemism as a discursive linguistic tool has been used extensively in i animated films as a manifestation of the discursive role anthropomorphised characters play to transmit certain ideological and social representations. A data set comprising 176 euphemisms found in four full-length anthropomorphised animated featured films, AAFF, extracted from film scripts and online channels was collected. The study identifies the main types of euphemism used in films, drawing on a framework of types based on Warren (1992), Allan and Burridge (1991) and Crespo (2006). After the main types of euphemism have been identified, the data set is approached from the perspective of taboo and culturally repressed topics, such as sexuality, gender and race. Moreover, discursive strategies adapted from Reisigl and Wodak (2016) are applied in order to identify important categories for the analysis of euphemistic discourse. This approach forms the basis for an in- depth, qualitative analysis of several representative scenes extracted from the films under investigation. First, the analysis focuses on racial euphemisms targeting different races. Then, I analyse sexual euphemisms related to nudity and sexual body parts, as well as conceptual metaphoric representations of sexual euphemisms. Finally, I focus on gendered euphemisms targeting the representation of four female characters in the films. The analysis shows that animated films tend to use euphemism to camouflage various taboo areas and manipulate the viewers’ perceptions, such as those relating to sexuality, gender and race. Nomination strategies are used more frequently with euphemisms referring to race, sex and gender. Metaphors and conceptual metaphors are used more frequently with sexual euphemisms. Visual empowerment strategies of female characters to highlight their sexuality are used more frequently with gendered euphemisms. I argue that while the linguistic element attenuates an ideology by virtue of euphemism’s manipulative nature, the visual element, in turn, highlights and confirms the same ideology, values or stereotypes. ii Hence, animated films can articulate the ideological and social legitimation or normalisation of a particular view of race, sex or gender through the use of euphemism and visual discursive strategies. iii Declaration I declare that this thesis is my own work and has been submitted for a PhD degree from the Department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University, UK. I also declare that it has not been submitted in substantially the same form for the award of a higher degree elsewhere. iv Acknowledgements First and foremost, all praise and thanks to Allah the Almighty, the Giver of bountiful blessings, among which is the successful completion of this thesis. I wish to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor, Julia Gillen, whose continuous guidance and encouragement have helped me do the right thing, even when the going got tough. I could not imagine having a better advisor and mentor for my PhD study. To my sister and friend, Faizah. Thank you for being my caring, loving and supportive roommate, travel-mate and soulmate. I cannot thank you enough for our stimulating discussions, for the sleepless nights when we were working together to meet deadlines, for always listening to me, being there for me, and for all the fun and sadness we have shared during the last six years. The completion of this thesis could not have been achieved without the support and patience of my children. To Tamara and Tameem, thank you for your patience throughout the scholarship and the divorce. Thank you for allowing me time away from you to write my thesis. You have always been marvellous children. I am so proud of you. Your dream trips to Disney and Dubai are close to coming true! I am extremely grateful to my father, whose continuous prayers were the driver that kept me going. Thank you for implanting the love of learning in us, for encouraging us to read and be whom we are. I quote Disney’s famous line in Frozen, “true love is between siblings”. Therefore, I would like to thank my sister and my backbone, Suzan and her family, especially my brother- in-law Mr Fayez, her husband, and Lujain, my dearest niece. Your encouragement when the times got rough was and is much appreciated and will never be forgotten. It was a great comfort and relief to know that you were willing to care for my children during my hectic travels to the UK v while I completed my work. My heartfelt thanks. I extend my thanks to my sister, Dina, for her professional help with visual data and quantitative analysis. I just want to tell you, unlike what you think, you being away does not mean you are not always remembered because you are in our hearts. Thanks are due to my brothers, Nezar, Hussain and Hassan. I love you, guys. Thanks are due to my uncle, Mr Khalid, for his words of advice during the divorce and supportive words afterwards. Also, I am grateful to all my family - nieces, nephews, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, uncles, aunts and cousins. May Allah protect you all. No love can compare to the love of a family. Thanks are due to Allah for the blessing of my friends, the Al-Nasifyiah group, my friends always and forever. I think this is a good opportunity to thank you for being in my life for 35 years, all for one and one for all. To my good friends, Dr Enas Filimban, Dr Roaa Bati, Ms Etedal Baeshen and Ms Farah Hammad, thank you all for being there for me, for better or for worse. vi Dedication To my late Mom and my Dad, I dedicate this to you. To my sisters and brothers, I hope I have made you proud. To Tamara and Tameem, every single bit of this thesis, every single tear, all the pain it took to finish it, is totally worth it because this endeavour is pursued for you. vii Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ i Declaration................................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... v Dedication ................................................................................................................................. vii Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... xii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. xii List of Extracts ......................................................................................................................... xiii List of Diagrams ....................................................................................................................... xiii List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................ xiv Chapter One ............................................................................................................................. 15 Introduction .............................................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Velocity of Censorship
    The Velocity of Censorship: High-Fidelity Detection of Microblog Post Deletions Tao Zhu, Independent Researcher; David Phipps, Bowdoin College; Adam Pridgen, Rice University; Jedidiah R. Crandall, University of New Mexico; Dan S. Wallach, Rice University This paper is included in the Proceedings of the 22nd USENIX Security Symposium. August 14–16, 2013 • Washington, D.C., USA ISBN 978-1-931971-03-4 Open access to the Proceedings of the 22nd USENIX Security Symposium is sponsored by USENIX The Velocity of Censorship: High-Fidelity Detection of Microblog Post Deletions Tao Zhu David Phipps Adam Pridgen [email protected] Computer Science Computer Science Independent Researcher Bowdoin College Rice University Jedidiah R. Crandall Dan S. Wallach Computer Science Computer Science University of New Mexico Rice University Abstract terconnected through their social graph and tend to post about sensitive topics. This biases us towards the content Weibo and other popular Chinese microblogging sites are posted by these particular users, but enables us to mea- well known for exercising internal censorship, to comply sure with high fidelity the speed of the censorship and with Chinese government requirements. This research discern interesting patterns in censor behaviors. seeks to quantify the mechanisms of this censorship: Sina Weibo (weibo.com, referred to in this paper sim- how fast and how comprehensively posts are deleted. ply as “Weibo”) has the most active user community of Our analysis considered 2.38 million posts gathered over any microblog site in China [39]. Weibo provides ser- roughly two months in 2012, with our attention focused vices which are similar to Twitter, with @usernames, on repeatedly visiting “sensitive” users.
    [Show full text]
  • How White Supremacy Returned to Mainstream Politics
    GETTY CORUM IMAGES/SAMUEL How White Supremacy Returned to Mainstream Politics By Simon Clark July 2020 WWW.AMERICANPROGRESS.ORG How White Supremacy Returned to Mainstream Politics By Simon Clark July 2020 Contents 1 Introduction and summary 4 Tracing the origins of white supremacist ideas 13 How did this start, and how can it end? 16 Conclusion 17 About the author and acknowledgments 18 Endnotes Introduction and summary The United States is living through a moment of profound and positive change in attitudes toward race, with a large majority of citizens1 coming to grips with the deeply embedded historical legacy of racist structures and ideas. The recent protests and public reaction to George Floyd’s murder are a testament to many individu- als’ deep commitment to renewing the founding ideals of the republic. But there is another, more dangerous, side to this debate—one that seeks to rehabilitate toxic political notions of racial superiority, stokes fear of immigrants and minorities to inflame grievances for political ends, and attempts to build a notion of an embat- tled white majority which has to defend its power by any means necessary. These notions, once the preserve of fringe white nationalist groups, have increasingly infiltrated the mainstream of American political and cultural discussion, with poi- sonous results. For a starting point, one must look no further than President Donald Trump’s senior adviser for policy and chief speechwriter, Stephen Miller. In December 2019, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hatewatch published a cache of more than 900 emails2 Miller wrote to his contacts at Breitbart News before the 2016 presidential election.
    [Show full text]
  • Argumentative Euphemisms, Political Correctness and Relevance
    Argumentative Euphemisms, Political Correctness and Relevance Thèse présentée à la Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines Institut des sciences du langage et de la communication Université de Neuchâtel Pour l'obtention du grade de Docteur ès Lettres Par Andriy Sytnyk Directeur de thèse: Professeur Louis de Saussure, Université de Neuchâtel Rapporteurs: Dr. Christopher Hart, Senior Lecturer, Lancaster University Dr. Steve Oswald, Chargé de cours, Université de Fribourg Dr. Manuel Padilla Cruz, Professeur, Universidad de Sevilla Thèse soutenue le 17 septembre 2014 Université de Neuchâtel 2014 2 Key words: euphemisms, political correctness, taboo, connotations, Relevance Theory, neo-Gricean pragmatics Argumentative Euphemisms, Political Correctness and Relevance Abstract The account presented in the thesis combines insights from relevance-theoretic (Sperber and Wilson 1995) and neo-Gricean (Levinson 2000) pragmatics in arguing that a specific euphemistic effect is derived whenever it is mutually manifest to participants of a communicative exchange that a speaker is trying to be indirect by avoiding some dispreferred saliently unexpressed alternative lexical unit(s). This effect is derived when the indirectness is not conventionally associated with the particular linguistic form-trigger relative to some context of use and, therefore, stands out as marked in discourse. The central theoretical claim of the thesis is that the cognitive processing of utterances containing novel euphemistic/politically correct locutions involves meta-representations of saliently unexpressed dispreferred alternatives, as part of relevance-driven recognition of speaker intentions. It is argued that hearers are “invited” to infer the salient dispreferred alternatives in the process of deriving explicatures of utterances containing lexical units triggering euphemistic/politically correct interpretations.
    [Show full text]
  • Israeli Media Self-Censorship During the Second Lebanon War
    conflict & communication online, Vol. 18, No. 2, 2019 www.cco.regener-online.de ISSN 1618-0747 Sagi Elbaz & Daniel Bar-Tal Voluntary silence: Israeli media self-censorship during the Second Lebanon War Kurzfassung: Dieser Artikel beschreibt die Charakteristika der Selbstzensur im Allgemeinen, und insbesondere in den Massenmedien, im Hinblick auf Erzählungen von politischer Gewalt, einschließlich Motivation und Auswirkungen von Selbstzensur. Es präsentiert zunächst eine breite theoretische Konzeptualisierung der Selbstzensur und konzentriert sich dann auf seine mediale Praxis. Als Fallstudie wurde die Darstellung des Zweiten Libanonkrieges in den israelischen Medien untersucht. Um Selbstzensur als einen der Gründe für die Dominanz hegemonialer Erzählungen in den Medien zu untersuchen, führten die Autoren Inhaltsanalysen und Tiefeninterviews mit ehemaligen und aktuellen Journalisten durch. Die Ergebnisse der Analysen zeigen, dass israelische Journalisten die Selbstzensur weitverbreitet einsetzen, ihre Motivation, sie zu praktizieren, und die Auswirkungen ihrer Anwendung auf die Gesellschaft. Abstract: This article describes the characteristics of self-censorship in general, specifically in mass media, with regard to narratives of political violence, including motivations for and effects of practicing self-censorship. It first presents a broad theoretical conceptualization of self-censorship, and then focuses on its practice in media. The case study examined the representation of The Second Lebanon War in the Israeli national media. The authors carried out content analysis and in-depth interviews with former and current journalists in order to investigate one of the reasons for the dominance of the hegemonic narrative in the media – namely, self-censorship. Indeed, the analysis revealed widespread use of self-censorship by Israeli journalists, their motivations for practicing it, and the effects of its use on the society.
    [Show full text]
  • Certainty and the Censor's Dilemma Robert Corn-Revere
    Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly Volume 45 Article 4 Number 2 Winter 2018 1-1-2018 Certainty and the Censor's Dilemma Robert Corn-Revere Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/ hastings_constitutional_law_quaterly Part of the Constitutional Law Commons Recommended Citation Robert Corn-Revere, Certainty and the Censor's Dilemma, 45 Hastings Const. L.Q. 301 (2018). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_constitutional_law_quaterly/vol45/iss2/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Certainty and the Censor's Dilemma by ROBERT CORN-REVERE* Pity the plight of poor Anthony Comstock. The man H. L. Mencken described as "the Copernicus of a quite new art and science," who literally invented the profession of antiobscenity crusader in the waning days of the nineteenth century, ultimately got, as legendary comic Rodney Dangerfield would say, "no respect, no respect at all." As head of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, and special agent for the U.S. Post Office under a law that popularly bore his name, Comstock was, in Mencken's words, the one "who first capitalized moral endeavor like baseball or the soap business, and made himself the first of its kept professors."' For more than four decades, Comstock terrorized writers, publishers, and artists-driving some to suicide-yet he also was the butt of public ridicule.
    [Show full text]
  • False Dilemma Wikipedia Contents
    False dilemma Wikipedia Contents 1 False dilemma 1 1.1 Examples ............................................... 1 1.1.1 Morton's fork ......................................... 1 1.1.2 False choice .......................................... 2 1.1.3 Black-and-white thinking ................................... 2 1.2 See also ................................................ 2 1.3 References ............................................... 3 1.4 External links ............................................. 3 2 Affirmative action 4 2.1 Origins ................................................. 4 2.2 Women ................................................ 4 2.3 Quotas ................................................. 5 2.4 National approaches .......................................... 5 2.4.1 Africa ............................................ 5 2.4.2 Asia .............................................. 7 2.4.3 Europe ............................................ 8 2.4.4 North America ........................................ 10 2.4.5 Oceania ............................................ 11 2.4.6 South America ........................................ 11 2.5 International organizations ...................................... 11 2.5.1 United Nations ........................................ 12 2.6 Support ................................................ 12 2.6.1 Polls .............................................. 12 2.7 Criticism ............................................... 12 2.7.1 Mismatching ......................................... 13 2.8 See also
    [Show full text]
  • After the Ball David Williamson
    David Williamson’s first full-length play, The Coming of Stork, premiered at the La Mama Theatre, Carlton, in 1970 and later became the film Stork, directed by Tim Burstall. The Removalists and Don’s Party followed in 1971, then Jugglers Three (1972), What If You Died Tomorrow? (1973), The Department (1975), A Handful of Friends (1976), The Club (1977) and Travelling North (1979). In 1972 The Removalists won the Australian Writers’ Guild AWGIE Award for best stage play and the best script in any medium and the British production saw Williamson nominated most promising playwright by the London Evening Standard. The 1980s saw his success continue with Celluloid Heroes (1980), The Perfectionist (1982), Sons of Cain (1985), Emerald City (1987) and Top Silk (1989); whilst the 1990s produced Siren (1990), Money and Friends (1991), Brilliant Lies (1993), Sanctuary (1994), Dead White Males (1995), Heretic (1996), Third World Blues (an adaptation of Jugglers Three) and After the Ball (both in 1997), and Corporate Vibes and Face to Face (both in 1999). The Great Man (2000), Up for Grabs, A Conversation, Charitable Intent (all in 2001), Soulmates (2002), Birthrights (2003), Amigos, Flatfoot (both in 2004), Operator and Influence(both 2005) have since followed. Williamson is widely recognised as Australia’s most successful playwright and over the last thirty years his plays have been performed throughout Australia and produced in Britain, United States, Canada and many European countries. A number of his stage works have been adapted for the screen, including The Removalists, Don’s Party, The Club, Travelling North, Emerald City, Sanctuary and Brilliant Lies.
    [Show full text]
  • The Place of Music, Race and Gender in Producing Appalachian Space
    University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Geography Geography 2012 PERFORMING COMMUNITY: THE PLACE OF MUSIC, RACE AND GENDER IN PRODUCING APPALACHIAN SPACE Deborah J. Thompson University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Thompson, Deborah J., "PERFORMING COMMUNITY: THE PLACE OF MUSIC, RACE AND GENDER IN PRODUCING APPALACHIAN SPACE" (2012). Theses and Dissertations--Geography. 1. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/geography_etds/1 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Geography at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Geography by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained and attached hereto needed written permission statements(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine). I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless a preapproved embargo applies.
    [Show full text]
  • Resource Materials on the Learning and Teaching of Film This Set of Materials Aims to Develop Senior Secondary Students' Film
    Resource Materials on the Learning and Teaching of Film This set of materials aims to develop senior secondary students’ film analysis skills and provide guidelines on how to approach a film and develop critical responses to it. It covers the fundamentals of film study and is intended for use by Literature in English teachers to introduce film as a new literary genre to beginners. The materials can be used as a learning task in class to introduce basic film concepts and viewing skills to students before engaging them in close textual analysis of the set films. They can also be used as supplementary materials to extend students’ learning beyond the classroom and promote self-directed learning. The materials consist of two parts, each with the Student’s Copy and Teacher’s Notes. The Student’s Copy includes handouts and worksheets for students, while the Teacher’s Notes provides teaching steps and ideas, as well as suggested answers for teachers’ reference. Part 1 provides an overview of film study and introduces students to the fundamentals of film analysis. It includes the following sections: A. Key Aspects of Film Analysis B. Guiding Questions for Film Study C. Learning Activity – Writing a Short Review Part 2 provides opportunities for students to enrich their knowledge of different aspects of film analysis and to apply it in the study of a short film. The short film “My Shoes” has been chosen to illustrate and highlight different areas of cinematography (e.g. the use of music, camera shots, angles and movements, editing techniques). Explanatory notes and viewing activities are provided to improve students’ viewing skills and deepen their understanding of the cinematic techniques.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of the Theoretical Position Within Metzian Film Semiotics of Sound in Cinema Kathryn L
    Eastern Illinois University The Keep Masters Theses Student Theses & Publications 1983 The oundS and the Theory: A Study of the Theoretical Position within Metzian Film Semiotics of Sound in Cinema Kathryn L. Ingle Eastern Illinois University This research is a product of the graduate program in Speech Communication at Eastern Illinois University. Find out more about the program. Recommended Citation Ingle, Kathryn L., "The oundS and the Theory: A Study of the Theoretical Position within Metzian Film Semiotics of Sound in Cinema" (1983). Masters Theses. 2888. https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/2888 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses & Publications at The Keep. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of The Keep. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THESIS REPRODUCTION CERTIFICATE TO: Graduate Degree Candidates who have written formal theses. SUBJECT: Permission to reproduce theses. The University Library is receiving a number of requests from other institutions asking permission to reproduce dissertations for inclusion in their library holdings. Although no copyright laws are involved, we feel that professional courtesy demands that permission be obtained from the author before we allow theses to be copied. Please sign one of the following statements: Booth Library of Eastern Illinois University has my permission to lend my thesis to a reputable college or university for the purpose of copying it for inclusion in that institution's library or research holdings. Date Author I respectfully request Booth Library of Eastern Illinois University not allow my thesis be reproduced because -�� Date Author m THE SOUND AND THE THEORY (TITLE) BY Kathryn L.
    [Show full text]
  • Usage and Origin of Expletives Usage
    MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE USAGE AND ORIGIN OF EXPLETIVES IN BRITISH ENGLISH DIPLOMA THESIS BRNO 2006 SUPERVISED BY: WRITTEN BY: ANDREW PHILIP OOOAKLANDOAKLANDAKLAND,, M.A. HANA ČECHOVÁ ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I should like to thank to Mr. Andrew Philip Oakland, M.A. for his academic guidance and precious advice he provided me with and thus helped to accomplish the following thesis. I would also like to thank to Peter Martin Crossley for all his patience and kind help. BRNO, 20th APRIL 2006 DECLARATION I hereby declare that I have worked on this undergraduate diploma thesis on my own and that I have used only the sources listed in the bibliography. I also give consent to deposit this thesis at Masaryk University in the library or the Informational system of the Faculty of Education and to be made available for study purposes. ___________________________________________________ Hana ČECHOVÁ CONTENTS 4 CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................6 2. WHAT ARE EXPLETIVES? ................................................................ 9 2.1 EXPLETIVES IN GRAMMAR 2.2 EXPLETIVES AS A PART OF SOCIO-LINGUISTICS 3. WHY DO PEOPLE USE EXPLETIVES? ................................................12 3.1 WHY DO WE SWEAR? 3.2 IS SWEARING A SIGN OF A WEAK MIND? 4. SWEARING IN HISTORICAL PERIODS ............................................. 20 4.1 OLD ENGLISH 4.2 MIDDLE ENGLISH 4.3 THE REFORMATION 4.4 THE RENAISSANCE 4.5 MODERN PERIOD 4.5.1 PYGMALION (1914) 4.5.2 LADY CHATTERLEY´S LOVER (1928, 1960) 4.5.3 OTHER INCIDENTS (1965-2004) 5. SEMANTIC CATEGORIES AND SPEAKERS PREFERENCES ..................56 5.1 HEAVEN AND HELL 5.2 SEX/BODY AND ITS FUNCTIONS 6.
    [Show full text]
  • WOLE SOYINKA: Politics, Poetics and Postcolonialism
    This page intentionally left blank WOLE SOYINKA Politics, Poetics and Postcolonialism Biodun Jeyifo examines the connections between the innovative and influential writings of Wole Soyinka and his radical politi- cal activism. Jeyifo carries out detailed analyses of Soyinka’s most ambitious works, relating them to the controversies generated by Soyinka’s use of literature and theatre for radical political purposes. He gives a fascinating account of the profound but paradoxical affinities and misgivings Soyinka has felt about the significance of the avant-garde movements of the twentieth century. Jeyifo also explores Soyinka’s works with regard to the impact on his artistic sensibilities of the pervasiveness of representational ambiguity and linguistic exuberance in Yoruba culture. The analyses and evalu- ations of this study are presented in the context of Soyinka’s sus- tained engagement with the violence of collective experience in post-independence, postcolonial Africa and the developing world. No existing study of Soyinka’s works and career has attempted such a systematic investigation of their complex relationship to politics. is Professor of English at Cornell University. He is the author of The Popular Travelling Theatre of Nigeria () and The Truthful Lie: Essays in a Radical Sociology of African Drama (). He has written essays and monographs on Anglophone African and Caribbean literatures, Marxist cultural theory and colonial and postcolonial studies and has also edited several volumes on African drama and critical discourse. Series editor: Professor Abiola Irele, Ohio State University Each volume in this unique series of critical studies will offer a comprehensive and in-depth account of the whole œuvre of one individual writer from Africa or the Caribbean, in such a way that the book may be considered a complete coverage of the writer’s expression up to the time the study is undertaken.
    [Show full text]