HOW SOYINKA STYLISES SATIRIC HUMOUR IN ALÁPATÀ ÀPÁTA

Authors

  • Omolade Bamigboye PhD, Department of English and Literary Studies, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria
  • Adefolaju Eben Adeseke PhD, Department of Theatre and Media Arts, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria
  • Olufemi Adeosun Department of English and Literary Studies, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria
  • Abidemi Oluwaseun Tosin Jemiriye Department of English and Literary Studies, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejlll.v6i1.339

Keywords:

humour, stylistics, incongruity, style, Soyinka

Abstract

The paper investigates how Wole Soyinka builds his satire on the foundations of extreme humour, pun and self-deprecation in Alápatà Àpáta. Using the theory of incongruity, purposively selected excerpts from the play are subjected to analysis which reveals a style that creatively weaves language together using tools that produce humour in the repudiation of societal ills. Components of incongruity like pun, zeugma, register switch, irony and ironical echo all combine at different linguistic levels to evolve a style that is at once entrenched in comedy and at the same time validates Soyinka’s celebrated status in dramatic discourse. The paper concludes that further studies should be done on the importance of humour in the expansion of the frontiers of stylistics as a branch of linguistics study.

Author Biographies

  • Omolade Bamigboye, PhD, Department of English and Literary Studies, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

    Dr. Omolade Bamigboye is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English and Literary Studies, Ekiti State University. He holds a Doctorate in English from the same University. His research interests are in Stylistics, Sociolinguistics and Pragmatics. He has attended both local and international conferences where his papers were well received.

    https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LG3r2G4AAAAJ&hl=en

    https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Omolade-Bamigboye-2

    https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7711-9515

  • Adefolaju Eben Adeseke, PhD, Department of Theatre and Media Arts, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

    Dr. Eben Adefolaju Adeseke is an Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre and Media Arts, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. He holds a PhD in Dramatic Literature from the same University. His areas of specialisation include Dramatic Theory and Criticism.

    https://independent.academia.edu/AdefolajuAdeseke

  • Olufemi Adeosun, Department of English and Literary Studies, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

    Mr. Olufemi Adeosun is a Lecturer II in the Department of English and Literary Studies, Ekiti State University. He holds a Master’s Degree in Dramatic Literature from the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. His research interests include Dramatic Theory, Performance Theory and Theatre Aesthetics.

  • Abidemi Oluwaseun Tosin Jemiriye, Department of English and Literary Studies, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

    Mr. Abidemi Oluwaseun Tosin Jemiriye is a Lecturer II in the Department of English and Literary Studies, Ekiti State University. He holds a Master’s Degree in English Studies from the Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. His areas of specialisation are English as a Second Language (ESL), Phonetics and Phonology.

References

Attardo, S. (1994). Linguistic Theories of Humour. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter.

Ayeomoni, M., O. (2012). ‘A Graphostylistic Analysis of Selected Poems in Remi Raji’s Web of Remembrance. ’International Journal of English Linguistics. 2(5), 101-116.

Bally, C. (1909). Traite de Stylistique Francaise [Treatise on French Stylistics]. Heidelberg, Baden- Wurttemberg: Winter.

Bamigboye, O. (2016). A Comparative Study of Style in Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun and Mantel’s Bring up the Bodies. Lambert Academic Publishing.

Enkvist, N. E. (1964). ‘On Defining Style: An Essay in Applied Linguistics’ In Enkvist, N. E., Spencer, J. and Gregory, M.J. (Eds.), Linguistics and Style, 1–56.

Jeffries, L. & McIntyre, D. (2010). Stylistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

McGhee, P. E. (1979). Humor: Its Origin and Development. San Francisco-Reading: Freeman.

Missikova, G. (2003). Linguistic Stylistics. Nitra: Univerzita KonstantinaFilozofa.

Obadare, E. (2009). The Uses of Ridicule: Humour, ‘Infrapolitics’ and Civil Society in Nigeria. African Affairs 108 (431), pp. 241-261.

Olusegun, E. A. (2018). The Àwàdà Phenomenon: Exploring Humour in Wole Soyinka’s Alápatà Àpáta. European Journal of Humour Research 6 (4) 118–132

Owoeye, O. K. & Bamigboye, O. (2014). Between Soyinka’s Madmen and Specialists and The Beatification of Area Boy: A Comparison of Style.

Ross, A. (1990). The Language of Humour. London: Routledge.

Simpson, P. & Bousfield, D. (2017). Humor and Stylistics’ in The Routledge Handbook of Language and Humor. Routledge.

Soyinka, W. (2015). Alápatà Àpáta. Ibadan: Bookcraft.

Downloads

Published

2022-06-25

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2022)

Section

Articles