A Linguistic-Stylistics Analysis of Francis Imbuga’s Betrayal in the City.

Abstract

A linguistic-stylistics analysis involves a synthesis that examines how language has been used in the realization of a particular subject matter. However, little attention has been given to linguistic-stylistics analysis and particularly in reference to the study of African literature. This study examines a linguistic- stylistics analysis of Francis Imbuga’s play, Betrayal in the City, a text replete with cultural, interpersonal and political betrayals. The Halliday’s Systemic Functional Approach which postulates that the functional nature of language is reflected in its internal structure, especially in its semantic and syntactic organisation is employed in this study. Content analysis is used to identify the linguistic- stylistics features in the play. The study discusses, inter alia, the lexical, grammatical and context categories employed in the play. Linguistic-stylistics works as a bridge between cultural, literary and linguistic studies. The study recommends a linguistic-stylistic analysis of texts to understand the functional nature of language