Aesthetics Of The Marriage Of Anansewaa: A Stylistic Analysis Of Sutherland’s Language

Abstract

This paper seeks to espouse the philosophy of African culture specifically, Ghanaian by the explicit use of language by the playwright. It is important that the works of writers be appreciated by readers and critics. The study analyses the literary stylistics of Sutherland’s play The Marriage of Anansewaa by focusing on the linguistic patterns and their communicative functions. It discusses linguistic foregrounding by analysing the paradigmatic associations that exist among the lexical items and their literary significance; this includes the use of linguistic parallelism in Sutherland’s ‘mboguo’ (songs) and her use of appellations. Finally, it unveils the dramatic techniques that create and heighten suspense and their aesthetic significance to literary discourse. The conclusion gives a reflection on Sutherland’s effective use of language and the aesthetic significance in projecting Ghanaian culture.

Key words:  aesthetic - culture - stylistics – linguistic foregrounding - paradigmatic associations – linguistic parallelism – ‘mboguo’ - appellation.