Abstract
This paper examines the use of euphemism as one of the conversational strategies deployed by Nigerian novelists to drive home the thematic concerns of their literary engagements. The analysis is anchored on Brown and Levinson (1978) face management theory, which explains how discourse interactants are mindful of how they use language in interactive situations. With the aim of reducing the potential harm of some forbidden expressions, which due to societal norms, are considered as either blunt or offensive to the hearer and reader. Four texts: Sefi Attah's A Bit of Difference, Abubakar Adams Ibrahim's Season of Crimson Blossoms, Chigozie Obioma's The Fishermen and Lihwu Betiang's The Rape of Hope were purposively selected because they have examples of how euphemism is deployed as a conversational strategy. The qualitative analysis involves random sampling of excerpts that contain euphemism across the four novels. Two major categories of euphemism are identified, namely, sex and death. Also, eight lexical euphemisms and twenty-six sentential euphemisms are found in the texts under study. The analysis shows that euphemism is a strong discourse strategy that is not only strategic to toning down the effect of an expression on hearer, but a linguistic modality which discourse participants activate basically for politeness reasons. Also, the analysis indicates that the Nigerian sociocultural context exerts monumental pressure on conversationalists' use of language, making the discourse participant to resort to the use of euphemism.
Introduction
The Nigerian novel can be distinguished from other world novels using two interrelated criteria. First is the use of language. Every national literature has its peculiar language in that there is often a conjunction between the literary language and the non-literary language of the environment in which the literature is produced. In the Nigerian novel, for example, there is a symbolic parallel between the use of language in the Nigerian novel and the Nigerian sociolinguistic milieu. This means that, not undermining the concept of "literary language", the way literary characters use language is reflective of the way non literary characters use language in real life situation. It is along this thought that Adesanoye (2014, p. 46) argues that there is a variety of English known as “Literary Nigerian English” that is basically used by Nigerian writers. According to him, Literary Nigerian English defines the peculiar ways Nigerian writers use language in their literary works that makes their writings ontologically Nigerian. “What this signals”, argues Aboh, “is that the Nigerian literary environment exemplifies how English is adapting to sociocultural situations, depicting its various pragmatic uses and how the different contexts provide a framework for the propagation of a variety of English that many Nigerians can identify with, communicate through and express themselves in” (2018, p. 81). Over the years, as the English language moves from region to region and from country to country, it adapts to the new environment in which it finds itself. Thus, “Nigerian novelists’ use of language indicates that literature provides a fertile ground for the modifications of English” (Aboh and Uduk, 2016, p. 6). These modifications are often reflective of the Nigerian multicultural and multiethnic configurations. Delineating the intricate juncture between language and literary production, Wa Ngũgĩ (2018, p. 21) does not think that it is possible to divorce language from a literary tradition, for the language is the literature and the literature is the language. While this postulate can be interpreted from the politics of nationalism, it well underscores how a literature can be understood by its language. Beyond that, embedded in this kind of argument is the ideation that any theory that can be used to analyze real life speech can also be used to analyze literary language.
Content
Second, critics of Nigerian literature have argued that “Nigerian novelists see themselves as storytellers” who “tell stories of a particular kind and with a particular intent, however, for these writers understand themselves to be bearing witness to Nigeria’s social experience” (Griswold, 2000, p. 3). In other words, “Nigerians tell their own tales” (Griswold, 2000, p. 13). This view is upheld by Akung (2021, pp. 29–30), who argues that the Nigerian novel contains experiences drawn from the Nigerian region, and drawing its themes from the culture and tradition of the Nigerian people. Thus, the Nigerian novel is a committed effort targeted at transliterating the Nigerian traditional life into an artistic form. Consequently, a reading of the Nigerian novel can be taken as a reading of the sociology of Nigeria, for it “explores experiences relating to Nigeria within a Nigerian setting” (Akung, 2021, p. 31). Hall (1990, p. 222) puts it more trenchantly. He argues that “we all write and speak from a particular place and time, from a history and a culture which is specific”. This reechoes the fact that what a writer does with the systems or resources of language is inseparable from the social events and conditions which shape its production. This means that placing the language of a text within its socio-historical background has a way of enriching our understanding of the text’s thematics. People’s use of and interpretation of language is often linked with their context, the context of writing and existence. It follows that an analysis of the sociocultural embodiment of euphemism as used in the selected texts is equally an analysis of real speech in the Nigerian sociolinguistic context.
In the light of the foregoing, this paper examines how euphemism serves to function as conversational strategies in the works of the novelists under the purview of this study. Euphemistic expressions feature conspicuously in the transactional as well as interactional use of language in Nigeria’s literary works. Euphemism as used in interactive situations can be said to perform two important functions. First, it serves as a linguistic tool by which discourse participants avoid taboo language. Second, it is a set of discourse strategies which participants employ to save a co-interactant’s face wants. In the Nigerian sociolinguistic context, certain expressions are regarded as taboo, and therefore, discourse participants draw on euphemisms in interactive situations to avoid damaging the face want of a listener. This is the concern of this study.
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Death Euphemism
Typically, a euphemism is used to avoid offending or upsetting someone, or to avoid talking directly about an uncomfortable topic. Death being an unpleasant situation is usually not talked about directly and whenever it occurs, people use different euphemistic expressions to discuss it in order to lessen the effect on the relations of the bereaved and other individuals. In line with positive politeness, people have different ways and methods of talking about death because the idea of death makes one uncomfortable, so no one likes to talk about death directly. Below are some examples of euphemisms relating to death as seen in the texts under study.
In the example taken from Difference, Seyi’s father announces the unfortunate death of his son to Deola’s family thus:
"Unfortunately, we have lost Seyi" Lost him where? She thought, (Difference p.32).
In the context of the novel, Lame and Seyi, who were great friends, had an accident on Kingsway Road, Lagos, while going home from a party. Lame is unconscious while Seyi died instantly. Seyi’s father in observance of the positive face want of his family and in order not be offensive, says we “lost him.” The lexical item “lost” in this instance is a euphemism for “death”. The use of “lost” has a subset in that in the Yoruba cultural context, it is an abomination for a child to die before his father. So, Seyi’s death is a loss name so as he has no one to continue his lineage. This is an irreversible loss; however, the effective use of the expression has been able to soften the weight of the loss.
In Crimson Blossoms, a euphemism is used to capture Dije Tsamiya’s childlessness:
No one, it seemed remembered what Dije Tsamiya’s married life had been like. Her husband had died many years ago and the last of her three children had passed on a decade before (Crimson Blossoms p.51).
The expression “passed on” is a euphemism for “died”. Being that Dije’s husband had died many years ago, the writer prefers a euphemistic expression to talk about the death of her three children. The sole aim for the preference for euphemism is to lessen the pain of a woman who has virtually lost all she has. Dije has seen many troubles in her life. Such a situation depicts someone in deep pains. But people have a way of managing communication in ways that the listeners are not overburdened by sorrow. Euphemism performs this strategic function. The narrator’s preference for euphemism is not only a conversational strategy, but also contextually determined. The context that is, Dije’s childlessness, calls for emotion in the use of language in describing her pathetic situation. This example is closely related to the excerpt taken from Fishermen:
The food I’d just scooped into my mouth was instantly forgotten at this news of Oga Biji’s death, for I knew the wasted man (Fishermen p.113).
In the above excerpt, Ibiabo informs Adaka of the untimely death of Oga Biji who was inadvertently killed by his wife. Benjamin is shocked by the news of the man’s death. The writer instead of repeating the word “death” or “died” uses the euphemism “wasted” which is an indirect way of saying that the man is dead. The euphemism as used here is a conversational strategy that helps the writer to avoid boredom and therefore makes the novel more interesting. The lexical item “wasted” labels more meaning to Biji’s death as even in his life time; he lived a wasted life of drunkenness.
We also find another example of euphemism referring to death in Fishermen. After the death of Ikema and Ibiabo, Adaka, their mother, is overwhelmed by grief and bemoans her fate at every available occasion. On one of such occasions, she lamented:
“Looked at the breast they sucked; they are still full. But they are no more” (Fishermen p.183).
A full breast signifies youthfulness which shows that Adaka, the bereaved mother, is still in her youthful age, and so, it is painful to lose two of her children. She shows off her youthfulness, that is, her full breast and euphemistically informs the sympathizer that the children who sucked the breast are “no more”. The words “no more” are an indirect way of saying that the children are dead. Death is a very painful experience and in most African cultures it is never mentioned directly. This could also be the reason why after Ikema’s death, Adaka on the phone tells her husband in Igbo:
“Then, Ikemamasara!” (Fishermen, p.151)
In her grief, Adaka could not utter the heavy word “dead” so she uses “anasar”, an Igbo word which translates to “gone” and which means death. In the Igbo worldview, death is seen as a rite of passage to the metaphysical world. It is regarded as a ritual journey that connects the family of the living with the dead. So, for Adaka, Ikema has gone to meet his ancestors but because death terminates familial bond between the living, it makes bereaved relatives especially sad. The author’s use of this euphemistic expression gives the reader a view of the cultural realities of the environment of the novel’s setting.
In the light of the foregoing, this paper examines how euphemism serves to function as conversational strategies in the works of the novelists under the purview of this study. Euphemistic expressions feature conspicuously in the transactional as well as interactional use of language in Nigeria’s literary works. Euphemism as used in interactive situations can be said to perform two important functions. First, it serves as a linguistic tool by which discourse participants avoid taboo language. Second, it is a set of discourse strategies which participants employ to save a co-interactant’s face wants. In the Nigerian sociolinguistic context, certain expressions are regarded as taboo, and therefore, discourse participants draw on euphemisms in interactive situations to avoid damaging the face want of a listener. This is the concern of this study.
...
Death Euphemism
Typically, a euphemism is used to avoid offending or upsetting someone, or to avoid talking directly about an uncomfortable topic. Death being an unpleasant situation is usually not talked about directly and whenever it occurs, people use different euphemistic expressions to discuss it in order to lessen the effect on the relations of the bereaved and other individuals. In line with positive politeness, people have different ways and methods of talking about death because the idea of death makes one uncomfortable, so no one likes to talk about death directly. Below are some examples of euphemisms relating to death as seen in the texts under study.
In the example taken from Difference, Seyi’s father announces the unfortunate death of his son to Deola’s family thus:
"Unfortunately, we have lost Seyi" Lost him where? She thought, (Difference p.32).
In the context of the novel, Lame and Seyi, who were great friends, had an accident on Kingsway Road, Lagos, while going home from a party. Lame is unconscious while Seyi died instantly. Seyi’s father in observance of the positive face want of his family and in order not be offensive, says we “lost him.” The lexical item “lost” in this instance is a euphemism for “death”. The use of “lost” has a subset in that in the Yoruba cultural context, it is an abomination for a child to die before his father. So, Seyi’s death is a loss name so as he has no one to continue his lineage. This is an irreversible loss; however, the effective use of the expression has been able to soften the weight of the loss.
In Crimson Blossoms, a euphemism is used to capture Dije Tsamiya’s childlessness:
No one, it seemed remembered what Dije Tsamiya’s married life had been like. Her husband had died many years ago and the last of her three children had passed on a decade before (Crimson Blossoms p.51).
The expression “passed on” is a euphemism for “died”. Being that Dije’s husband had died many years ago, the writer prefers a euphemistic expression to talk about the death of her three children. The sole aim for the preference for euphemism is to lessen the pain of a woman who has virtually lost all she has. Dije has seen many troubles in her life. Such a situation depicts someone in deep pains. But people have a way of managing communication in ways that the listeners are not overburdened by sorrow. Euphemism performs this strategic function. The narrator’s preference for euphemism is not only a conversational strategy, but also contextually determined. The context that is, Dije’s childlessness, calls for emotion in the use of language in describing her pathetic situation. This example is closely related to the excerpt taken from Fishermen:
The food I’d just scooped into my mouth was instantly forgotten at this news of Oga Biji’s death, for I knew the wasted man (Fishermen p.113).
In the above excerpt, Ibiabo informs Adaka of the untimely death of Oga Biji who was inadvertently killed by his wife. Benjamin is shocked by the news of the man’s death. The writer instead of repeating the word “death” or “died” uses the euphemism “wasted” which is an indirect way of saying that the man is dead. The euphemism as used here is a conversational strategy that helps the writer to avoid boredom and therefore makes the novel more interesting. The lexical item “wasted” labels more meaning to Biji’s death as even in his life time; he lived a wasted life of drunkenness.
We also find another example of euphemism referring to death in Fishermen. After the death of Ikema and Ibiabo, Adaka, their mother, is overwhelmed by grief and bemoans her fate at every available occasion. On one of such occasions, she lamented:
“Looked at the breast they sucked; they are still full. But they are no more” (Fishermen p.183).
A full breast signifies youthfulness which shows that Adaka, the bereaved mother, is still in her youthful age, and so, it is painful to lose two of her children. She shows off her youthfulness, that is, her full breast and euphemistically informs the sympathizer that the children who sucked the breast are “no more”. The words “no more” are an indirect way of saying that the children are dead. Death is a very painful experience and in most African cultures it is never mentioned directly. This could also be the reason why after Ikema’s death, Adaka on the phone tells her husband in Igbo:
“Then, Ikemamasara!” (Fishermen, p.151)
In her grief, Adaka could not utter the heavy word “dead” so she uses “anasar”, an Igbo word which translates to “gone” and which means death. In the Igbo worldview, death is seen as a rite of passage to the metaphysical world. It is regarded as a ritual journey that connects the family of the living with the dead. So, for Adaka, Ikema has gone to meet his ancestors but because death terminates familial bond between the living, it makes bereaved relatives especially sad. The author’s use of this euphemistic expression gives the reader a view of the cultural realities of the environment of the novel’s setting.
Conclusion
By working within the theoretical framework, this study shows that owing to the need to be polite, discourse participants employ euphemisms. In doing so, they achieve effective communication. The use of euphemism in the texts shows how language is used in the different instances and cultural contexts in line with the social convention of a people. We see how discourse participants employ euphemism to express pessimism and reluctance. Language is also deployed in these novels to portray the social, religious and cultural life of the people among other things. The use of euphemism in these novel demonstrates the robust semantic potential of Nigerian cultures.
References
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Aboh, R. and Uduk, H. (2016). The pragmatics of Nigerian English Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novels. Journal of Language Education. 2(3): 6-13.
Aboh, R. (2018b). Language and the construction of multiple identities in Nigerian novel. Grahamstown: NICS (Pty) Ltd.
Akung, J. (2021). The western critic and the Nigerian novel since 1952. Ibadaka Kraft Books Ltd.
Allen, K.& Burridge, K. (1991). Euphemism and dysphenism: Language used , shield and weapon. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Attah, S. (2013). A Bit of Difference. Massachusetts: Interlink Group.
Bennet, W. (2015). Euphemism versus dysphenism in the construction of gend ideology in Nigerian novels. Retrieved From https://www.ru.ac.za/englishlanguageandlinguistics/. October 2018.
Betiang, L. (2016). The Rape of Hope. Ibadan: Knatt Books
Brown, P. and Levinson, S. (1978). Universals in language usage: Politene phenomena. In Questions and politeness: Strategies in social interaction (eds.) Goody, E. (pp. 56-310). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Crespo, F. E. (2005). Euphemistic strategies in politeness and face concern Pragmalinguistica. 13:77–86.
Ezeife, A. (2017). Euphemistic language in the expression of gender issues Sefi Atta’s Swallow. University of Uyo Journal of English and Literature 9: 39-57.
Griswold, W. (2000). Bearing witness: Reader, writers and the novel in Nigeria New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Ibrahim, A. A. (2015) Season of Crimson Blossoms. Lagos: Paeresia Publishers
Kipkirui, L. (2021). A politeness model analysis of sex-related euphemisms selected Kipsigis songs of Kenya. MA thesis, Kenyatta University Kenya.
Lakoff, R. (1975). Language and women’s place. New York: Harper and Row.
Mensah, E., Nzuanke, S. and Adejumo, T. (2022). Giving a dog a bad name: The strategic use of labelling in contemporary .Nigerian political discourse. Communication: South AfricanJournal for Communication Theory and Research 48 (2): 1-22.
Obioma, C. (2015). The Fishermen. Abuja: Cassava Republic Press.
Opindi, K.O. and Kandagor, M.M. (2016). Linguistic analysis of sexual taboos and their politeness strategies among university students in Kenya. Linguistics and Translation 100: 43758-43762.
Timothy, J. (1999). Why we curse. Retrieved 20 February 2015, from http://site.ebary.com.ezproxy.bibl.hkr.se/lib/kristianstad/Top?layout+document?nors=1
Wa Ngugi, M. (2018). The rise of the African novel: politics of language, identity, and ownership. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Aboh, R. and Uduk, H. (2016). The pragmatics of Nigerian English Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novels. Journal of Language Education. 2(3): 6-13.
Aboh, R. (2018b). Language and the construction of multiple identities in Nigerian novel. Grahamstown: NICS (Pty) Ltd.
Akung, J. (2021). The western critic and the Nigerian novel since 1952. Ibadaka Kraft Books Ltd.
Allen, K.& Burridge, K. (1991). Euphemism and dysphenism: Language used , shield and weapon. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Attah, S. (2013). A Bit of Difference. Massachusetts: Interlink Group.
Bennet, W. (2015). Euphemism versus dysphenism in the construction of gend ideology in Nigerian novels. Retrieved From https://www.ru.ac.za/englishlanguageandlinguistics/. October 2018.
Betiang, L. (2016). The Rape of Hope. Ibadan: Knatt Books
Brown, P. and Levinson, S. (1978). Universals in language usage: Politene phenomena. In Questions and politeness: Strategies in social interaction (eds.) Goody, E. (pp. 56-310). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Crespo, F. E. (2005). Euphemistic strategies in politeness and face concern Pragmalinguistica. 13:77–86.
Ezeife, A. (2017). Euphemistic language in the expression of gender issues Sefi Atta’s Swallow. University of Uyo Journal of English and Literature 9: 39-57.
Griswold, W. (2000). Bearing witness: Reader, writers and the novel in Nigeria New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Ibrahim, A. A. (2015) Season of Crimson Blossoms. Lagos: Paeresia Publishers
Kipkirui, L. (2021). A politeness model analysis of sex-related euphemisms selected Kipsigis songs of Kenya. MA thesis, Kenyatta University Kenya.
Lakoff, R. (1975). Language and women’s place. New York: Harper and Row.
Mensah, E., Nzuanke, S. and Adejumo, T. (2022). Giving a dog a bad name: The strategic use of labelling in contemporary .Nigerian political discourse. Communication: South AfricanJournal for Communication Theory and Research 48 (2): 1-22.
Obioma, C. (2015). The Fishermen. Abuja: Cassava Republic Press.
Opindi, K.O. and Kandagor, M.M. (2016). Linguistic analysis of sexual taboos and their politeness strategies among university students in Kenya. Linguistics and Translation 100: 43758-43762.
Timothy, J. (1999). Why we curse. Retrieved 20 February 2015, from http://site.ebary.com.ezproxy.bibl.hkr.se/lib/kristianstad/Top?layout+document?nors=1
Wa Ngugi, M. (2018). The rise of the African novel: politics of language, identity, and ownership. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.