A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF WOLE SOYINKA’S THE BEATIFICATION OF AREA BOY

A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF WOLE SOYINKA’S THE BEATIFICATION OF AREA BOY

ABSTRACT

This project is a Critical Discourse Analysis of Wole Soyinka’s The Beatification of Area Boy. Norman Fairclough’s theory has been used in the analysis of the text so as to reveal the hidden meaning behind every social interaction and how they affect power relation in the society. It is aimed at revealing the deep meaning of interactions as they affect our daily lives.The methodology for the research will be through selection and consequent analysis of utterances and other social behavior in the text. This will reveal the socio-cultural and the political atmosphere in the text.The textual, political and socio-cultural analysis have revealed the imbalances in the use of language among different strata of the society. Also, how the use of language reflects power dominance, injustice and inequality.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.0       Preamble

This chapter focuses on the purpose of the study, the scope of the study, the justification, the methodology, data description and the author’s background.

1.1       Background of the Study

The gift of language is the single human trait that marks us all, genetically setting us apart from the rest of life. Language is, like nest building or hive making, the universal and biologically specific activity of human beings. We engage in it communally, compulsively, and automatically. We cannot be human without it; if we were to be separated from it our minds would die as surely as bees lost from the hive (Algeo 87). Language is a unique endowment from God to human which makes us totally distinct from other creatures. Although, these other creatures communicate using sounds, their communication is certainly different from human language and is not categorized as language. Communication can therefore take place between human, or between animals and even between humans and animals, whereas language is human specific.

Language is simply man’s instrument of expression through sound. It is an instrument of thought, that is, a psycho-social interactive measure, which binds human society together in communities and linguistics group. According to Sapir (8), language is purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols. The use of language in communication is called Discourse.

The word “Discourse” originates from the Latin word “discursus” which denotes ‘conversation or speech’. It is the actual instances of communication in the medium of language. Barbara Johnstone (2) defines discourse as an institutionalized way of speaking that determines not only what we say and how we say it, but also what we do not say which can be inferred from what we say. It follows that Discourse Analysis is also concerned with language use in social contexts, as interaction or dialogue between speakers. One major approach to doing Discourse Analysis is Critical Discourse Analysis.

Critical Discourse Analysis is explicitly concerned with investigating how language is used to construct and maintain power relationships in the society; the aim is to reveal the connection between language and power and between language and ideology. CDA focuses on the study of language and discourses in social institution. Its major concern is to study and analyze written and spoken texts in order to draw attention to power imbalance or abuse, social inequalities and the domination of certain group of people in the society.

The Critical Discourse analyst deliberately dons a pair of critical spectacles and looks for evidence of the covert exercise of power in supposedly ‘equal’ interactions, or for indications of hidden ideological assumptions about ‘normal’ ways of doing things that disadvantage minority groups. CDA primarily seeks to discover how discourse structures enact, confirm, legitimize, reproduce or challenge power relations and dominance in society. Thus, a Critical Discourse Analyst takes explicit position and seeks to understand, expose, and ultimately resist social inequality.

The goal of CDA is to critique, improve the understanding of the society, and change the society by integrating social sciences in order to show how social phenomena are interconnected. CDA seeks to produce knowledge that helps people in the society emancipate themselves from domination through self-reflection. It helps to describe, explain and eradicate delusion, by revealing structures of power and ideologies behind discourse; that is, by making visible causes that are hidden. This project seeks to carry out a Critical Discourse Analysis of Wole Soyinka’s The Beatification of Area Boy.

1.2       Statement of the Problem

It is a common knowledge for readers of Wole Soyinka’s work that his literary texts are beyond what is obvious on the surface. His texts are laden with information and are sophisticated, such that readers mostly find it difficult to comprehend. In fact, Wole Soyinka prides himself as a sophisticated author who writes for people with sophisticated thinking. Hence, people often run away from any of Wole Soyinka’s work since they find easy comprehension a challenge. It is therefore important to carry out a critical and objective analysis of this text so as to shed more light on it, which will invariably help readers to comprehend the text better.

Furthermore, in the play, The Beatification of Area Boy, social, cultural and political issues are extensively discussed. All these are embedded in the conversations and it will take a reader’s critical and objective perusal of the play to decode them, hence, the need for a Critical Discourse Analysis of the play to shed more light on these issues.

Therefore, this work will explore the social and political issues in the play using the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis. Several researches have been done in CDA, in fact, a good number of research work employed Norman Fairclough’s framework. Majority of their findings is that political leaders oftentimes exercise their power to dominate the people through discourse. However, it has been observed that the ruling class do not only dominate the masses through power relation in discourse they also dominate them through the ideology they preach because the masses are prevented from holding ideology that diametrically oppose theirs. Hence, this project will not only look at power relations that take place in discourse but also the ideology that may prevent the masses from ever escaping the grip of the rulers.

1.3       Purpose of the Study

Critical Discourse Analysis is an important area in Linguistics; however, after the researcher carried out a thorough investigation (through the internet and browsing through the library of some tertiary institutions) it is obvious that CDA of Wole Soyinka’s works are rarely done. In fact, the researcher is not aware of any previous CDA done on the play, The Beatification of Area Boy, by anyone. As a result, this project will critically analyze the play so as to add to the existing body of knowledge in linguistics and literary study.

Also, this work will critically analyze the discourse elements present in the play using the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis in order to aid the teaching and learning Critical Discourse Analysis in institutions.

TOPIC: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF WOLE SOYINKA’S THE BEATIFICATION OF AREA BOY

Format: MS Word

Chapters: 1 - 5
Delivery: Email

Number of Pages: 75

Price: 3000 NGN

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