Conversational Implicatures and Cultural Conventions in Dramatic Discourse: A Speech-Act Analysis of Ola Rotimi's Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again

Abstract

This paper explores H.P. Grice's notion of conversation and implicature in the interpretation of meaning of literary texts. Focusing on Ola Rotimi's play, Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, it depicts the extent to which dramatic dialogue could be a cooperative endeavour. Also, it captures how such a dialogue could become indicative of cultural conventions, particularly the Nigerian. Through its speech-act approach to analysis, it ultimately illustrates the varieties of strategies that constitute a complex language in communication process.


(The Journal of Cultural Studies: 2001 3(2): 586-594)