Abstract
African artworks, to be specific, literature has for quite a long time now demonstrated African tradition and culture. One major African literary tool that has maintained its efficacy in the African cultural heritage is the use of proverbs. Proverbs have been diversely used to perform several functions in the African traditional setting. Among such functions are: confirming opinions, warning, showing regrets, doubts, justifications and many more. This paper seeks to examine some selected proverbs from Chinua Achebe’s novels – Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God. Significantly, one can conclude that the style of a writer can go a long way in determining the reception and authenticity of his works. Chinua Achebe has extensively employed proverbs in his works as a tool for setting out or revealing his characters, themes and many others. This study is a pragma-stylistic approach to the analysis of proverbs used by Achebe in the selected novels. The researchers focus primarily on the style, meaning and function of the proverbs used in the selected texts. A critical content analysis method is employed for this study to determine the functions of the proverbs within the context of the novel. This study brings to the fore the very nature of African proverbs, specifically the Igbo of Nigeria and reveals the various functions ascribed to these proverbs. This will provide readers with the necessary knowledge on the very reasons why some proverbs are used and will ignite the research impetus of some researchers to further investigate other approaches to proverbs. This study has contributed immensely to the existing literature on pragma-stylistic studies and the understanding of a pragma-stylistic approach as a theoretical concept with a unique focus on analysing African proverbs. Keywords: Achebe, Proverbs, Pragmatics, Pragma-stylistics, Stylistics
Highlights
Proverbs have been highly and significantly used in most cultures, more especially, African cultures
This study is a pragma-stylistic approach to the analysis of proverbs used by Achebe in the selected novels
This study brings to the fore the very nature of African proverbs, the Igbo of Nigeria and reveals the various functions ascribed to these proverbs
Summary
Proverbs have been highly and significantly used in most cultures, more especially, African cultures. The conceptualisation of Pragma-stylistics, among other things, is appropriate for the analysis due to the fact that it will help in bringing out the very meaning of the proverbs and their respective functions Will it assist in this manner but it will enable the researcher to look at the writer’s literary styles that he employs in transmitting his messages in the proverbs. Achebe in his texts brings to light the culture, customs, social structure, and even the religious background of his people through the use of proverbs This discussion will primarily focus on the speakers of the proverbs within the context of the novel, the contextual meanings and functions of the proverbs, and the literariness of the proverbs. The villagers, in their sorry states and loss of faith, convert to Christianity
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