A pragmalinguistic analysis of selected suicide notes in Nigeria

Abstract

There are a plethora of research works on suicide, following Durkheim’s (1897) book, Suicide: A Study in Sociology. It was the wish of Durkheim to use the study to show that there was a sociological level of analysis which was distinct from other disciplines and which made an important contribution to explanation of social phenomena. Whatever terminological profusion and attendant criticisms ascribed to the study of suicide, a clinical and linguistic analysis of suicide notes is germane to a deeper and fuller understanding of the phenomenon. This paper is a pragmalinguistic analysis of selected suicide notes in Nigeria. The preeminence of pragmatics to the study is hinged on Bubhtz and Norick’s (1994) proposition that to be pragmatically competent requires one to (i) associate specific linguistic resources with particular meaning and functions, and (ii) be able to appropriately select from these resources according to an assessment of the socio-contextual factors involved. Apart from the theoretical insights gleaned from scholars of suicidology, the study presents an analysis of selected five suicide notes in Nigeria and these (notes) were carried out using these linguistic tools: (i) affective words, (ii) emotive words, and, (iii) references.