A Sociolinguistic Study of Conversations in Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People
This paper examines sociolinguistic features of conversational interactions among characters in Achebe’s A Man of the People. The aim is to differ from the largely stylistic examination of the text, and therefore, to study conversations in the mediated arena of literature to see how societal stru...
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Editura Universităţii Aurel Vlaicu Arad
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Online Access: | http://www.jhss.ro/downloads/15/articles/7%20Olaniyan.pdf |
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doaj-2a5ba776a8ce47bf8d5c2f0b0d6034182021-03-02T08:28:00ZdeuEditura Universităţii Aurel Vlaicu AradJournal of Humanistic and Social Studies2067-65572247-23712017-05-01VIII1 103124A Sociolinguistic Study of Conversations in Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the PeopleKazeem K. Olaniyan0 Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, OgbomosoThis paper examines sociolinguistic features of conversational interactions among characters in Achebe’s A Man of the People. The aim is to differ from the largely stylistic examination of the text, and therefore, to study conversations in the mediated arena of literature to see how societal structures and beliefs are projected through the voices of fictive characters. For data, all the conversations in the text were sampled and analysed, using ethnographic theories with particular reference to Hymes’ SPEAKING. Our findings reveal that social and contextual variables such as cultural norms, topics, gender, situational impositions, etc. influence the interactions between and/ or among the characters in the text. These, as our findings reveal, constrain the linguistic choices made by the characters. These social-contextual variables also facilitate readers’ understanding of both the text and the world views advanced by the writer through the voices of the characters. This paper concludes that analyzing literary texts most especially prose works using Hymes’ SPEAKING aids a better understanding of the texts and the world views projected in the texts. http://www.jhss.ro/downloads/15/articles/7%20Olaniyan.pdfSociolinguisticsEthnography of CommunicationA Man of the Peopletextsand conversational interactions |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
deu |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Kazeem K. Olaniyan |
spellingShingle |
Kazeem K. Olaniyan A Sociolinguistic Study of Conversations in Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People Journal of Humanistic and Social Studies Sociolinguistics Ethnography of Communication A Man of the People texts and conversational interactions |
author_facet |
Kazeem K. Olaniyan |
author_sort |
Kazeem K. Olaniyan |
title |
A Sociolinguistic Study of Conversations in Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People |
title_short |
A Sociolinguistic Study of Conversations in Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People |
title_full |
A Sociolinguistic Study of Conversations in Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People |
title_fullStr |
A Sociolinguistic Study of Conversations in Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Sociolinguistic Study of Conversations in Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People |
title_sort |
sociolinguistic study of conversations in chinua achebe’s a man of the people |
publisher |
Editura Universităţii Aurel Vlaicu Arad |
series |
Journal of Humanistic and Social Studies |
issn |
2067-6557 2247-2371 |
publishDate |
2017-05-01 |
description |
This paper examines sociolinguistic features of conversational interactions
among characters in Achebe’s A Man of the People. The aim is to differ from
the largely stylistic examination of the text, and therefore, to study
conversations in the mediated arena of literature to see how societal structures
and beliefs are projected through the voices of fictive characters. For data, all
the conversations in the text were sampled and analysed, using ethnographic
theories with particular reference to Hymes’ SPEAKING.
Our findings reveal that social and contextual variables such as cultural
norms, topics, gender, situational impositions, etc. influence the interactions
between and/ or among the characters in the text. These, as our findings reveal,
constrain the linguistic choices made by the characters. These social-contextual
variables also facilitate readers’ understanding of both the text and the world
views advanced by the writer through the voices of the characters.
This paper concludes that analyzing literary texts most especially prose
works using Hymes’ SPEAKING aids a better understanding of the texts and
the world views projected in the texts. |
topic |
Sociolinguistics Ethnography of Communication A Man of the People texts and conversational interactions |
url |
http://www.jhss.ro/downloads/15/articles/7%20Olaniyan.pdf |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT kazeemkolaniyan asociolinguisticstudyofconversationsinchinuaachebesamanofthepeople AT kazeemkolaniyan sociolinguisticstudyofconversationsinchinuaachebesamanofthepeople |
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