HOW SOYINKA STYLISES SATIRIC HUMOUR IN ALÁPATÀ ÀPÁTA

Omolade Bamigboye, Adefolaju Eben Adeseke, Olufemi Adeosun, Abidemi Oluwaseun Tosin Jemiriye

Abstract


The paper investigates how Wole Soyinka builds his satire on the foundations of extreme humour, pun and self-deprecation in Alápatà Àpáta. Using the theory of incongruity, purposively selected excerpts from the play are subjected to analysis which reveals a style that creatively weaves language together using tools that produce humour in the repudiation of societal ills. Components of incongruity like pun, zeugma, register switch, irony and ironical echo all combine at different linguistic levels to evolve a style that is at once entrenched in comedy and at the same time validates Soyinka’s celebrated status in dramatic discourse. The paper concludes that further studies should be done on the importance of humour in the expansion of the frontiers of stylistics as a branch of linguistics study.

 

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Keywords


humour, stylistics, incongruity, style, Soyinka

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejlll.v6i1.339

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