A critical stylistic analysis of selected poems in Segun Adekoya’s Guinea Bites and Sahel Blues
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Date
2016
Authors
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Publisher
Obafemi Awolowo University
Abstract
This study identified and described the critical stylistic features in Segun Adekoya’s Guinea Bites and Sahel Blues. It also analysed and categorised the identified features in the poems. Finally, it related the features to their socio-political contexts of the poems with a view to explicating the critical stylistic approach in unraveling Segun Adekoya’s ideology in the selected poems.
The study employed both primary and secondary sources of data. The primary data comprised ten poems drawn from Segun Adekoya’s Guinea Bites and Sahel Blues. The poems were read closely and analysed using simple statistical method of frequencies and percentages to determine the rates of occurrences of the transitivity devices for representing actions, events and states in them. Then the overall percentages of the transitivity devices were calculated, and the results were related to the contexts of the poems. The secondary source of data included textbooks, journals articles and the Internet. The poems were analysed using the critical stylistic approach of Lesley Jeffries.
The results showed that the feature of Naming and Describing used nominal groups that revealed the ideology of the poet. It was also discovered that the choice of Head-Nouns and the pre-and post-modifiers in the nominal groups found in the poem aided the location and description of the setting. Also, the feature of Representing Actions, Events and States has a preponderance of Material Action Intentional (MAI) of 18.7%, Material Action Events (MAE) of 42.4%, and Relational Intensive (RI) of 18.7%; these transitivity devices portrayed the multifaceted challenges of most Africans and Nigerians. The poet equally employed action verbs and linking verbs to communicate occurrences of poor governance, paucity of resources and to express a dire need for change by common men in Nigeria and Africa in general. Thus, showing that Adekoya’s poetry manifested these two critical stylistic features.
This study concluded that poetry is a veritable data for explicating the features of Critical Stylistics of Naming and Describing and Representing Actions, Events and States.
Name of Supervisor: Dr. M.O. Ayeomoni
Number of Pages: 147
Description
xii,147p
Keywords
Stylistic, Poems, Guinea Bites, Sahel Blues, Segun Adekoya’s, Stylistic analysis
Citation
Bankole, A.E. (2016). A critical stylistic analysis of selected poems in Segun Adekoya’s Guinea Bites and Sahel Blues.