A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF SELECTED POEMS IN NIYI OSUNDARE’S RANDOM BLUES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TitlePage……………………………………………………………………… i
Certification………………………………………………………………………………… ii
Dedication…………………………………………………………………………………… iii
Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………… iv
Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………….vii
List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………… xi
Abstract………………………………… xii
CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study…………………………………………1
1.2 Statement of Research Problem……………………………………………………….5
1.3 Justification for the Study…………………………………………………………….. 6
1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study…………………………………………… 6
1.5 Research Methodology…………………………………………………………………7
1.6 Theoretical Framework………………………………………………………………… 7
1.7 Contribution to Knowledge……………………………………………………………8
1.8 Plan of the Study………………………………………………………………………9
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….10
2.1 The Notion of Style……………………………………………………………………10
2.1.1 Style and Language: Evaluative or Descriptive?…………………………………. 11
2.1.2 Style and Meaning (or Content)……………………………………………. 14
2.1.2.1 Style and Meaning as One: a Monist Point of View……………..15
2.1.2.2 Style and Meaning as Two Separate Entities: a Dualist Point of View… 18
2.1.2.3 Meaning as a Function of style: the New Pluralist View………..20
2.1.3 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………23
2.2 Stylistics and Literary Criticism of Poetry: Where the Difference Lies……………..23
2.3 Stages in Stylistic Analysis……………………………………………………………..26
2.4 Blues as a Genre of Poetry……………………………………………………………..27
2.5 African Writers and the Use of English………………………………………………29
2.6 An Overview of the Poems in the Publication………………………………………. 30
2.7 A Brief Survey of Socio-political Happenings in Nigeria between 2010 and 2012….32
2.8 Niyi Osundare………………………………………………………………………….38
2.9 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….. 39
CHAPTER THREE: GRAPHOLOGICAL AND LEXICO SEMANTIC ANALYSES
3.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….40
3.1 GRAPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS……………………………………………………..40
3.1.1 Use of Full Stop (.)…………………………………………………………..40
viii
3.1.2 Morpho-graphological Deviation……………………………………………
42
3.1.3 Phono-graphological Features……………………………………………….
46
3.2 LEXICO-SEMANTIC ANALYSIS……………………………………………………46
3.2.1 Foregrounded Use of Code Mixing…………………………………………. 47
3.2.2 Repetition of Lexical Items…………………………………………………. 49
3.2.3 Use of Complementary (Political) Lexical Items……………………………50
3.2.4 Lexica Groupings…………………………………………………………….53
3.2.4.1 The Marginalised Majority…………………………………………
53
3.2.4.2 The Pain-inflicting Minority………………………………………
55
3.2.4.3 The Social Happenings…………………………………………….
57
3.2.4.4 Summary……………………………………………………………
61
3.3 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….
63
CHAPTER FOUR: SYNTACTIC ANALYSIS
4.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 64
4.1 Classification of sentences in the poems…………………………………………….. 64
4.1.1 The Sentences According to their Communicative Functions……………. 64
4.1.1.1 Statements…………………………………………………………. 65
4.1.1.2 Commands………………………………………………………… 70
ix
4.1.1.3 Questions……………………………………………………………72
4.1.1.3 Exclamations……………………………………………………….73
4.1.2 The Sentences According to their Structural Patterns……………………..74
4.1.3 Summary……………………………………………………………………..
80
4.2 The Foregrounded Use of Interjection………………………………………………..80
4.3 Use of Code Switching…………………………………………………………………82
4.4 Syntactic Parallelism…………………………………………………………………..83
4.5 Use of First Person Plural Pronouns…………………………………………………..85
4.6 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..86
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION
5.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….
88
5.1 Summary……………………………………………………………………………….
88
5.2 Recommendation………………………………………………………………………
91
5.3 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..
91
RFERENCES………………………………………………………………………………
92
APPENDIX…………………………………………………………………………………
97
x
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Yoruba Lexical Items (Used in the Poems) and their Meanings……………….47
Table 2: Lexical Items Relating to European and African Political Systems………………..50
Table 3: The Themes in the Poems and the Lexical Items Expressing them……………60
Table 4: Some of the Statements Used in the Poems and their Syntactic Properties…..65
Table 5: The Commands Used in the Poems and their Syntactic Properties…………….
70
Table 6: The Simple Sentences Used in the Poems and their Structural Lineation
Distribution………………………………………………………………………
75
Table 7: The Lineation Division of the Simple Sentences into Subjects and Predicates…
76
Table 8: The Simplification of the Complex and Compound Sentences Used in the
Poems……………………………………………………………………………..77
ABSTRACT
Several studies have been carried out on the old poetry of Niyi Osundare using both literary and linguistic approaches; however, there has been a dearth of studies on his new poetry. This study therefore examines the language use in one of his collections of new poetry, Random Blues, with a view to extracting important pieces of information that are relevant to the national life of Nigeria.
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