Mother Figures in Charles Dickens’ Novel “David Copperfield”: A Pragma-Discoursal Analysis of Social Deixis (Published)
The theme of motherhood and mother figures constitutes a core pillar in the novel “David Copperfield”. Relying on the context in which the different deictic expressions of person, social, time and place construct the language used to portray mother figures, a pragma-discoursal study can best fit in the interpretation of literary texts. This article aims at identifying specifically the social deixis mostly used by the mother figures Clara Copperfield, Clara Peggotty and Miss Betsey in Charles Dickens’ novel “David Copperfield” and how they determine mothers’ roles in relation to David’s life from early childhood. The data involve three extracts selected from three chapters of the novel. Based on Fillmore’s (1975) and Levinson’s (1983) models of social deictic expressions, a mixed method approach in conducted. The article concluded that David Copperfield used basically the family social deixis to represent the three mother figures (Clara Copperfield, Clara Peggotty and Miss Betsey) stating clearly that mother roles such as loving, caring and nurturing are not necessary to be performed by the biological mother.
Citation: Farah Abdul-Jabbar Al Manaseer & Aysar Basheer Hasan Radhi (2022) Mother Figures in Charles Dickens’ Novel “David Copperfield”: A Pragma-Discoursal Analysis of Social Deixis, European Journal of English Language and Literature Studies, Vol.10, No.5, pp. 24-35
Keywords: Discourse Analysis, Motherhood, Pragmatics, fictional autobiography social deixis, mother figures
The Quest for Male-Children in Buchi Emehceta’s The Joy of Motherhood and Chinua Achebe’s Anthills of the Savannah (Published)
The desire to perpetuate lineages makes some African families crave for male children. Buchi Emecheta’s The Joys of Motherhood unfolds this urge in a perceptible manner. The study, therefore, explores the male and female attitudes to the quest for male children. It portrays the desperate search and yearning for male children in the novel. Also, the study critically analyses the effects of the hankering on the female child who discovers that her parents desired a male child before her birth and would have preferred a male child. Chinua Achebe’s Anthills of the Savannah uncovers the effects palpably. Thus, the study shows both the negative and positive upshot of the incontrovertible desire.
Keywords: Buchi Emehceta’s, Chinua Achebe’s, Male-Children, Motherhood