Abstract
So Long a Letter as the title implies is a letter written by Ramatoulaye to a bosom friend, Aissatou. In the novel, Ramatoulaye recounts the sad details of her unsuccessful marriage to Modou Fall and her subsequent attempt to survive as a single parent. It is a story laden with pain and bitterness. In an attempt to capture this effectively, Mariama Ba does not depend solely on the conventional language code. She goes a step further to weave her language into unique patterns which adequately convey this sad mood to her readers. The linguistic technique Ba employs to achieve this purpose is known as linguistic parallelism. Kofi Yankson provides a definition of this vital subject.
Introduction
By linguistic parallelism we mean the use of pattern repetition in a literary text for a particular stylistic effect. Parallelism operates at the three levels of linguistic organisation. At the phonological level, pattern congruity stress may take the form of alliteration; internal or end rhyme; or isochronity in two or more structures. At the semantic level, lexical items that occur in the same grammatical slot may be either related synonymously or anonymously (14).
Content
Let us now see how Linguistic Parallelism is harnessed for stylistic effect in So Long a Letter. The entire novel is a self-stripping exercise undertaken by Ramatoulaye. In the first passage for analysis, Mariama Ba establishes a only basis for this self-disclosure. Aissatou and Ramatoulaye are not childhood friends but are women who are forced to bring up their children alone because of their separation from their husbands. Hear Mariama her: Ba uses form and language to capture this affinity in destiny.
The two adverbs yesterday and today are in paradigmatic relationship with each other. They are synonymously related under the general feature/ + time/. / + Time /. Similarly the two past participles divorced and widowed are related synonymously under the general feature / - husband.
The literary significance of this pattern of language on the text is that form and language have been used to reinforce the message of the text. The correspondence inherent in the two lines above is reflection of the similarity in the plight of both women. a Another use of linguistic parallelism is exemplified when Ramatoulaye tries to avert her mind from her immediate sorrow by thinking of other people faced with graver misfortunes.
The two adverbs yesterday and today are in paradigmatic relationship with each other. They are synonymously related under the general feature/ + time/. / + Time /. Similarly the two past participles divorced and widowed are related synonymously under the general feature / - husband.
The literary significance of this pattern of language on the text is that form and language have been used to reinforce the message of the text. The correspondence inherent in the two lines above is reflection of the similarity in the plight of both women. a Another use of linguistic parallelism is exemplified when Ramatoulaye tries to avert her mind from her immediate sorrow by thinking of other people faced with graver misfortunes.
Conclusion
The analysis of the three selected passages from Mariama Ba's So Long a Letter reveals how patterns of language in the form of linguistic parallelism are functional to the understanding of Ba's view of betrayal in marriage and family institutions. While the normal code of language performs the primary function of telling, the manipulated parallel structures assist the reader to get at the very pulse of the main character and indeed the novel. a In the three extracts discussed in this paper, parallelism serves three main purposes.
Firstly phonological parallelism chiming - lends musical quality to the text. Secondly, syntactic and lexical parallelism serves the purpose of driving home the theme by placing it at the forefront of the reader's consciousness. And finally linguistic parallelism represents the creative artist's search within the confining walls of the language code for an appropriate term to express the inexpressible. These, in sum, are the literary significance of the use of linguistic parallelism in Mariama Ba's So Long a Letter.
Firstly phonological parallelism chiming - lends musical quality to the text. Secondly, syntactic and lexical parallelism serves the purpose of driving home the theme by placing it at the forefront of the reader's consciousness. And finally linguistic parallelism represents the creative artist's search within the confining walls of the language code for an appropriate term to express the inexpressible. These, in sum, are the literary significance of the use of linguistic parallelism in Mariama Ba's So Long a Letter.
References
Ba, Mariama. So Long a Letter. Ibadan: New Horn Press, 1980. Eliot, T. S. Four Quartets, Burnt Northon: Faber and Faber 1959 Fowler, R (ed). Essays on Style and language. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd., 1969. Leech Geoffrey. A Linguistic Guide to Poetry. London: Longman's Publishers, 1969.
Widdowson, H. G. Stylistics and the Teaching ofLiterature. London: Longman Publishers Ltd, 1975. Teaching Language in Communication. London: Longman Publishers, 1978. Yankson, K. E. An Introduction to Literary Stylistics, Obosi: Pacific Publishers, 1987.
Widdowson, H. G. Stylistics and the Teaching ofLiterature. London: Longman Publishers Ltd, 1975. Teaching Language in Communication. London: Longman Publishers, 1978. Yankson, K. E. An Introduction to Literary Stylistics, Obosi: Pacific Publishers, 1987.