Project Materials

A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF NAIRA HAS NO GENDER BY OLUOBAFEMI

Chapter one

Introduction

Discourse, according to discourse analysts, refers to actual instances of communicative action through language. Blommert (2005), as referenced by Johnstone (2008), defines discourse as meaningful symbolic behaviour in any mode. Discourse does not exclusively focus on language as an abstract system. Instead, discourse is concerned with what happens when people apply the knowledge they have gained from language, which is based on their memories of things seen or heard.

Discourse is a formal discourse. It can be expressed in writing or in speech. Discourse analysis is concerned with natural spoken language, such as that found in interviews, discussions, speeches, and commentary. It also discusses the organisation of written language, which can be found in essays, chapters, road signs, and notifications.

Discourse is also defined as verbal communication and a transaction between a speaker and a listener in an interpersonal activity, with the form dictated by the social aim. However, discourse analysis differs from a more traditional form of linguistics in that it focusses on the constituent units and structure of the sentence rather than an analysis of language use.

Discourse analysis, unlike formal linguistics, is concerned with translating the concept of structure from the level of sentences, or grammatical connections such as subject-verb-object, to the level of larger text.

Conversation is commonly defined as an exchange between two or more people in which each participant may make many utterances and each contribution builds on prior contributions, either directly or indirectly.

Discourse analysis focusses on the analytical process in a fairly explicit manner. Discourse analysis differs from other types of research on human language and communication in that it does not seek to answer specific questions. That is, they examine speech by examining characteristics of the structure and functions of language in use.

Longer stretches of discourse can be divided into parts using various criteria and then particular characteristics of each part can be looked in to by the discourse analyst.

Discourse analysis can be divided based on who is speaking, such as where the paragraph boundaries are, when a new topic emerges, or where the subject ends and the predicate starts.

Olu Obafemi’s Naira has no Gender, as a dramatic piece of work, will be subject to adequate discourse analysis, which is the focus of this research work.