AFRREV LALIGENS: An International Journal of Language, Literature and Gender Studies

Gender and racial trauma in Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

Ramesh Prasad Adhikary — 2020-04-28

This paper analyses racial and gender trauma evoking the tormented state of the narrator, Maya in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Based on the cultural trauma, the researcher analyses the experiences of depressed African American women without identities. The narrator struggles to develop her dignified self and nonconformist outlook comes to block her after she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend Mr. Freeeman. The mysterious murder of her rapist creates the guilt, shame in her psychic as she thinks that she is responsible for his murder. The narrator suffering from the guilt and self-loathing results in her psychic turmoil. She stops speaking to people except her brother, Bailey. In the novel, Angelou tries to raise the voice of Black women to achieve dignified identity in the white racist and sexist America looking back on her childhood experiences. In this regard, this research aims to show reasons that cause the traumatic situation in the narrator due to several events that erupt in African American societies. Not only this, this research work explores issues related to the cause of racial and gender trauma and discusses how the narrator succeeds in working through trauma while in some cases the narrator just acts out it.

Key Words: Race, Gender, Cultural trauma, Psychic turmoil, identity, self

Patriarchal ideologies and female un-femininities in a contemporary feminist writing: A gender-oriented and critical discourse analysis perspective

Ayodele Adebayo Allagbé — 2020-04-28

Drawing on the Critical Discourse Analysis grid put forth by scholars such as Van Dijk (2001a&b, 2004, 2006), Fairclough (1989, 1995, 2001, 2003), Van Leeuwen (1996, 2008), Meyer (2001), Caldas-Coulthard & Coulthard (1996), Wodak (2001), the current paper exuded how institutional social power is deployed to naturalize ideologies as common sense or common knowledge in a sample text drawn from a contemporary feminist novel, notably Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come (2006). It also tried to unravel how, through discursive structures and properties, the womenfolk resist or/and transgresses the established sociocultural norms and conventional ideologies as regards gender, role assignment and power. Finally, it advocated the view that only gender-balanced power relations between men and women can ensure a fair social justice and peaceful society.

Key Words: Critical Discourse Analysis, feminism, gender, ideology, patriarchy, power

Women, protest and social change in Julie Okoh’s Edewede

Margaret Fafa Nutsukpo — 2020-04-28

The 21st century African society is rife with oppressive and retrogressive customs and values that oppress and subjugate women. As a result, African women writers have embraced literary forms and subjects that highlight these issues and advocate for their elimination from society. Among these writers is Julie Okoh, a playwright, who projects her concerns about the dangers of female circumcision in her play, Edewede. Using feminism as a theoretical framework, this article interrogates Okoh’s adoption of the principles of two opposing feminist perspectives─African and radical feminism─with a view to revealing their impact in rousing her female characters from subservience, ignorance and passivity, to revolt against their oppression through social protest. It is discovered that education, consciousness-raising, sisterhood, female solidarity and resilience are powerful tools for women’s empowerment in the play. It is recommended that women should not be context bound in their choice and expression of feminist perspectives, strategies or weapons in the fight against gender inequality, oppression and exploitation; they should be open to contemporary avenues and progressive choices that will pave the way to their emancipation and social change.

A survey of gender politics and the use of English among students of the department of English studies, University of Port Harcourt

Joseph O. Ahaotu — 2020-04-28

This study investigated feminist consciousness and the differences in the use of English language among undergraduates in the Department of English Studies (EST), University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The theoretical basis of the study is Radical Feminism and the researchers used a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) to collect data for the study. The researchers collected data from three groups each of which consisted of ten final year students who formed panels to discuss gender issues while the researchers moderated. The data was analysed with framework analysis, simple percentages, and significant ratios. The study revealed that the participants were actively engaged in gender politics, used English in significantly different styles, but tended to be equally divided on their total allegiance to their gender groups. The study concluded that EST students are actively engaged in gender politics and confirmed the existence of some of the differences between male and female speech identified by earlier studies. Therefore, it recommended, among others, that curriculum design on the subject should shift from aggression and divisiveness to integration and mutual respect for not just named gender groups, but also for all humans.

Key Words: gender politics, Feminism, focal group discussion, gender and language, variation

Orara as a symbol of feminine beauty and meekness in select novels of Igbo female writers

Perp’ st. Remy Asiegbu — 2020-04-28

The similitude that exists in the depiction of the major characters of pioneer Nigerian female writers (who are, incidentally, Igbo) tasks the mind as it reflects on a possible cause of this semblance. This paper located a double pronged characteristic that is shared by all the major characters in the works under study – one of beauty and gentle spirit. These features have a symbolic significance (Ọrara) in an Igbo sub-culture (Mbaise). Ọrara, a snake, is one of the symbols in Mbari representing feminine beauty and meekness in repressed strength – traits that womanism upholds. Text analysis, oral tradition and interviews provide points that aid the study of the relationship between these concepts – female characters, Ọrara and womanism. It is deduced that the identical characterization in the works of Igbo female writers - Nwapa’s Efuru and Idu; Emecheta’s The Joys of Motherhood and The Bride Price; and Okoye’s Behind the Clouds and Chimere - has its root in the writers’ re-creation of the real experiences of the ordinary woman in the Igbo society whose natural reactions to her plight gravitates more to the womanist than the feminist angle, producing traits that are similar to those of Ọrara. And while womanism is not new in relation to the study of the works of Igbo female writers, it has not been studied against a significant symbol in the Igbo tradition. Ọrara is, thus, seen as the ideological locus for womanism and may be put under further scrutiny to establish it as the muse of Igbo female writers.

Key Words: Womanism, Characters, Beauty, Meekness, Symbol, Ọrara, Igbo.

Out with old, in with the new: Negotiating identity in re-naming a Xhosa umtshakazi

Evangeline Bonisiwe Zungu — 2020-04-28

Umtshakazi (singular) is a bride and abatshakazi (plural) are brides in isiXhosa language. The word is derived from the word ‘tsha’ which means new in isiXhosa. The word is popularly known as Makoti in other African languages, such as isiZulu. In short, a bride is a woman about to be married or newly married and thus a “new member” of the husband’s family. In a South African context, naming is not reserved for new-born children as there are circumstances whereby older people get new names. In Xhosa re-naming of abatshakazi, is a religious practice where name-givers bestow a name on a newlywed and then expect brides to live up to their newly acquired names. Like most things cultural, the brides have no choice but to accept the new name, embrace what the name entails and live up to the family’s expectations. Through the re-naming process the bride assumes a new identity which means taking the responsibility that comes with it. This article examines how such a process gives brides new roles to play; how brides make a conscious effort to live up to the name and how this changes their identity. This article is going to take a phenomenology stance. The phenomenology theory is a theoretical proposition which focuses on people’s perceptions of the world in which they live and what it means to them. It focuses on people’s lived experiences. This theory is essential in this article as the article focuses on the individual experiences of Xhosa abatshakazi in the naming process.

Key Words: gender, culture, names, identity, marriage

a Study of non-verbal communication in the Nigerian (Yorùbá) novels: The side code

Ahmed O. Adesanya — 2020-04-28

Non-verbal communication is a very important aspect of communication which plays a very crucial role in interpersonal relationship. Its role in the accentuation of verbal communication cannot be overemphasized. Existing literature has not given enough attention to side code as a form of non-verbal communication in the Yorùbá novel. This study fills the gap as it examines side codes, the contexts in which they occur in Yoruba novels with a view to establishing its communicative value. The study adopts semiotic theories of Saussure and Charles Sanders Peirce. Four Yorùbá novels: Ìrìnkèrindò Nínú Igbó Elégbèje and Ògbójú Ọdẹ Nínú Igbó Irúnmo̩lẹ̀. By D.O. Fagunwa, Ojú rí́́́ by Kola Oni and Ṣaworoidẹ by Akinwumi Isola were purposively selected because they have elements of side code and were subjected to semiotic and textual analyses. Side code helps in cultural determinism in the codification of disaster, chaos, lopsidedness, disappointment, success, identification of prince and complementarity.

Key Words: Side code; Semiotics; Purposive sample; Yorùbá novels

A pragma-syntactic analysis of slogans on t-shirts

Michael Alozie Nwala — 2020-04-28

The T-shirts and the slogans on them are used to achieve different discourse and communicative themes. The T-shirts help to describe people, events, positions and situations. This article written the confines of the theoretical framework of multimodal discourse analysis and the qualitative design, investigates five different types of T-shirts. The T-shirts and the inscriptions on them as exemplified in the themes of readiness, position and desire, happiness and celebration, and protest are used to describe the wearers, address situations and pass information to the public. The paper therefore concludes that T-shirts and the slogans scripted on them perform different types of illoucutionary actions which cause different forms perlocutionary reactions

Key Words: T-shirts, slogans, themes, multimodal, cloth; communication

Igbo dialects and the citation-form: the possibility of a standard Igbo dictionary

Esther N. Oweleke — 2020-04-28

It is the norm in lexicography to have dictionary headwords in the standard variety of the language. But up to date, no Igbo dictionary exists in this variety. Most Igbo lexicographers have adopted the dialectal or multidialectal approach in their choice of a citation-form. The multiplicity of Igbo dialects accounts for this situation. This paper examines both sound and lexical variations in the language; describes the lexicographic problems of choice and arrangement of headwords, and discusses the suitability of the Igbo dictionary as a tool for standardizing the language. Two major sources of data were employed: the modified Ibadan 400 wordlist of basic items - used for a survey of the seven dialect zones identified by Manfredi (1989), and the dictionaries of Welmers and Welmers (1968), Williamson (1972), Igwe (1999) and Echeruo (2001). The paper demonstrated that sound and lexical variants in Igbo can be harnessed by Igbo lexicographers to produce an Igbo dictionary in the standard variety. Considering the optimal benefits derivable from a standard dictionary, the following suggestions for future Igbo lexicographers are proffered: words from different dialects of the language should be included in the dictionary; the standard forms be selected and consistently entered as headwords. Words with sound variation should be treated as sub-entries and lexical variants be cited as main-entries in their right alphabetical positions. The paper argued that, for the Igbo dictionary to fulfil its indispensable role as a language standardizing tool, the production of a Standard Igbo dictionary is imperative in Igbo lexicography and Igbo language studies.

An investigation of questions in Ètùló language of Benue State, Nigeria

Adaobi Ngozi Okoye — 2020-04-28

This study investigated the formation of questions in Etulo, a minority language spoken in Benue State. It specifically examines the strategies used in forming content and polar questions in the language. Data for the study were collected during a fieldtrip to Adi in Buruku Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. The study shows that both content and polar questions are formed in the language through different strategies. Whereas content questions are formed through the use of interrogative words such as òle/kↄ ‘where’, òle ‘which’, ème ‘who’ emine ‘how many’ among others, the main strategy employed in polar question formation is the use of tone. In addition to tone; the language also uses such particles as gbɛ́ɛ̀ and lô in polar question formation. These particles occur at the final position of a declarative sentence to indicate that it is a question.

Key Words: Etulo, Question Formation, Polar, Interrogative Words

The discourse of thesis assessment reports in a disciplinary community at the University of Cape Coast: An exploratory study

Joseph Benjamin Archibal Afful — 2020-04-28

Thesis assessment reports constitute an important review genre in postgraduate education, though they largely remain occluded. This paper investigates the discourse of thesis assessment reports, with the view to gaining insights into their form and content in a Ghanaian university. Thirty-four (34) written assessment reports of 19 Master’s theses from the Department of English in the University of Cape Coast constituted the data set. A qualitative content analysis, supplemented with descriptive statistics, was adopted. Three key findings emerged from the analysis of the data. First, there were varying structural patterns adopted by assessors, thereby evincing individual preferences. Second, the least and most frequent comments in the assessment reports were on the methodology on one hand and literature review and analysis/discussion on the other hand. Third, theses assessors largely adhered to institutional guidelines in terms of the evaluative criteria. These findings have implications for the scholarship on thesis assessment reports in postgraduate education, postgraduate pedagogy, and further research in higher education in Ghana and elsewhere.

Key Words: Discourse, thesis assessment reports, Ghana, postgraduate education

The influence of cultural constraints on comprehension among second language (L₂) learners: Implications for language teaching and learning

Ugochi Happiness Ikonne — 2020-04-28

Very many factors have been found to influence second language learning. For instance, affective factors such as attitude, motivation and personality have usually been acknowledged to play important role in second language learning. Other factors include environmental factors which could be geographical and/or cultural. This discourse reviewed the various ways in which cultural constraints and cultural differences impede comprehension among second language (L2) learners. Emphasis was on listening, reading, pragmatics and viewing comprehension. It was recommended that language teacher apply strategies and techniques like infantilization, dramatization, excursion, audio and visual resources to concretize their lessons. Also, to bridge the cultural gap between the second language learner and the culture of the target language, acculturation or immersion programme is recommended. This is to ensure deeper contact between the learner and the culture, native speakers and the target language.
Key Words: culture, comprehension and second language learning

Prophetie et structure de l’intrigue dans le Roman Africain d’expression Française: Le cas de l’etrange destin de Wangrin d’Amadou Hampate ba

Kalu Wosu — 2020-04-28

Amadou Hampâté Bâ est né en 1901, et pour cela, il s’est surnommé « fils ainé du XXe siècle ». De son vivant, il a fait la collecte des traditions orales africaines en voie de disparition. En collaboration avec les ethnologues tels Géneviève Calame-Griaule, Germaine Dieterlen, Marcel Griaule, etc., Amadou Hampâté Bâ laisse à la postérité un corps important du patrimoine africain sous formes de contes, d’essais autobiographiques, et d’un roman. C’est bien ce souci de préservation du patrimoine oral qu’il a prononcé une phrase qui est devenue un proverbe : En Afrique lorsqu’un vieillard meurt, c’est toute une bibliothèque qui brule. II est décédé en 1991 à l‘âge de 90 ans. L’Etrange destin de Wangrin, son seul roman, est devenu, dès sa parution en 1973, un des classiques de la littérature négro -africaine d’expression française. Ce roman est une peinture saisissante du colonialisme français en Afrique, surtout à la conjoncture historique de la première grande guerre. Il témoigne aussi du choc entre les traditions millénaires des Africains et les valeurs culturelles du Blanc véhiculées par la colonisation. L’Etrange destin de Wangrin suit la trame narrative du théâtre tragique grec en ce sens que le personnage héros est soumis à la volonté d’un destin capricieux. Ses gestes sont prédéterminés par les forces occultes qui l’entrainent dès sa naissance, en passant par des péripéties, jusqu’au geste fatal qui annonce une mort inéluctable Notre visée dans la présente étude porte sur le rôle que joue la prophétie tant dans la programmation du destin de Wangrin, le personnage éponyme du roman, que dans la structure dynamique du récit.

Mots-clés : prophétie, dynamique, structurant, divination, Amadou Hampâté Bâ

Reinforcing the teaching of translation in Beninese Secondary Schools: A new challenge for EFL teachers

Mahugnon Sévérin Mèhouénou — 2020-04-28

This paper dealt with, after the scrutiny of advanced learners’ translation skills, the necessity of reinforcing the teaching of translation skills as a potentially effective method of teaching/learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL)in Benin high schools. In fact, the Beninese EFL learners study English for almost about seven years (four years in the first cycle and three years in the second) before joining university. For the last three years, they are exposed to translation skills during evaluation. Unfortunately, the designed curriculum has nowhere mentioned the teaching/learning/evaluation of translation. This paper then examined, through a well-established methodology based on field research investigation and questionnaires, some translation excerpts by EFL learners and hypotheses that no translation techniques are taught by teachers before evaluation. It finally concludes that the poor grades the learners culled are due to the lack of practice with their teachers who, in turn, have received no professional training in the matter.

Key Words: translation, evaluation, techniques of translation, communicative performance, source language, target language.