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Title LINGUISTIC CRITIQUE OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FICTION: A SOCIO-PRAGMATIC STUDY

Author(s) Mr. Rizwan Aftab

Abstract ABSTRACT Title: Linguistic Critique of African-American Fiction: A Socio-Pragmatic Study This research explores the use and functions of N-word linguistic choice in African- American fiction in the socio-pragmatic context. The study sets out to explore the relationship between language choices and social contexts in which meanings are communicated within literary texts. Studying the use of N-word linguistic choice and functions it performs within the co-text and context of its utterance is the main objective of this study. It also focuses on how words, such as nigger, have different and diverse meanings within the overall texture of a given context and situation. In addition, this research explores the socio-cultural aspects of African-American fiction under the theoretical framework of Tuen van Dijk’s theory of context (2009), which lead to the selection of N-word choice. It draws upon the conceptual frameworks developed by Roger Fowler (1996), Michael Halliday (1989) and Lisa Cohen Minnick (2004). Three African American fiction works – namely Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and The Color Purple by Alice Walker – are selected for separate analyses. With the help of corpus tools, all the instances of N-word linguistic choices have been collected from the selected texts. They are analyzed and interpreted within the co-text and context of utterances, context of situations and context of culture. Each instance of the use of N-word utterance, its functions and effects within the socio-pragmatic situations are discussed in detail. Besides focusing on who utters the N-word, in what situation and with what purpose in mind, the study also focuses on the perlocutionary effects N-word choice create on the immediate audience or listener(s) of the utterance involved in the discussion. N-word use and function within the texts under study yields interesting results. The study demonstrates that N-word is not only used as a racial and social slur to dehumanize and demean the person for whom this word is uttered but also as a term of endearment among the black Americans. The position and race of the utterer not only contributes to the meaning of the N-word choice but may also leave an indelible imprint on the person for whom the N-word is uttered and with what intentions and relations. The study acknowledges the sensitivities of N-word use in its local and global context and what havoc it plays if one is ignorant of its use in intercultural communication.

Type Thesis/Dissertation PhD

Faculty Languages

Department English

Language English

Publication Date 2021-09-16

Subject English Linguistics

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