Soyinka’s Language Engineering in the Jero Plays and The Beatification of Area Boy.docVIP

Soyinka’s Language Engineering in the Jero Plays and The Beatification of Area Boy 　　Abstract 　　Wole Soyinka engineers language to reflect his bilinguality and biculturalism， and to define his style. The paper attempts to debunk some misconceptions about Soyinka’s language which portray him as a Eurocentric scholar who often uses obscure diction and foreign imagery in his works. Two of his plays- The Jero Plays， published before he won the Nobel Prize， and The Beatification of Area Boy published after， serve as points of reference. The systemic functional linguistic theory is used as a framework because it recognizes situational constraints on language use. A content analysis of the texts under review undertakes from the viewpoint of Soyinka’s style， his portrayal of the African culture and worldview， and his concern for the language problemreveals that in most of his works， Soyinka has used features which mark out the varieties of English used in a second language situation. 　　Key words： Bilingualism； Biculturalism； Eurocentricism； Obscurantism； Code mixing； Code switching； Hybridization； Second language； Transliteration； Neologism； Idiolect； Nigerian pidgin； Interference variety 　　THE BACKGROUND 　　English serves as the most prestigious foreign language in Nigeria， having assumed the role of second language as well as that of an official language. In addition， it serves as the language of wider communication and of education. Scholars like Essien-Eyo， Akindele and Adegbite， and Bamgbose agree that most Nigerians are bilingual in their mother tongues and in English， so that as in any other bilingual situation， the hybridization of English and the indigenous languages has resulted in biculturalism. 　　It is interesting to note that from the time in 1962 when Obi Wali wrote the paper entitled “Dead End of African Literature？” the language question in African literature has remained a major issue in literary debates and conferences. The 32nd meeting and conference