A semiotic analysis of linguistic and visual features of statues of selected legendary figures in Yorubaland
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Date
2015
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Department of English, Faculty of Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University.
Abstract
The study identified the semiotic components of some Yoruba legendary statues. It analysed
the linguistic and visual anchorages that accompany the statues. It further described the social values,
cultural and political identities and stances expressed by the linguistic and visual features of the
statues. All these were done with a view to enriching the knowledge of statues as a phenomenon of
language and foregrounding the discourse wealth of statues as semiotic signifiers of socio-historical
significance.
The study employed both primary and secondary sources of data. The primary source
comprised eleven statues which were purposively selected from six cities in Yorubaland. The selected
cities were Ondo, Ile-Ife, Oke-mesi, Ibadan and Abeokuta. The selected statues were closely read with
particular attention to their linguistic and non-linguistic meaning making modes. The secondary
sources included books, journal articles and the Internet. The analysis of the data was guided by van
Leeuwen's Social semiotics and Martins and White's Appraisal theory.
The findings showed that the selected statues were composed of primary and secondary
signifiers. The study also found that the statues were accompanied by such verbal anchorages as
epithets of appreciation and affective memory, nominal signifiers of heroism, positive terms of
address, verb signifiers of impressive attitude and local configuration/eulogies. There were also visual
anchorages such as warfare symbolism, religion symbols, animal and material signifiers. All these
served as indices of affective evaluation. The findings further showed that the statues portrayed such
social values as bravery, courage, hard work, enterprise, integrity and patriotism. It was found that
legendary statues inscribed leadership, power, social and economic identities, and that their producers
also utilised the products to construct stances of positive alignment and judgement which pointed to
their attachment to the values which the statues signify.
The study concluded that statues of Yoruba legendary figures are discourse products because
they elucidated the concepts of power, identity and ideology, which were the subjects of modern day
discourse. It also concluded that the statues were semiotic signifiers of the Yoruba socio-cultural
realities.
Description
xiii, 100p
Keywords
semiotic components, Yoruba legendary statues, linguistic, social values, visual anchorages
Citation
Adefolaju, AA. (2015). A semiotic analysis of linguistic and visual features of statues of selected legendary figures in Yorubaland. Department of English, Faculty of Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University.