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University of Ibadan Institutional Repository DISCOURSE STRATEGIES AND THE EVOCATION OF SOLIDARITY IN CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE’S NOVELS BY TERRUMUN HEMBAOR GAJIR (147790) B.A. (Hons.) English (BSU Makurdi), M.A. Literature (BSU Makurdi) A Thesis in the Department of English, submitted to the Faculty of Arts in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY of the UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN January 2017 ABSTRACT Solidarity within social groups is a prominent thematic preoccupation in contemporary African literary works. Previous studies on Adichie’s three novels: Purple Hibiscus (PH), Half of a Yellow Sun (HOAYS) and AMERiCANAH (AH), have examined textual aspects such as language, context, style, and themes with little attention on discourse strategies as they evoke social solidarity in the novels. This study, therefore, examined discourse strategies in relation to how they evoked social solidarity and textual cohesion with a view to deepening the understanding of the texts. The study adopted M.A.K. Halliday’s model of Systemic Functional Linguistics as framework, complemented with Fairclough’s model of Critical Discourse Analysis and Durkheim’s concept of solidarity. The data consisted of 152 extracts from the three novels: 42 from PH, 61 from HOAYS and 49 from AH. These extracts, selected on the basis of their relevance to the evocation of social solidarity and textual cohesion, were subjected to discourse analysis. Discourse strategies such as referential, perspectivation, intensification and mitigation were the major tools for the construction of social solidarity. The referential strategy, a process of constructing and representing social actors by membership categorisation, was exhibited in the form of nominal groups like ‘‘my brother’’(PH),‘‘our family’’(PH),‘‘my man’’(HOAYS), ‘‘Northerners’’(HOAYS),‘‘Black British’’(AH), ‘‘Non-American Blacks’’(AH), and was used to construct characters’ social identities, with the aim of specifying the nature of their social solidarity. Perspectivation, in terms of the narrative point of view, was realised in the form of personal pronouns (I/we/us/they/them) which were used to articulate characters’ perspectives and commitment to social solidarity. Intensification, which implies explicit expressions of qualifying/modifying the epistemic status of propositions, was realised in the use of modal auxiliary ‘‘will’’. For example, ‘‘we will take care of the baby; we will protect him’’ (PH). Similarly, the expression ‘‘Try and make friends with our African American brothers and sisters in a spirit of true pan- Africanism’’ (AH) was a form of explicit intensification, and signified cross-national solidarity. Mitigation, an implicit reference to social solidarity, was realised in expressions like ‘‘There’s no American nonsense in that house’’ (AH) which showed preference for African over American culture. While these discourse strategies enhance mostly familial and kinship solidarities in PH and HOAYS, cross-national solidarity was realised in AH. Expressions with lexical sense relations such as hyponymy (‘‘Kano/North’’ in HOAYS), and meronymy (‘‘black locals/Black Americans’’ in AH), as well as reiteration and collocation amplified social solidarity and enhanced lexical cohesion in Adichie’s texts. In most cases the use of conjunctions, substitutions, and elliptical structures intensified communication of intentions that augmented social solidarity and reinforced grammatical cohesion. Discourse strategies evoked aspects of social solidarity such as collectivism, cooperation, group loyalty and textual cohesion in Adichie’s novels. These provide insights into meaningfulUNIVERSITY and profound interpretations of Adichie’s OF works. IBADAN Keywords: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novels, Discourse strategies, Textual cohesion, Social solidarity Word count: 452 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I sincerely appreciate the almighty God for his protection, guidance and support. My God, your favours in my life are too numerous to mention, I owe you a lot. Thanks a lot for bringing me thus far. My heartfelt gratitude goes to my supervisor, Professor O. A. Ogunsiji, for his tireless efforts in ensuring a successful completion of this thesis. He was there for me at all times of the day. He took this work as his personal project and our relationship become more like colleagues. I will not forget that particular Sunday when Professor Ogunsiji and his amiable wife had to hastily break from church service just to attend to my work. He made me feel at home in Ibadan. Though as his student he rather prefers to introduce me as his colleague to visitors. I have learnt from him the quintessence of life and dedication to duty. May almighty God continue to bless you and members of his entire family? I am also appreciative and wish to particularly acknowledge the fatherly contributions of Professor A. L. Oyeleye, in whose affable life-style I have learnt not just only language related issues but a lot of lessons about humility, philanthropy, dedication and enthusiasm to scholarship. I am particularly happy that I have met him at this exacting moment in my life; I will forever be delighted to dwell in ‘his father’s house!’ Others that must be recognised for their assiduous contributions to this thesis include: the Head of Department of English, Professor E. O. Omobowale, and Professors A. O. Dasylva, A. Raji-Oyelade, Obododimma Oha, Ayobami Kehinde, S. A. Odebumi Adenike Akinjobi and Olutoyin B. Jegede. I am indebted to Professor M. A. Alo, who was very instrumental to ensuring that my abstract met the requisite conditions for approval. I am also pleased to acknowledge the contributions of the PG coordinator in the Department, Dr Doyin Aguero, who always made extra efforts to keep me abreast about the developments in the Department. Other members of staff in the Department and from other Departments whose support to the progress of this work must be appreciated include: Dr R. O. Olaniyi, the Sub-Dean (Postgraduate) Faculty of Arts, and Drs Adesina B. Sunday, Adetunji Kazeem Adebiyi, Ayo Osisanwo, A. A. Lewis, B. A. Lasisi, P. A. UNIVERSITYTaiwo, S. A. Faleti and others too numerous OF to mention. IBADAN I am also indebted to the assistance I received from other members of staff in the Department such as: Mr Iyiola Olatunji, Mr Victor Romauld, and Gbenga Olaoye; your various contributions to the successful completion of this study cannot be easily forgotten. I have discovered that the iii success recorded in the Department of English, University of Ibadan, over the years is largely due to the cordial relationship existing among members of staff. I pray that the almighty God in his endless mercies will continue to bless all the lecturers in the Department and the entire members of staff of University of Ibadan for their interest in pursuit of genuine scholarship. Others whose support to the success of the work must be acknowledged are: the Dean of Postgraduate School, Professor A. A. Aderinto, and all members of staff in the Postgraduate school of the University for their conscientiousness. I made a lot of friends, like Babatunde Adebimpe, from the Postgraduate School and learnt ineradicable lessons from their friendly but disciplined lives. I am also delighted to mention the assistance I received from Professor A. Dzurgba during the pursuit of this academic endeavour. Sir, you introduced me to the Department of English of the prestigious University of Ibadan (UI); you took me to Professor O. A. Ogunsiji’s office and pleaded with him to be my supervisor. Though a difficult task, he has conscientiously carried out this assignment. The success of this work must be accredited to you for finding him worthy to supervise a novice in UI research practice. Remain blessed. I am grateful to the management of Benue State University, under the leadership of Professor Moses Msugh Kembe, for giving me the opportunity to pursue this programme. My thanks also go to my colleagues most especially my Head of Department, Professor Abimbola Shittu, for his interest and encouragement during my studies. Special mention must also be made of my teacher, Dr David Shim Orjime, whom colleagues in the Department prefer to address as ‘my father’. I have learnt from this charming academic that life is nothing but a hilarious voyage. In spite of your health challenges, you still wax stronger everyday and cheerfully attend to your students and daily schedules every hour of the day; few of your kind exist. Sir, be assured that your struggles will not be in vain. Similarly, mention must also be made of the contributions of Mr Za-Ayem Agye and Mr Isaac Yongo to my academic quest and this work in particular. The two of them, particularly, took time to read my work and offer useful UNIVERSITYsuggestions which have gone a long to shape OFthis thesis. I IBADANam also pleased with Professor Lucy Irene Vajime, who has played a vital role in my entry into the University system. I may not have much to offer her but I wish her long life and prosperity. And to all my iv colleagues in English and other Departments of Benue State University, whose names I have not been able to mention; I wish you well and thank you too. Furthermore, my profound appreciation goes to all the great scholars whose works provided invaluable insights for me to carry out this work. Your researches contributed a lot to the ideas that led to the fashioning of this thesis. Your priceless ideas shall continue to inspire and generate more scholarship in this and other fields. I am also grateful to members of my family for their love and support during the period I undertook this study. My candid appreciation goes to members of my family, especially to my adorable wife, Ngohide, and children: Ahemense-Iyabo, Anam-Sisi, Aaor William, Ayiem Stephanie, Afa Favour, and Anenge Cini. I also wish to appreciate Keziah Terngu, Dr Tsoho Hembaor Gajir and his family, and our father, Reverend Hembaor Gajir.
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