A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF PURPLE HIBISCUS BY CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE
Abstract
This study explores discursive practices which are used in the assertion, negotiation and resistance of power as portrayed in the text, Purple Hibiscus. The aim of this investigation is to uncover the underlying ideologies of individuals which inform their linguistic choices to assert, negotiate or resist control. A dominant power symbol in this text, Eugene Achike, is used to explicate this position. His weird religious ideology results in his making several choices which positioned him as overbearing in his house and eventually causes his murder. To investigate these discursive practices properly, the analytical approach of Critical Discourse Analysis as postulated by Norman Fairclough was adopted to explore the concepts of ideology, power and discursive formations. In this exploration, a total of 40 extracts from the text were studied. Discursive patterns: silence and hedging alongside the different forms of power play: contest of power and assertion of power as found in the text were examined with the aim of stating their functions and reasons for their enactments
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