DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERATURE

This study examined the themes of irony and inhumanity in Ikechukwu Asika's novel "Love of an Angel". Through a close reading of the text, this project revealed how the author employed irony to critique societal norms and power structures, highlighting the devastating consequences of cruelty and exploitation. The study analyzed the portrayal of suffering, oppression, and resilience in the novel, emphasizing the importance of empathy, education, and collective action in creating a more compassionate and equitable society. Methodologically, this project combined literary analysis with critical
theory, drawing on the works of scholars such as bell hooks and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak to inform its critique of power and oppression. The study engaged with the concept of irony, exploring its various forms and functions in the novel. Through a nuanced and contextualized analysis, this project demonstrated the ways in which "Love of an Angel" offered a powerful critique of societal injustices and a testament to the human spirit's capacity for resilience and hope. The findings of this study highlighted the significance of "Love of an Angel" as a literary work that challenged readers to confront the harsh realities of suffering and oppression. Through its exploration of irony and inhumanity, the novel offered a powerful critique of societal norms and power structures, emphasizing the need for empathy, education, and collective action to create a more just and equitable world. This study contributed to ongoing conversations in literary studies, critical theory, and social justice, demonstrating the importance of literary works in shaping our understanding of the world and our place within it.

This qualitative stylistic study explores how Nigerian artist Folarin Falana, popularly known as Falz, uses language and creative techniques in five of his songs— This Is Nigeria, Talk, Confirm, Hypocrite , and Wehdone Sir —to criticize corruption and moral decline in Nigerian society. Using Leech and Short’s “Style as Text” model, the study examines the songs at the grapho-phonological, grammatical, and lexico-semantic levels to show how Falz’s language choices reveal social issues, reflect moral decay, and challenge corruption as expressed through Nigerian English. The findings show that Falz deliberately employs local language features such as non-standard phonetic spellings, code-switching between Standard English and Nigerian Pidgin, simple sentence structures, and the use of irony to create a style that is both relatable and socially aware. The study concludes that Falz’s stylistic approach serves as a purposeful and effective form of social activism, turning everyday language into a powerful and accessible means of promoting moral reflection and questioning corruption and hypocrisy among both leaders and citizens.

his essay examines the spatial conundrum in Niyi Osundare’s poetry collection on hurricane Katrina disaster in order to investigate how the poet has represented the effects of the storm on the city of New Orleans. The research aims to analyse the spatial imagery and metaphors used in Osundare’s poetry to convey the experiences of Katrina victims. It also investigates how the poems challenge and reinforce dominant narratives of disaster response and recovery

This research paper looks at the features of the language used in new media today. The analysis reveals how this new media has created new language mostly used in these media platforms and the effects it has in our everyday English. Majority of the people that use this language in new media are teenagers and young adults, so this paper also shows the effect of these media language in speech writing in schools.

This paper examines the interplay of folklore and identity in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus and Americanah, exploring how cultural narratives, traditions, and societal norms shape personal and collective identity. The study adopts a qualitative research method, employing content analysis of the texts to evaluate how folklore serves as a vehicle for cultural preservation and self-definition. Adichie intricately weaves elements of folklore, including proverbs, customs, and oral traditions, into her narratives, illustrating the tensions between tradition and modernity, home and diaspora, as well as individual and collective identity. In Purple Hibiscus, the influence of colonialism on religious and cultural identity is brought to the fore, depicting characters struggling with imposed Western ideologies and indigenous traditions. Religious fundamentalism, family dynamics, and Igbo proverbs contribute to the construction of identity and highlight the complexities of cultural inheritance. Conversely, Americanah presents a transnational perspective, portraying the challenges of migration, racial identity, and cultural displacement. Ifemelu’s journey in America underscores the fluidity of identity as she navigates different cultural spaces, while Obinze’s experience in the UK reflects the intersection of class, race, and personal aspirations. Through an in-depth analysis of folklore and identity, this study underscores the role of storytelling in shaping perceptions of self and community. It concludes that folklore remains a powerful tool for cultural continuity, helping individuals negotiate their place within both local and global contexts. The findings advocate for a greater appreciation of indigenous knowledge systems in literary discourse, reinforcing the significance of cultural heritage in contemporary African narratives.

Narrative Devices are writers tools used in creating stories, events which may be fictional or non-fictional with the aim of teaching and revealing lessons of life and events which are the product of human actions and reactions. In doing this, writers employ various techniques like characterization, themes, tropes and schemes to laugh at and scorn human activities. Thus, it is in view of this The Beauty of Madness and Other Stories is discussed so as to show how the various narrative techniques is deployed in x-raying the themes of jealousy, love, betrayal, forgiveness and superstition in the narrative. Keywords: Narrative Devices, New formalism, tropes, themes, schemes

The purpose of this study is to examine how Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay with Me and Lola Shoneyin’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives subvert patriarchal norms and assert omen’s agency through resistance and navigation as displayed by the female characters. This study aims to investigate the various ways in which female characters in these ooks ppose or navigate patriarchal structures imposed on them, as well as how they express control over their lives despite cultural and social restraints.

This research paper looks at the features of the language used in new media today. The analysis reveals how this new media has created new language mostly used in these media platforms and the effects it has in our everyday English. Majority of the people that use this language in new media are teenagers and young adults, so this paper also shows the effect of these media language in speech writing in schools.

Sarcasm is a figurative language that uses words that mean opposite of what the speaker says. Detecting sarcasm is a difficult task, even for humans because when utterance is decoded by the listener, it takes a level of understanding to detect sarcasm. This study approaches this challenging problem primarily from a linguistic perspective, focusing on the discourse analytic aspects of sarcasm. Twitter is a social media platform that allows people or social media users to express themselves using sarcasm. To achieve different communicative purpose, Sarcastic terms has been detected to be absurd or further expressed in a mimicking manner. In this study, the qualitative research method was adopted due to its naturalistic research approach as regards the case study. The collation of data was primarily user generated contents on twitter like comments, videos and pictures, memes of social media users in Mummy G.O’s trend on Twitter. The theory adopted in the study was the Media Discourse Analysis, it is the analysis of the interactions that take place through a broadcast platform. Further looking into the findings of this study, it hasbeen conclusively observed and noticed that the mental representation of social media users is expressed through absurd terms and mimicry to incite hurt or mockery in Mummy G.O’s Discourse on Twitter.

The purpose of the Abstract. This study seeks to examine the poetry of Dennis Brutus from differing perspectives.
To be specific, the study focuses not just on the depiction of South African predicament under the claws of Apartheid regime but looks at the ways and means with which the black South Africans are to tackle racial discrimination. We have adopted the qualitative approach of this study. By so doing we have looked at some critical writings on Brutus's poetry both past and present. There is no doubt that much has been written on Brutus's poetry. However, our study presents distinct themes from other critical writers. Consequent upon this, the study attempts a tripartite approach to the study of Brutus's poems. It is observed that one of the solutions to the hydra-headed problem of Apartheid is tenderness. Besides, the poet also encourages the victims to embrace the virtue of hope. And lastly, he advises black victims to be prayerful.