Bamigboye, Omolade
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Stylistic Foregrounding in The Socio-Political Commentary of Selected Guardian Cartoons Bamigboye, Omolade; Omotunde, Samuel Adebayo
Journal of Language and Literature Vol 19, No 2 (2019): October
Publisher : Universitas Sanata Dharma

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | Full PDF (1361.726 KB) | DOI: 10.24071/joll.v19i2.2134

Abstract

The paper investigates the role of textual foregrounding in the understanding of cartoons in The Guardian, a Nigerian daily newspaper. To achieve this aim, Bally’s stylistics of humor is used as theoretical basis. Bally’s theory claims that there is a connection between language and the thoughts and feelings of its user. It also espouses the idea that as human beings, we respond emotionally in one way or the other to how a language is crafted in a particular context and by a particular user. This is especially the case for structures that are deemed humorous. Using a purposive data selection method, selected cartoon pieces from The Guardian about the 2015 general elections in Nigeria were collated, with a view to subjecting them to stylistic investigation. The eight selected cartoons are analyzed methodically, bringing out the stylistic use of foregrounding by the cartoonists. Findings reveal that through a shared body of world knowledge and current affairs, the cartoonist and his audience communicate via the short, witty and didactic cartoons in the overall interest of probity, decency, and accountability in the Nigerian public place. The artist highlights sensitive information he wishes to emphasize, by bringing such to the fore, through foregrounding. The conclusion and contribution to existing literature is that textual foregrounding, as a stylistic tool, is of immeasurable importance to the cartoonist in the daily execution of his art.
Text and Terror: How Boko-Haram Terrifies Nigerians Using ‘Ordinary’ Words BAMIGBOYE, OMOLADE
Journal of Language and Literature Vol 20, No 1 (2020): April
Publisher : Universitas Sanata Dharma

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | Full PDF (725.538 KB) | DOI: 10.24071/joll.v20i1.2349

Abstract

This paper investigates how Boko-Haram uses language to create terror in the minds of Nigerians. Boko-Haram, an Islamic terrorist organisation based in Nigeria and some other West African countries, periodically releases videos in which threats are made to the public. These videos are then transcribed into text by major news media all over the world. The thesis of the paper is if seemingly innocuous expressions are interpreted with fear as a result of who utters them. After a thorough study of possible theoretical approaches, the cognitive stylistics approach was deemed most suited for the present work. This is because the approach sees readers as ‘actively involved in the process of meaning-making’, Jeffries and McIntyre (2010: 127). Using the Schema Theory as conceptual framework, I argue that the readers of these statements interpret same with the residual knowledge they have of the world. Schema Theory submits that certain elements of background knowledge are superimposed on the text by the reader in creating a world (scenario) while reading the text. The findings reveal that the source of a text goes a long way in determining how it is digested by readers.  Also, readers make sense of texts based not just on what is read, but the surrounding information they mentally impose on it.