A functional stylistics analysis of children's literature at the Namibia University of Science and Technology

Abstract

The study to establish, examine and analyse the perceptions of second year Literature and Text students on the application of functional stylistic approaches to the analysis of children literature texts, exemplified by Achebe’s Chike and the River (1982) and Nakapunda’s Chad and the Magical Rains: An adventure in Etosha (2012) (hereinafter referred to as Chad and the Magical Rains). In particular, the study focused on the proliferation of the three metafunctions of language – the ideational, interpersonal, and textual uses of language – within the texts and how their identification aided to the better analysis and interpretation of the fictional texts. This research sought the opinions of second-year students at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), who were studying the selected literary works as part of their curricula, seeking to establish their level of understanding of, relating and application of the functional linguistics approach to the analysis of these selected texts. Interviews conducted with the students tested how well they understood the texts through the application of functional linguistics theoretical explications and metafunctions. The fictional texts were selected primarily because they represent good examples of the African children’s literature genre, the fact that they were authored by African authors and that they were already a part of the existing second year Bachelor of English and Applied Linguistics curricula at NUST. The text exclusion criteria were used to eliminate texts that did not meet the criterion of having linguistic or literary merits that addressed the study objectives. The study's findings suggest that the language of the selected works serves as a medium for moral ideals. Through this examination of the linguistic structure of children's literature exemplified by the two selected texts, it was also observed that language may be utilised to spread not only cultural concepts but also moral teachings and social bonds amongst members of a community. Furthermore, the research notes that short stories typically employ ideational components/structures of language in order to enlighten the reader and establish links. In order to convey their own perspectives, the authors of the short stories analysed by this research made use of interpersonal function of language. The textual components, on the other hand, are observed to have been used to build internal coherence and logic in written work. The research establishes that questioning is a tool that can be used to get more insight or clarification from the speaker or the listener and recommends further stylistic analysis studies that focus on genres outside of children's literature, such as magazines and poetry, in order to enhance the appreciation of children's literature in Namibia and across Africa.