Discourse Values of Names in Chinua Achebe’s Anthills of the Savannah

Abstract

Majority of the earlier studies on Achebe’s Anthills of the Savannah seem not to have taken cognisance the importance of the different name forms in the text. Thus, this study explores the discourse values of names in Chinua Achebe’s Anthills of the Savannah. Names in the text are studied and analysed using the register theory which relies heavily on the contextual models. The study identifies three discourse values of names: names as identity markers, names as markers of social class and names as expressive and stylistic markers. It shows that the variations of name forms indicate changing notions of a character’s notions of her/himself. The study also reveals that names in the text have expressive, stylistic and ideological values. The study concludes that names in the Anthills of the Savannah are deployed strategically for their ideological and narrative purposes.

Keywords: Chinua Achebe, discourse, identity markers, names, values,