Abstract
Stylistics over the years has proven to be a field capable of accounting for the structural and functional intricacies of language and its style of use. This is owing to the fact that it is a field that allows for the empirical and thorough analysis of texts (both literary and non-literary), through its vast and apt analytical tools. In lieu of this, this study is a stylistic analysis of Remi Raji’s Web of Remembrance and Idris Amali’s War of Ants. The purpose of the study was to ascertain the various textual intricacies of the poems. In achieving this, a total of ten poems were selected based on their thematic preoccupation, and the stylistics tools of phonology, syntax and lexico semantics; the concept of stylistics pluralism with reference to Halliday’s metafunctions were the analytical tools. Furthermore, the findings of this study were that the phonological features -alliteration, assonance, and consonance- present in the poems help in giving the lines of the poems a flow of musical fluidity so that they aid and improve the memorability of the poems. Other than this, the syntactic features – anaphora, epiphora, rhetorical question, enumeration, aposiopesis, word classes, and sentence typology- all summed up to provide a niche of compactness to the lines of each poem, so that the poems in each text takes on a flowery show of stylistics dexterity. Hence, the lexico semantics features -metonymy, personification, oxymoron, and collocation- were used to portray the exact feelings of the poets, and stir the conscience and emotions of the readers through ample use of deviant words. The metafunctions of these poems, therefore, reveals the various information about the experiences of the poet, the relationship that holds in the poems, and the textual cohesion of the poems. Thus, going by the aforementioned findings, this study concludes that the poems in both Remi Raji and Idris Amali’s Web of remembrance and War of ants aims at construing memories from the past, about the present, and raise questions concerning the future; with the silent hope that together we all can look at our past mistakes and jolt our present situation for the benefit of a better future.
Table of Contents
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgments iv
Abstract vi
Table of Contents vii
List of Tables x
List of figures xi
Chapter one
General Introduction
1.1 Background to the study 1
1.2 Statement of Problem 2
1.3 Aim and Objectives 3
1.4 Research Questions 3
1.5 Scope of the Research 4
1.6 Justification of Study 5
1.7 Research Methodology 6
1.8 Biography of the Poets 7
1.9 Summary 8
Chapter Two
Literature Review
2.1 Introduction 9
2.2 Stylistics as a Discipline 9
2.2.1 A Brief Historical Development of Stylistics 12
2.3 The concept of Style 15
2.3.1 Approaches to Style 17
2.4 Linguistics Stylistics 20
2.5 Linguistic Features of Stylistics 22
2.5.1 Phonology 22
2.5.2 Syntax 24
2.5.3 Lexico Semantics 30
2.6 Conceptual Framework 31
2.7 Summary 39
Chapter Three
Data Analysis
3.1 Introduction 40
3.2 Phonological Analysis 40
3.2.1 Alliteration 40
3.2.2 Assonance 42
3.2.3 Consonance 43
3.3 Syntactic Analysis 45
3.3.1 Anaphora 45
3.3.2 Epiphora 49
3.3.3 Rhetorical Question 50
3.3.4 Enumeration 52
3.3.5 Aposiopesis 53
3.3.6 Word Class 55
3.3.7 Sentence Typology 65
3.4 Lexico Semantic Analysis 69
3.4.1 Metonymy 69
3.4.2 Personification 70
3.4.3 Oxymoron 71
3.4.4 Collocation 72
3.5 Metafunction 74
3.6 Discussion 98
3.7 Summary 100
Chapter Four
Summary, Findings, and Conclusion
4.1 Introduction 101
4.2 Findings 101
4.3 Conclusion 107
References 108
Appendixes 112
List of Tables
Table 1: The three metafunctions of language 33
Table 2: Example of material Process 34
Table 3: Halliday’s Classification of Mental Process 35
Table 4: Example of mental process 35
Table 5: Example of Relational process 36
Table 6: Example of behavioral process 37
Table 7: Example of interpersonal metafunction 38
Table 8: Example of textual metafunction 39
Table 9: Analysis of the metafunctions in Text 1, The hyenas are here. 73
Table 10: Analysis of the metafunctions in Text 1, Watching Gaza live 76 Table 11: Analysis of the metafunctions in Text 1, Gaza: a breakfast 81 Table 12: Analysis of the metafunctions in Text 1, Rolls of crescent 83 Table 13: Analysis of the metafunctions in Text 2, Cyclone II 86 Table 14: Analysis of the metafunctions in Text 2, Day and night 89 Table 15: Analysis of the metafunctions in Text 2, A song for fools 92 Table 16: Analysis of the metafunctions in Text 2, A song for bandits 96 Table 17: Frequency table indicating the numbers of word classes employed in the poems 99
List of Figures
Fig. 1: A Bar Graph representing the Cumulative Word Class in the two poems 103
Fig. 2: A Bar Graph representing the Sentence Typology Present in the poems 104
Fig. 3: A Bar Graph representing the Ideational processes present in the poems 105
Fig. 4: A Cone Graph representing the Interpersonal metafunctions present in the poems 106
Fig. 5: A Pyramid Graph representing the textual metafunction present in the poems 107
