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A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF ATHOL FUGARD’S SIZWE BANSI IS DEAD BRIEF BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Human language is unique in being a symbolic communication system that is learned instead of biologically inherited. “Language is a psychological or cognitive property of humans” (Carnie 2007.) This is to say that in language production, there are some set of neurons in the speaker/hearer’s head that allows the former to produce letters and the latter to translate them into coherent ideas and thoughts. It involves several subsystems. A speaker produces sound waves with the vocal cords and articulates speech with the tongue and lips while the other hears the sound waves and translates them into speech sounds using auditory apparatus. Crystal(1982) in Nwachukwu et al(2007), defines language as human vocal noise (or graphic representation of this noise in writing) used systematically or conventionally by a community for purposes of communication. Thus, man is the only creatures that uses language intentionally and habitually (Crystal 1997:40). Language is studied layer by layer and system by system. This means that in the study of language, the alphabet of a language gives rise to words, words give rise to phrases and phrases and clauses give rise to sentences. And when sentences are many, they form a DISCOURSE. Discourse is defined as “the language in use” (Cook, 1989:6) and discourse analysis is concerned with the “the analysis of language in use” (Brown and Yule, 1983:1). Discourse analysis refers to the study of the relationship between language and the contexts in which it is used. It involves looking at both language form and language functions and includes the study of both spoken interaction and written texts. Language allows interaction between human beings through the means of talking; this “Talk” is termed “Discourse”. Discourse is a verbal interaction. Hence, discourse analysis emerged from such talks whose meanings have to be analysed. Harris (1952), sees discourse analysis as continuing descriptive linguistics beyond the limit of a single sentence at a time and for correlating culture and language. Discourse analysis came about due to the need for linguists to study the underlying principles of everyday interactions. Stubbs (1983), defines Discourse analysis as an attempt to study larger linguistic units like conversational exchange or the study of interactive language including how language is used in social context. Discourse analysis studies words and their relation to situation in which they are made so as to facilitate hearer’s response. In Discourse analysis, we study how one can use an utterance or an expression to transform a message through meanings. Its general usage has to do with conversation and holding forth on a subject. It is believed that the system of communication in speech and writing is language. As a result, human language is said to be communication when language users are able to use appropriate words in an appropriate social context. Hence, the desire to achieve communicative competence. In a nutshell, Language communicates meaning and meaning gives information. The intention of any language is to give meaning and the meaning is processed into information. The analysis of discourse is necessarily, the analysis of language in use (Brown and Yule 1983). Discourse analysis is committed to the investigation of the interrelationship that exists between language and language is use. Discourse analysis no doubt, identifies these element functions and attempts to analyze them through the use of the discourse techniques which unfold the process of turn-taking, topic change, topic negotiation, presupposition, inference, implicature, participant, message, context etc. are more prominent in drama texts than the other genres of literature, due to the peculiar nature of drama texts. These resourceful elements of discourse will be applied to analyze the play text: Sizwe Bansi is Dead THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK This study adopts Grice’s Co-operative Principle and the Maxims of Conversation which is part of his famous Implicature theory. In a conversation, it is assumed that participants co-operate with each other. This kind of assumption was put by Grice (1975:45) known as ‘Co-operative Principle. The Co-operative Principle states thus: “Make your conversation contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged”. For maxims support this principle. a. QUANTITY: This requires one to make one’s contribution as informative as required (for the current purposes of the exchange), not more or less informative than is required. b. QUALITY: Do not say that which you believe to be false or for which you lack adequate evidence. c. RELATIONS: Be relevant d. MANNER: Be clear, brief and orderly. Avoid ambiguity and obscurity of expression. The study also derives its theoretical framework from Halliday and Hasan’s theory of cohesion. That a text is unified is achieved by the use of cohesive devices. Cohesion, therefore, is the glue that holds words that make a text together. Therefore, the main theoretical framework is Halliday and Hasan’s theory of cohesion. Cohesion, according to this source, is categorized into two broad types: lexical and grammatical. Reference, conjunction and ellipsis are classified under the heading grammatical cohesion because they involve syntactic terms. Lexical cohesion on the other hand, refers to the use of the same similar or related words in successive sentences. Halliday and Hasan (1976) point out that the distinction between the two is one of degree and that conjunction is on the broader line being grammatical but with a lexical component. AIMS AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY Since effective communication means the appropriate use of language in the relevant context, the aim of this study will therefore be to examine the English language used in Sizwe Bansi is Dead by Athol Fugard using discourse analysis to determine the effectiveness of its language use.Sizwe Bansi is Dead is a play text and we intend to examine how communication is achieved among the interlocutors/characters. The essence of this study is also to investigate the extent to which Halliday and Hasan (1976) model of cohesion (precisely cohesive devices) is used to achieve unity, meaning, understanding and readabilityin the text. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Many researchers have carried out discourse analysis of the classroom, courtroom, sermons, interviews, interactions, newspapers, play texts, and so on but to the researcher’s knowledge, there is a dearth of research works on discourse analysis of Athol Fugard’s Sizwe Bansi is Dead, hence, the significance of this study. By carrying out this study, the researcher will x-ray and portray the discourse elements in the work Sizwe Bansi is Dead and will add to the existing body of knowledge in the area of application. SCOPE OF THE STUDY This study will focus on the elements of Discourse in the play Sizwe Bansi is Dead with the aim of using same to bring out the underlying meaning of the text by examining how effective communication is maintained. There are many features of discourse analysis but the researcher will limit the analysis to the conversational features like the use of cohesion and cohesive devices/ties ( Halliday & Hasan 1994) which include; (reference substitution, ellipsis, conjunctions and lexical cohesion) coherence, discourse participants, turn taking, repetition, talk negotiation, topic change and the application of Grice’s Co-operative Principle and the Maxims of Conversation. EXPECTED OUTCOMES After, carrying out a systematic analysis of the conversations in Athol Fugard’s Sizwe Bansi is Dead, the findings will determine if the drama text as a genre of literature displays discourse and pragmatic elements. The findings will also determine the presence or absence of cohesion and cohesive ties in the text. If a passage of English containing more than one sentence is perceived as a text, there will be certain linguistic features present in that passage which can be identified as contributing to its total unity and giving it texture” ( Halliday & Hasan 1994). A text needs texture and this texture can only be created by the presence of cohesive ties The author has been able to depict to us in the text by using some of the interlocutors who are struggling to have their freedom, that is, their new identity through obtaining the “pass book”. The pass book represents “New Life” which makes Sizwe Bansi dead but not actually dead. The findings will also determine if Grice’s Co-operative Principle and the Maxims of Conversation which is part of his famous Implicature Theory is obeyed or violated by the interlocutors in the text. In a conversation, it is assumed that participants co-operate with each other. This kind of assumption was put by Grice (1975:45) known as ‘Cooperative Principle. The Co-operative Principle states thus: “Make your conversation contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged”. This shows that in every discourse, there must be participants to point out that the discourse participants are interested in the topic or subject matter of the conversation which is very important. Another vital expected outcome of the research would be topic negotiation and topic change which the author uses to show that discourse can be enhanced and ideas can be slotted in by the participants.. More so, it would be discovered that other pragmatic discourse tools such as presupposition, context, inference, will be able to alleviate the interpreting of both the obvious and obscure meanings as used by the author. REFERENCES Athol, F. (1973): Sizwe Bansi is Dead. Oxford university press. Ashipu, K. B. C. (2012). Cohesive Devices in Nigerian Media Discourse: A Study of Newswatch Magazine. Open Science Repository Communication and Journalism, Online(open-access), e70081912. doi:10.7392/Research.70081912 Brown, G. Yule,G. (1983): Discourse Analysis. Cambridge University press. Cook, G. (1992) Discourse oxford. Oxford university press. Crystal, D. (1991): A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics (3rd Ed.) Oxford Press. Blackwell Cutting, J. (2002). Pragmatic and discourse London: New fetter lane. Grice, H.P. (1975): Logic and Conversation. New York Academy press. Halliday, M.A.K., Hassan R. (1994): Cohesion in English. London Longman Group Limited. Parvaz, M., & Nodoushan, A. (2006). The Effect of Text Cohesion on Reading Comprehension. Iranian Journal of Language Studies, 54-59. FIND ONLINE Stubbs, M. (1983): Discourse Analysis: The sociolinguistic Analysis of Natural Language. Blackwell oxford press.