AFRICA IN RETROSPECT AND THE FUTURE: A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF DEVIATION AND PARALLELISM IN DIOP’S AFRICA

Authors

  • Charles Djorbua Department of Languages, Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong Akuapem, Ghana
  • Isaac Danquah Darko General Studies Department, Ghana Communication Technology University, Ghana
  • Daniel Afrifa-Yamoah Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skill Training and Development, Ghana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejlll.v5i2.271

Keywords:

stylistics, Africa, parallel structures, linguistic deviation, foregrounding

Abstract

Attention of language scholars has been shifting from the structural pattern of language to language as a functional unit given the change of interest from the form of a language to its function. This study presents a stylistic analysis of a well-known poem by David Diop “Africa” and analyses the unique role that language plays in projecting the central theme of the poem. The poem Africa is one of the poems that laments the ill treatments that Africa suffered in the hands of its colonialists, but which quickly paints a picture of hope for the continent. The researchers used foregrounding both as a stylistic theory and a method to analyse the poem so as to investigate how linguistic deviations and parallel structures are employed to project the central theme of the poem. The study revealed that both linguistic deviations and parallel structures as well as figurative expressions abound in the poem. These linguistic tools have, in no doubt, contributed immensely to the projection of the overall meaning of the poem – Africa’s past glories, present predicaments of suffering and humiliation under colonialism and the future of hope and freedom embedded in Africa’s rebirth. The study concludes that language and literary works contribute in a unified manner to expose the rots in society and then project a future of hope.

 

Author Biographies

  • Charles Djorbua, Department of Languages, Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong Akuapem, Ghana
    Charles Djorbua is a Lecturer in the Department of Languages at the Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong Akuapem, Ghana. His research interest includes Language Policy, Language Variation, Sociolinguistics, English in Ghana, Discourse analysis and Stylistics.
  • Isaac Danquah Darko, General Studies Department, Ghana Communication Technology University, Ghana
    Isaac Danquah Darko is a Lecturer in the General Studies Department at the Ghana Communication Technology University, Ghana. His research interest is in English Phonetics and Phonology, English in Ghana, Code-Switching, Second Language Acquisition, Language Variation and Academic Writing.
  • Daniel Afrifa-Yamoah, Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skill Training and Development, Ghana
    Daniel Afrifa-Yamoah is a Lecturer in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skill Training and Development, Ghana. His research interest is in Phonetics and Phonology, Intonation, Pronunciations and Transitivity.

References

Abdulmughni, S. A. S. (2019). Stylistics, Literary Criticism, Linguistics and Discourse Analysis. International Journal of English Linguistics; Vol. 9, No. 2.

Abrams, M. H. (1993). A Glossary of Literary Terms. (6th Edition). New York: Harcourt.

Amjad, M., Ajmal, M., Rubab, I. & Naseer, A. (2020). Teaching English Poetry through Parallelism and Deviation for improving Students’ Interpretative Skills. Journal of Critical Reviews, Vol 7, Issue 13

Balogun, S. (2015). A linguistic stylistic analysis of parallelism in inaugural speeches of presidents Barrack Obama and Goodluck Jonathan. An unpublished Master’s Thesis at the Department of English, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Fayele, E. and Ogili, A. (2016). Discourse and Stylistics: Methods of Analysis. University of Abuja, Nigeria.

Halliday, M. A. K., & Jonathan, W. (2006). On Language and Linguistics (p. vii.). Continuum International Publishing Group.

Jafaar, E. A. (2014). A Stylistic Analysis of Two Selected Poems. Journal of College of Education for Women/ P- ISSN: 1680-8738 Vol 25(1).

Krishnamurthy, S. (2010). The chutnification of English: An examination of the lexis of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children.

Leech, G. N. (1969). A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry, London: Longman.

Leech, G. & Short, M. (1981). Style in Fiction. UK: Pearson Education Limited.

Montoro, R.; Busse, B. and Norgard, N. (2010). Key Terms in Stylistics. USA: Bloomsbury.

Ogundokun, S. A. (2013). Representations of nature in J. P. Clark’s ‘Night Rain’: an eco-critical study. Global Journals of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(3): 20–28.

Senanu, K. E. and Vincent, T. (1988). A Selection of African Poetry. (2nd edn.). London: Longman

Short, M. (1995) In P. Verdonk & J. J. Weber (eds.), Twentieth-century fiction from text to context. London: Routledge.

Short, M. (1996). Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose. London: Longman.

Thornborrow, J. & Wareing, S. (1998). Patterns in language: an introduction to language and literary style. London: Routledge.

Wales, K. (2001). A dictionary of stylistics (2nd edn.; 1st edn. 1989). Harlow: Longman.

Widdowson, H. G. (1975). Stylistics and the Teaching of Literature. London: Longman.

Wulandari, S. (2018). A Feminist Stylistic Analysis in Laurie Halse Anderson’s Novel ‘Speak’. Thesis, University of Sumatera Utara.

Africa by David Diop (2021). Retrieved 6 August 2021, from https://allpoetry.com/poem/8562839-Africa-by-David-Diop

Downloads

Published

2021-08-11

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 2 (2021)

Section

Articles