African Linguo-Cultural Aesthetics in Barclays Ayakoroma’s A Matter of Honour (Published)
Language and culture are not only inherently intertwined, but are also veritable elements for literary imagination and production which constructs and documents distinctive patterns of human existence. Hence modern African literature is essentially characterized by aspects of the African existential reality, as subtly or overtly encapsulated in the fabrics of oral tradition. With insights provided by the socio-semiotic theory espoused by Ferdinand De Saussure (1986) and expanded by Hodge and Kress (1988), Thibault (1991) and Kress and Van Leeuwen (2001), as the analytical template, this study, therefore , examines the deployment and appropriation of indigenous devices, such as native rhetorical patterns, proverbs, native similes, traditional belief system and transliteration, for the expression of cultural meaning in Barclays Ayakoroma’s A Matter of Honour, as an exemplification of how African authors deploy African linguo-cultural elements and aesthetics to capture the African existential reality, sensibility and essence in their works written in an imperial language. The study not only adumbrates the interface between language, culture and literature and the concept of literature as an evocation or microcosm of society, but also further enhances and enriches extant knowledge and perspectives on the African world-view, mores and values.
Keywords: African literature, Barclays Ayakoroma, Culture, Language, socio-semiotic
African Linguo-Cultural Aesthetics in Barclays Ayakoroma’s A Matter of Honour (Published)
Language and culture are not only inherently intertwined, but are also veritable elements for literary imagination and production which constructs and documents distinctive patterns of human existence. Hence modern African literature is essentially characterized by aspects of the African existential reality, as subtly or overtly encapsulated in the fabrics of oral tradition. With insights provided by the socio-semiotic theory espoused by Ferdinand De Saussure (1986) and expanded by Hodge and Kress (1988), Thibault (1991) and Kress and Van Leeuwen (2001), as the analytical template, this study, therefore , examines the deployment and appropriation of indigenous devices, such as native rhetorical patterns, proverbs, native similes, traditional belief system and transliteration, for the expression of cultural meaning in Barclays Ayakoroma’s A Matter of Honour, as an exemplification of how African authors deploy African linguo-cultural elements and aesthetics to capture the African existential reality, sensibility and essence in their works written in an imperial language. The study not only adumbrates the interface between language, culture and literature and the concept of literature as an evocation or microcosm of society, but also further enhances and enriches extant knowledge and perspectives on the African world-view, mores and values.
Keywords: African literature, Barclays Ayakoroma, Culture, Language, socio-semiotic