Language as power

Gabriel Okara's The Voice as a paradigm

Bibliographic Data

ID2268398
AuthorsEdwin Thumboo (National University of Singapore, corresponding author)
Year1986
Volume5
Issue2-3
Pages249-264
Publication date1986-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWorld Englishes (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0883-2919 • E-ISSN: 1467-971X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-971x.1986.tb00731.x
OpenAlexW2168580917
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited6

This paper briefly discussses the nature and mode of expression of power as a prelude to stressing the importance of contexts when considering language-with English as the primary focus-as power. That the sense of power varies from culture to culture has implications for the study of how English is used in the non-Anglo-Saxon nations, particularly in connection with the status of English and the new literatures in English that have emerged. Representative attitudes to its use as a literary medium are noted and discussed through a selective analysis of Gabriel Okara's The Voice. Because his approach was systematic, broadly comprehensive and sustained, Okara explores a variety of possible directions of nativisation of creative purposes. Moreover it is undertaken within the larger intention of how the decolonisation of English is to reflect the character of a particular society whose shape and ethos are both distinctive and new to the creative reach of English

Aesthetics · Character (mathematics · English language · Ethos · Expression (computer science · Focus (optics · Linguistics · Mode (computer interface · Power (physics · Sociology · Variety (cybernetics · Computer Science · Media, Communication, and Education · Multilingual Education and Policy · Philosophy

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