A STYLO-PRAGMATICS ANALYSIS OF WALE OKEDIRAN’S TENANTS

OF THE HOUSE

OLADIPUPO DIMEJI VICTOR

1802004148

A LONG ESSAY SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF

LINGUISTICS AND NIGERIAN LANGUAGES, FACULTY OF ARTS,
EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY, ADO-EKITI, NIGERIA IN PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF
BACHELOR OF ARTS (B.A. HONS) DEGREE IN LINGUISTICS

SEPTEMBER, 2023
 CERTIFICATION

I hereby certify that this research carried out by Dimeji Oladipupo (1802004148)

of the Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, Faculty of Arts has been

read, supervised, and approved as part of the requirements for the award of

Bachelor of Arts Honours (B.A. Hons) in Linguistics.

_____________________ ______________
Dr. (Mrs) A. A. Taiwo Date
Supervisor

___________________ ______________
Prof. T. A. Akanbi Date
Head of Department

ii
 DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to my parents, Chief and Mrs. Oladipupo, for their unwavering

support when things were not looking good for me, and to my brother and sisters: Mrs.

Opeyemi Soetan, Oladipupo Afolakemi, Oluwafunke Adebanjo, and Oladipupo

Babatunde.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, my profound gratitude goes to the Almighty God, the ever-
loving father who sustained me throughout my undergraduate days at Ekiti State
University. Despite all the challenges I faced, he never let me down.

My sincere appreciation also goes to my parents for always being there to support me
financially and emotionally whenever I need their help.

A special thanks goes to all my family members: Dr. Segun Soetan, Mr. Oladimeji
Adebanjo, Mr. Oladipupo Babatunde, Mrs. Segun Soetan, Mrs. Afolakemi, Mr. Okekunle
Bukoye, Mr. Oládòkun Feranmi, and my cousins, nephews, and nieces. I thank you all for
always being there for me!

Also to all my friends: Joseph "Olofinite", Michael (my personal barber), Iyanuoluwa
(who always preaches the word of God to me), and Ayomide Esther (my baby for life!) I
thank you all for being the real ones! Trust me, we are all going straight to the top!

Also, I am grateful to Dr. (Mrs.) Taiwo Adekemi. She was not only my supervisor; she
was like a mother to me throughout my stay at this university! I sincerely thank you for
taking me under your wing like I'm one of your children! This, I will never forget.

Lastly, to my lecturers, Mr. Owoyele, Mr. Adeoye, Dr. Olaiya, Prof. Akanbi, and Miss
Afolayan, I thank you all for how well you have impacted my life both academically and
`morally! I appreciate YOU all.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Table of Contents v
Abstract vii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

1.0 Background Of The Study 1
1.1 Background Of The Author 2
1.2 Synopsis Of The Text 2
1.3 Statement Of Problem 4
1.4 Objectives Of The Study 4
1.5 Significance Of The Study 5
1.6 Scope Of The Study 5
1.7 Research Methodology 5

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW6

2.0 Definition Of Key Terms 6
2.1 Pragmatics 6
2.1.1 Speech Acts 8
2.1.2 Implicature 10
2.1.3 Deixis 10
2.1.4 Mutual Contextual Belief 10
2.1.5 Presupposition 11
2.2 Stylistics 11

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2.3 Stylo-Pragmatics 13
2.4 Theoretical Framework 15

CHAPTER THREE: STYLISTICS ANALYSIS 16

3.0 Introduction 16
3.1 Stylistic Analysis 16
3.1.1 Graphological Level 16
3.1.2 Morphological Level Of Analysis 22
3.1.3 Lexical Level 23
3.1.4 Grammatical Level 25
3.1.5 Literary Level 29
3.1.6 Narrative Level 33

CHAPTER FOUR: PRAGMATICS ANALYSIS 35

4.0 Introduction 35
4.1 Analysis 35

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION 47

5.0 Interpretation Of The Stylistics and Pragmatics Analysis 47
3.4 Summary, Recommendation and Conclusion 48

REFERENCES 51

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 ABSTRACT

This study examines the stylo-pragmatic elements in the political novel “Tenants
of the House” by Wale Okediran. The novel explores the corrupt and unethical side
of politics in Nigeria’s House of Representatives. Using a content analysis
approach, the study identifies and analyzes the stylistic and pragmatic features
present in the novel, including speech acts, intention, mutual contextual belief
(MCB), and various stylistic devices. The findings of the study highlight how
language is used in the political context of the novel to achieve specific
communicative goals and reveal the impact of different stylistic and pragmatic
strategies on the representation of politics as well as politicians in the novel.

Keywords: Politics, Pragmatics, Stylistics, Contexts, Tenants of the House.

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 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background of the Study

The study of language use in context has long been a topic of interest in the fields of
linguistics and communication studies. This interest is driven by the recognition of the
immense power of language to shape our thoughts, beliefs, and actions, as well as the
social and political structures of our society. This is particularly true in the context of
politics, where language use is often closely tied to issues of power, influence, and
control.

In light of this, the novel “Tenants of the House” by Wale Okediran provides a unique
and insightful look into the role of language use in politics. The novel is set in the
Nigerian House of Representatives and focuses on the ugly side of politics in the country.
Through its portrayal of the political power struggles and manipulations that take place
within the halls of the House, the novel highlights the importance of understanding how
language is used in political contexts to shape and maintain power dynamics.

The study of language use in politics is closely related to the field of stylo-pragmatics,
which aims to examine how language is used to achieve specific communicative goals in
various contexts. This study aims to conduct a stylo-pragmatic analysis of the language
use in “Tenants of the House" in order to gain a deeper understanding of the role of
language in the novel.

The study will employ a qualitative content analysis approach to analyze the language
used in the novel. This method will involve analyzing selected portions of the text and
examining them for their stylistic and pragmatic elements, including speech acts,
politeness strategies, discourse structure, rhetorical strategies, linguistic features, and
stylistic devices.

In examining the language use in “Tenants of the House,” this study will shed light on the
ways in which language is used to manipulate, influence, and control others in political
contexts. Through its analysis of the language used in the novel, this study will provide
valuable insights into the power dynamics of politics in Nigeria and the role of language
in shaping these dynamics.

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1.1 Background Of The Author

Wale Okediran is a prominent Nigerian author and politician known for his insightful and
politically charged novels. He has been an active leader and advocate for social and
political change in Nigeria and has been a vocal critic of corruption and political abuse in
the country. In addition to his political activism, Okediran is celebrated for his literary
work, which highlights important social and political issues in Nigeria through powerful
and insightful narratives.
Okediran is best known for his novel “Tenants of the House,” which explores the ugly
side of politics in Nigeria’s House of Representatives. This novel is widely recognized as
a classic of Nigerian literature and continues to be widely read and discussed. In addition
to “Tenants of the House,” Okediran has also written several other novels including:
After The Flood (2003), The Boys at The boarder (1991), “Strange Encounters (2004),
Madagali, Rainbow are for lovers (1981), Storms of passion (1991), and many more.

Overall, Wale Okediran is an important figure in both the political and literary spheres in
Nigeria, and his work continues to be widely read and discussed. Through his novels and
political activism, he has made significant contributions to the social and political
discourses in Nigeria, and his legacy continues to inspire future generations.

1.2 Synopsis of the text

One of the initial captivating phrases that engrosses readers in Okediran's exceptional
novel is "To kill is a crime: to kill at the right time is politics." The book provides a
synopsis of Nigerian political life, focusing on its darker aspects. The central character,
Hon. Samuel Bakura, transitions from being a Barrister to a Member of the Lower House
of Representatives in Abuja, representing his constituency in Kaduna.

The novel unfolds with suspense as the author reveals various events. First, there is a plot
among some House members to impeach the Speaker, including Hon. Linus Wenike from
Bayelsa, Hon. Elizabeth (whose father was a prominent politician), and others. Later, it is
revealed that the President himself, along with ex-Senator Smollet, his Chief Liaison
Officer, are the masterminds behind the Speaker's impeachment.

Hon. Lizzy introduces Barrister Sam to the factional group, and together they plan
against the Speaker, even going as far as stealing the Mace of authority, rendering the
House paralyzed without it. Witnessing the deteriorating state of affairs, the speaker visits

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the protagonist at home and manages to convince him. Barrister Sam eventually joins the
group, and through sleepless nights, troubled thoughts, and strategic planning, they
mobilize the masses, including students from the University of Abuja and Nassarawa, to
oppose the corrupt legislators. Eventually, they achieve success.

Lizzy, unhappy with Samuel's allegiance to the opposing group, offers her body to him in
an attempt to win him back. Samuel had been pursuing her for a while since his wife,
Agnes, left him to remarry four years ago. However, it is too late, as Samuel's mind is
already made up on joining the senate's president group.

To me, the book reads more like an account than a novel, given its basis in reality despite
being fictional. It exposes the influence of political godfathers and the unscrupulousness
of political spies, highlighting how "godfathers disregard merit and are driven by
monetary gain." It also underscores the notion that "money serves as the fertilizer of
politics."

As the book reaches its climax, the Speaker and the President reconcile, with the former
willing to assist the latter in staying in power longer. Barrister Sam is taken aback, and
the Speaker informs him that his surprise stems from Sam's political naivety, as "there are
no permanent friends in politics, only permanent interests." This realization emphasizes
the need to remain vigilant in politics, where one must be constantly aware. Politics is
described as a demanding game, with little time for personal matters, let alone family.
Sam's only son, Mark, no longer recognizes his father when he visits him in the United
Kingdom, as they have not seen each other in a long time. Sam's blood sister, Maria,
offers him consolation.

The proposal of a bill by Barrister Sam has profound effects on his life. The bill aims to
address the recurring clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers, triggered by a
childhood promise Sam made to his late father to become a lawyer and fight against this
injustice when their crops were destroyed by cattle, leading to his father's crippling debt.
During a visit to Narbodo in Bauchi State, Sam falls in love with Batejo, a Fulani Muslim
girl, and they plan to marry. While Uncle Tahiri wholeheartedly supports their union,
Sister Adams opposes it, citing her conservative views. When Sister Adams confronts
Batejo rudely, criticizing Sam's religion, occupation, and character, it further strains the
situation.

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The book is very insightful as it captures the level of bribery and politics in Nigeria. Wale
Okediran who is a medical doctor, has done a great job here. Not that the book is written
in artistic fashion of a creative writer but it is bedecked with elevated language and a
good command of political vocabulary

1.3 Statement of problem

The book being analyzed in this project shows the ugly side of politics in Nigeria. It also
shed light on the actions of godfathers in politics and the waywardness of political spies.
The story also highlights the issue of herdsmen-farmer clashes, which has been a
recurring problem in Nigeria. The protagonist, Barrister Sam, proposes a bill to end the
clashes, but this sets off a chain of events that puts his life in danger. The book also
depicts the theme of betrayal in politics as the President’s Chief Liaison Officer, who is a
trusted ally, ends up betraying him.

The aim of this project is to explore the relationship between linguistic features and
context, as well as the cultural and social factors that shape the use of language in the
book. The analysis will contribute to a deeper understanding of the stylistic and
pragmatic aspects of the texts in the book and provide insights into the use of language in
Nigerian political discourse.

1.4 Objectives of the Study:

1. Investigate the stylistic and pragmatic devices employed in "Tenants of the House"
to portray the ugly side of politics in Nigeria, including betrayal, scheming,
godfatherism, and bribery.

2. Explore the use of metaphors, symbols, and imagery in the novel to represent
political concepts and actions, and investigate their stylistic and pragmatic
functions in enhancing the readers' understanding of the political themes.

3. Investigate the dialogues and speech acts in the novel, focusing on how characters
use language to manipulate, deceive, or assert power, and analyze the pragmatic
implications of these linguistic strategies.

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1.5 Significance of the study

The significance of this study's on Stylo-pragmatics analysis of “Tenants of the house”

lies in its potential contribution to the understanding of the use of language in Nigerian
political discourse. The findings of this study will be useful to scholars of linguistics,
political science, and communication studies, as well as to practitioners in the field of
political communication. The study may also contribute to the development of teaching
materials on language and communication.

1.6 Scope of the study

The scope of this project includes the following tasks:

1. Plotting the main events of the story

2. Writing the first draft of the novel, including all relevant scenes and dialogue.
3. Analyzing how language is utilized to communicate meaning and produce an
impact in the novel (stylistics)
4. Analyzing the contextual significance of certain speech acts in the novel.

1.7 Research methodology

The research methodology for this study involves interpreting and analyzing the collected
data through a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, including thematic
analysis, discourse analysis, and statistical analysis. The aim is to address the research
objectives and gain meaningful insights into the stylistic and pragmatic aspects of the
novel. To facilitate this analysis, an annotated corpus of selected passages from the novel
will be created. This corpus will capture essential linguistic features such as metaphors,
idiomatic expressions, speech acts, and politeness strategies, enabling a systematic
examination of their stylistic and pragmatic functions.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS

Stylistics, pragmatics, and stylo-pragmatics analysis are all branches of linguistics that
study the use of language in different contexts. Stylistics, in particular, is the study of
style in literature and how language is used to convey meaning, create effects, and
produce literary texts. Pragmatics, on the other hand, is the study of how language is used
in communication and how speakers and listeners use language to convey meaning,
intentions, and context. Stylo-pragmatics analysis is a combination of both stylistics and
pragmatics, and it is the study of how style and pragmatics interact in the production and
interpretation of literary texts.

2.1 Pragmatics

Pragmatics is the study of the conditions of human language uses as these are determined
by the context of society (Mey 2001: 42). This definition by Jacob Mey emphasizes the
importance of context in understanding language use. Mey argues that the meaning of an
utterance cannot be fully understood unless we take into account the context in which the
utterance occurs. This includes factors such as the social and cultural setting, the
relationship between the speaker and hearer, and the shared knowledge and beliefs of the
participants in the interaction.

Speaking of context, Mey distinguishes between two types of context. The first context
which he called societal is primarily determined by society's institutions; for example, the
context of a courtroom, a business meeting, or a religious ceremony. The other context
which he called social is primarily created through interaction. For example, the context
of a conversation between two friends (Mey 2001: 42).

Mey’s (2001) views on social pragmatics and pragmatic acts are further supported by
Bublitz and Norrick (2011: 3) in their introduction to the edited book Foundations of
Pragmatics. They believe that pragmatics, although a subfield of linguistics, is a valuable
tool for understanding how people use language to communicate in different contexts,
and thus, it should be extended to other fields of life as well.

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Yan Huang is another notable scholar in the field of pragmatics whose work has had a
significant impact on our understanding of how language is used in context. He based his
pragmatic definition on Levinson's (1983, 2000) work. According to him, "Pragmatics is
the systematic study of meaning by virtue of, or dependent on, the use of language. The
central topics of inquiry of pragmatics include implicature, presupposition, speech acts,
and deixis." (Huang 2007:2).

Breaking Huang's definition down, what he implies by saying that “pragmatics is a

systematic study of meaning” is that it is not just about understanding the meaning of
individual utterances but also about understanding how meaning is constructed and
negotiated in conversation.

Istvan Kecskes, on the other hand, examines pragmatics from an intercultural perspective.
He argues that language use is influenced by both social and cognitive factors, as well as
the specific context of interaction. He adopts a socio-cognitive approach (SCA), which
emphasizes that both prior experience and knowledge and emergent, actual situational
experience and knowledge co-constructed by interlocutors play a role in meaning
construction and comprehension (Kecskes, 2003, 2008). In other words, Kecskes is of the
opinion that we use our knowledge of the world and our prior experiences to understand
the meaning of utterances, but we also take into account the specific context of the
interaction and the “perspective of the speaker and the hearer, which can give us an
adequate account of language communication” (Kecskes, 2003, 2008).

From these scholars' postulations, what we can deduce is that pragmatics, to some extent,
is one of the most complex subfields of linguistics. It studies how language is used in
context. Also, pragmatics is distinct from semantics. While semantics is concerned with
the meaning of language in isolation, pragmatics is concerned with the meaning of
language in use. As Ayodabo (2013) points out, “the goal of pragmatics is to explain how
a listener can succeed in retrieving some interpretation intended by the speaker from an
uttered sequence of words …”

Apart from “context” which Odebunmi (2006: 25) describes as “the spine of meaning”,
some of the other key aspects of pragmatics are deixis, implicature, inference,
presupposition, speech act, conversational structure, mutual contextual belief, and many
more. I will try to explain some of them.

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2.1.1 Speech acts:
Speech-act theory is a subfield of pragmatics that was first introduced by Oxford
philosopher J.L. Austin in his book "How to Do Things With Words". The theory was
developed further by J.R. Searle, a student of J.L. Austin.

The Speech Act Theory, which Jacob Mey also calls pragmatic act (Mey 2001), refers to
the various actions that speakers perform through language, such as making requests,
giving orders, or expressing thanks. It also highlights that utterances have a meaning that
is different or specific to the user and listener, beyond their meaning in the language
itself.

The speech act theory also distinguishes between two types of utterances: constative and
performative utterances. A constative utterance describes or denotes a situation in relation
to its truth or falsity. On the other hand, a performative utterance does not describe
anything at all. Utterances in sentences or parts of sentences are generally considered to
have a meaning of their own.

However, despite J.R. Searle building his work around Austin's earlier work, they don't
agree on a lot of things. One of them is the classification of the category of speech acts.
While Austin came up with expositives, commissives, exercitives, behavabitives, and
verdictives (Austin 1989), Searle, on the other hand, came up with assertives, directives,
commissives, expressives, assertives, and declaratives. Austin himself expressed
dissatisfaction with his classification. In his own words, “I distinguish five general
classes, but I am far from equally happy about all of them.” Austin (1989: 151)

Searle's classification of the speech act has gained relevance among scholars, and even
today, his classification is still being referenced a lot by pragmatic scholars.

I will break Searle's classifications down and explain them one after the other.

- Assertives: Assertive by Searle is “to commit the hearer to the truth of the
proposition. It is to present the proposition as representing a state of affairs”
(Searle 1999: 148). For instance, if someone says, "The sky is blue", such a person
has just performed an assertive speech act.

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 - Commissives: This speech act commits the speaker to doing something in the
future (Searle 1999: 149). It can come in the form of promises, vows, pledges,
contracts, or guarantees. For example, the utterance "I promise to help you with
your classwork" is a commissive speech act.

- Expressives: This act means "to express the sincerity condition of the speech act”
(Searle 1999: 149). That is, it expresses the speaker's emotions or attitudes. It can
come in forms like apologies, thanks, congratulations, welcomes, and condolences

- Declaratives: This act changes the state of the world (Searle 1999: 150). For
example, the utterances "I now pronounce you husband and wife", “You are
fired,” and “I resign" are declarative speech acts

- Directives: Directives are used “to try to get the hearer to behave in such a way as
to make his behavior match the propositional content of the directive” (Searle
1999: 148-149). For example, the utterance "Please close the door" is a directive
speech act.

Austin (1962) classified speech acts into three they include; locutionary, illocutionary,
and perlocutionary acts. He groups them in terms of what one does in saying an utterance
and what one does by saying it.

- Locutionary acts, simply put, is the production of a meaningful linguistic

expression (Mey, 2009: 1002). As Austin (1962) defines it, it is the act of using
words "as belonging to a certain vocabulary... and as conforming to a certain
grammar ... with a certain more or less definite sense and reference." (cited in
Emezue, G. I. N., & Tamunobelema, I., 2015, p. 5).

- Illocutionary acts, on the other hand, is the action intended to be performed by a

speaker in uttering a linguistic expression by virtue of the conventional force
associated with it, either explicitly or implicitly (Mey, 2009: 1002). Illocutionary
acts can come in form of informing, ordering, warning, complaining, requesting,
or refusing.

- Perlocutionary act is the bringing about of consequences or effects on the

audience through the uttering of a linguistic expression, such consequences or
effects being special to the circumstances of utterance (Mey, 2009: 1002). What

9
 this means is that the effect of an utterance on the hearer is what Austin (1962)
describes as perlocutionary act. It should, however, be noted that since utterances
are not just acts of communication, hearers reactions are not always predictable.

2.1.2 Implicature

Implicature refers to the ways speakers and listeners communicate indirectly by implying
rather than stating something directly. As Horn (2004:1) pointed out, “Implicature is a
component of speaker meaning that constitutes an aspect of what is meant in a speaker’s
utterance without being part of what is said. What a speaker intends to communicate is
characteristically far richer than what s/he directly expresses; linguistic meaning radically
underdetermines the message conveyed and understood."
For example, if someone says something like, "It's cold in here," they might be implying
that you should close the window. They are not explicitly telling you to close the
window, but they are suggesting it.

2.1.3 Deixis

Deixis refers to the ways language is used to refer to people, objects, and locations in
relation to the speaker and the listener. As Horn (2004:100) points out, "Deixis is the
study of deictic or indexical expressions in language, like you, now, today. It can be
regarded as a special kind of grammatical property instantiated in the familiar categories
of person, tense, place, etc.”

Deictic expressions are important for communication because they allow us to be specific
and avoid ambiguity. For example, if someone says to you, "I'm going to the store," you
know which store the entity is talking about because you know where the person is and
what you have been talking about.

2.1.4 Mutual contextual belief

The principle of mutual contextual belief was introduced by Bach and Harnish in 1979.
They define MCB as “those beliefs that the speaker and hearer assume each other to have
in common and which are relevant to the interpretation of the utterance”. Bach and
Harnish (1979, p. 5). They avers that during a speech event, a speaker and a hearer share
information about the context of an utterance. That is, when someone utters a statement,

10
the hearer will understand or have the same fact, thus allowing the hearer to interpret the
speaker's utterance accurately.

2.1.5 Presupposition
Katz and Langendoen (1976) define pragmatic presupposition as "a proposition which is
assumed by a speaker to be true as a condition for the utterance of his sentence to be
meaningful". In other words, a pragmatic presupposition is a proposition that the speaker
assumes to be true in order for their utterance to make sense. For example, the utterance
"I'm sorry I hurt you" presupposes that the speaker has hurt the hearer. If the speaker has
not hurt the hearer, then the utterance is meaningless.

Jerrold J. Katz and Terence Langendoen (1976) also draw a distinction between semantic
presupposition and pragmatic presupposition. According to them, “the content of the
latter (pragmatics) condition is determined by the grammatical structure of a sentence
type. Whereas the content of the former (semantics) condition is determined also by
features of the context in which a sentence token occurs.”

In short, semantic presuppositions allow us to make inferences about the meaning of a

sentence, while pragmatic presuppositions naturally applies to utterances Katz and
Langendoen (1976:1)

2.2 Stylistics

Stylistics was first modeled on the German terms ‘stilistisch’ and ‘stilistik’ in 1860. The
word ‘Stylistics’ was first recorded in English in 1882 (Damova, 2007). It can be traced
back to aspects of Classical rhetoric in its concern with ‘dispotio’ (arrangement),
‘elecutio’ (style), ‘ethos’ (the audience’s perception of the moral character of the
speaker), and ‘pathos’ (the audience’s emotions as aroused by the affective power of the
speech) . In literary contexts, the function of ‘the speaker’ is performed by narrators and
characters more than authors directly.

Stylistics has been defined by various scholars in different ways. According to Adepoju
(2016), "Stylistics is generally regarded as the formal analysis of style and its variations
in speech and writing". Leech (1969:1) also regards stylistics as the study of literary
style, which is the study of the ways in which writers use language to create literary texts.

11
He further adds that “stylistics is concerned with the description and analysis of the
linguistic features of literary texts and with the effects of these features on the reader.”

Also, according to Babajide (2000:123), "stylistics is defined as the study of styles."

Styles originates from the Latin word "stilus" which means "a stake". The concept of
style is a very interesting one because it is applied to diverse human endeavors. That is, it
can be used in both linguistic and non-linguistic contexts. In Missikova's view (2003),
style can be understood through several main aspects. Firstly, it relates to how individuals
express themselves in both written and spoken language. Secondly, it encompasses
variations in language usage, whether within literary or non-literary contexts, such as
politics, religion, advertising, or journalism. Furthermore, style is seen as representative
of a specific register, genre, or time period. Lastly, it involves examining lexical items
and their arrangement within a text, whether in terms of chains, combinations, or choices
and selections.

Short (1996:334) also defines stylistics as the study of style in literature, which is the
study of how language is used to convey meaning and create literary effects. He states
that “Stylistics is concerned with the ways in which literary texts use language to create
meaning and effect and with the ways in which readers interpret and respond to these
texts.”

It should, however, be noted that linguistic stylistics is different from literary stylistics.
Linguistic stylistics, which was coined by Donald Freeman in 1968, focuses on
abstracting and describing language elements used to convey specific subjects. Literary
stylistics, on the other hand, delves deeply into external factors like history, philosophy,
and sources of inspiration to interpret a text, occasionally touching on grammatical
elements.

From all the postulations, we can now classify stylistics as a branch of linguistics that
focuses on the way language is used to convey meaning and create an aesthetic effect. It
is concerned with the ways authors and speakers use language to evoke specific emotions
and responses in their audience, as well as the ways language is used to create a sense of
style and individuality.

Some of the key concepts within stylistics include diction, syntax, figurative language,
tone, and register.

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According to Adepoju (2016), diction simply means the writer’s choice of words. This
includes the level of formality and the connotations of the words chosen. The importance
of diction in any text cannot be overstated, as the effectiveness of the message in a text
will be determined by the diction the author employs. As Azuike (1992:121) pointed out,
"the diction of a writer should reflect sufficient audience sensitivity because the ultimate
goal of a writer’s message is consumption by a target audience.”

Syntax, on the other hand, refers to the way words are arranged and combined to form
sentences, including the use of sentence structure and punctuation. Figurative language
refers to the use of metaphors, similes, and other literary devices to convey meaning
indirectly and create an imaginative or emotional effect. Tone refers to the attitude or
emotion conveyed through language, while register refers to the level of formality or
informality used in a particular context.

Register, on the other hand, is defined as a variety of language used in a particular social
context, characterized by its specific vocabulary, grammatical structures, and
communicative purposes (Michael Halliday). In short, what he means is that the term
register can be used to explain the relationships between language and its context.

2.3 Stylo-pragmatics

Stylo-pragmatics, as a subfield of linguistics, combines the study of language style with

the study of language use in context. It is concerned with the ways in which language is
used to convey meaning and create an aesthetic effect, as well as the ways in which
speakers and listeners use language to communicate effectively and appropriately in
different social situations. Stylo-pragmatics is a relatively new field that has only recently
begun to be explored in depth, but it has already made significant contributions to our
understanding of language and communication.

Several scholars have provided valuable definitions and perspectives on stylo-pragmatics.

According to Short (1996), stylo-pragmatics analysis is the study of how style and
pragmatics interact in the production and interpretation of literary texts and how this
interaction creates meaning and effect. He states that “stylo-pragmatics analysis is
concerned with the ways in which style and pragmatics interact in the production and
interpretation of literary texts and with the ways in which this interaction creates meaning
and effect.”

13
Roger Fowler, in "The Language of Literature: Stylistic Theory and Practice," defines it
as "the study of the relation between language and context in terms of style, understood
to include both textual style and speaker/writer style" (Fowler, 1996). This definition
emphasizes the examination of language use within the broader context of style and the
interplay between the text and its author
Another notable scholar who has worked on the study of stylo-stylistics is David Crystal.
He states that stylo-pragmatics involves "the study of how the pragmatic and stylistic
factors of language use interact" (Crystal, 1997). Crystal highlights the dynamic
relationship between the pragmatic aspects of communication and the stylistic choices
made by speakers and writers.

One of the key concepts in stylo-pragmatics is the idea that language is a flexible and
dynamic tool that can be used in a variety of different ways depending on the context
and the speaker's goals. This means that the same word or phrase can have different
meanings depending on how it is used, and that speakers and listeners must constantly
adjust their interpretation of language based on the context in which it is used. This is
known as contextualization, and it is a central concept in stylo-pragmatics.

Another important concept in stylo-pragmatics is the idea that language is a social and
cultural tool that is shaped by the context in which it is used. This means that the way
language is used can vary greatly depending on the social, cultural, and historical context
in which it is used. For example, the way language is used in a formal business setting
will be different from the way it is used in a casual conversation with friends. This is
known as contextual variation, and it is an important factor to consider in stylo-pragmatic
analysis.

One of the main goals of stylo-pragmatics is to understand how language is used to

convey meaning and create an aesthetic effect. This includes examining the way authors
and speakers use language to evoke specific emotions and responses in their audience, as
well as the way language is used to create a sense of style and individuality.

By studying stylo-pragmatics, we can gain a deeper understanding of language and

communication and use this understanding to improve our own language skills and
communication abilities.

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2.4 Theoretical Framework

Bach and Harnish (1979) proposed a theory of communication known as the “Inferential
Model” that focuses on the process of making inferences from language use. According
to this model, successful communication requires the listener to make inferences about
what the speaker means based on their utterances. In the inferential process, the listener
uses a set of strategies to infer the intended meaning of the speaker.

Lawal’s Communicative Model Theory (CMT) builds upon Bach and Harnish inferential
model but expands upon it by providing a more comprehensive framework for analyzing
communicative events. CMT proposes that communication involves three fundamental
elements: communicators, messages, and contexts. Communicators refer to the
individuals who are participating in the communicative event; messages refer to the
language used to convey meaning; and context refers to the situation in which the
communication takes place.
In CMT, the inferential process involves the use of several types of strategies, including
the locutionary strategy, the illocutionary strategy, and the perlocutionary strategy. The
locutionary strategy refers to the interpretation of the literal meaning of the words used in
the message. The illocutionary strategy refers to the interpretation of the intended
function of the message, such as a request, a command, or a question. The perlocutionary
strategy refers to the interpretation of the effect the message has on the listener, such as
influencing their beliefs or actions.

CMT also recognizes the importance of context in the inferential process. Contextual
factors, such as the speaker’s tone of voice, facial expressions, and the social setting in
which the communication takes place, can all influence the listener’s interpretation of the
message. Furthermore, CMT emphasizes the role of shared knowledge between
communicators in facilitating successful communication.

Stylistics, according to Babajide (2000), is 'the study of style' in its simplest form. He
also agrees with Davy and Crystal (1983) that 'style is the effectiveness of a mode of
expression'. Therefore, we can say that pragmatics is the theory of appropriateness, while
stylistics is the theory of effectiveness. The Stylopragmatics approach to the analysis of
wale Okediran's Tenant of the House is to examine meaning for appropriateness and
effectiveness through the linguistic framework of Speech Acts theory.

15
 CHAPTER THREE
STYLISTIC ANALYSIS

3.0 INTRODUCTION
In this section, I shall extract my data from the novel and analyze its pragmatic and
stylistic elements separately. It should, however, be noted that since the novel has up to
27 chapters, extracting all the data chronologically will be too demanding; hence, my
focus would be to pick the data randomly across the entire text. On the analysis part,
according to the model mentioned in my theoretical framework, my pragmatic analysis
will follow the illocutionary acts, which include, but are not limited to, assertive (also
representative), expressive, and directive. And for the stylistic analysis, different literary
devices will be covered.

3.1 STYLISTIC ANALYSIS

As defined earlier, Stylistics is a branch of linguistics that studies how language is used in
literary texts. Scholars in the field of linguistics stylistics have analyzed the various levels
of language used in a text, such as graphological, morphological, syntactic, phonological,
semantic, and literary levels. In this section, I will attempt to analyze the various stylistic
elements or data in the novel “Tenants of the House” on the basis of the levels I have
mentioned above. By doing this, readers will be able to have a detailed understanding of
how each element contributes to the overall meaning and effect of the selected text.

3.1.1 GRAPHOLOGICAL LEVEL

Graphology can be seen as a linguistic level of analysis which comprises the study of the
graphic aspect of a language or a literary work. This stylistic level of analysis focuses
primarily on the visual aspects of a text, such as capitalization, italization, text layouts,
thematization, spacing, punctuation marks such as quotation marks, exclamation marks,
dash, ellipsis, etc. These elements can be used to create emphasis or convey meaning.

- Capitalization
The term “capitalization” has different meanings depending on the context. capitalization
in linguistic stylistics, as its name implies, it basically refers to the use of capital letters or
uppercases in writing or printing. capitalization in any literary work is used in many ways
to create distinctive effects. For instance, a writer might use it to differentiate between

16
different types of words, such as proper nouns, title, and the first word in a sentence. The
capitalized initial letter of two or more words can also be brought together to form
acronyms, or alphabetism.
In the context of the book I am analyzing, the writer, Wale Okediran, consistently follows
the English grammar rule regarding capitalization throughout the novel. That is, he
always capitalize the initial letter of the word that comes after a full stop. Also, in writing
the names, and titles held by the characters in the novel, he capitalized appropriately.
Example: “Professor Olawale Albert”, “Commissioner of Police”, “Hon. Taiwo Ajayi”,
“Chief Whip”
Also, in the novel, we also see several alphabetisms that are written in uppercase.
Example, NDDC - Niger Delta Development Commission (p18), BBC - British
Broadcasting Channel (p81), DOA - Dead on Arrival (p85), NGO - Non Governmental
Organization (p117), DS - Deputy Speaker (p175)
In addition to all these, some sentences which serve as a heading to letters, or newspaper
headlines were also fully capitalized. For example, in page 59 of the novel, the news
headline there regarding the ruckus happening in the House of Assembly is written in
uppercase. The purpose of doing this is to separate the headings from the rest of the texts.
Lastly, aside from it being the standard convention in English grammar, Wale Okediran
using uppercases where necessary in the text probably goes to show how formal the
novel, which is epistolary, is. Doing that also adds clarity to the novel.

● Italicization
Italicization is another important aspect of graphological stylistic analysis. It involves the
use of italic typeface, which is slanted to the right, to convey specific meanings, nuances,
or stylistic effects in written text. Italics are commonly used to format titles of a novel,
make emphasis on a certain subject, distinguish a foreign language from another, indicate
a character dialogue or utterances particularly in a prose, and indicate technical or
scientific terminologies. In Wale Okediran’s Tenant of the House, italicized words
abound in the novels. For example, the writer makes use of italic typeface to distinguish
words and phrases that are not english. Lets take a look at some of them;

1. “Kashe wa ni laifi ne, amma yin haka a lokacin da ya da ce, siya sa ne!” . This is
a saying in Hausa language which roughly translate to “To kill is a crime: to kill at
the right time is politics” (p8)

17
 2. “a siya sa ba abotar har abada, sai dai akwai bukatar nar abada.” This is another
popular saying in Hausa that roughly translate to “to buy friendship is not forever,
but there is an eternal need” (p14)
3. “Wetin now?” (p19) This is a Nigerian pidgin English which roughly translates to
“what is wrong?” in that context. The use of pidgin english in that context will
make Nigeria readers quickly get familiar with the situation on ground.
4. ’’I beg, leave me-o.” (p19) This is another nigerian pidgin english which translates
to ‘’Please, let me be’’.
5. “Kar ka kuskura ka bar shi yayi magana.” (p20) Another statement in hause
whose literal translation is ‘’Don't you dare let him talk."
6. ‘’We won’t beg anybody – kar mu ragama ya, banzan!” (p30) - ‘’We won’t beg
anybody – don't let's do it, it's nonsense’’ This excerpt shows a clear case of code
switching where the speaker immediately shifts from English to Hausa.
7. “Bari in bayyana maka wani abu muhimmi a nan’’ (p32) Another Hausa phrase
that roughly translates to "Let me tell you something important here’’
8. “zo mutafi, wani al’amari na gaggawa ya taso…’’ This is a hausa phrase that
roughly translates to “"Come on, there's an emergency..."
9. ‘’Kyarkeci’’ This in hausa means Wild Dog.
10. ‘’Alhamdulillah’’ Arabic word for “Thank God”
11. ‘’babariga ‘’ A type of cloth in Hausa.
12. ‘’se oti gbo?” This is yoruba sentence that is translated as ‘’Did you hear’’

Aside from this, the author also used italic front to highlight words, phrase or sentences
that include bible verses, national anthems, and all sorts of prayers in the novel. For
instance, in page 46, the speaker's prayer is fully italicized. The Same font was used in
Hon. Kalkulus’s presentation regarding his groups opposition to the third term bill (p
206).
In page 43 of the novel, the lyrics of a popular song in Nigeria also gets italicized to
differentiate it from the other texts.
Also, in page 109 of the text, the title of Barack Obama’s bestseller “The Audacity of
Hope '' was italicized. This helps to separate the title of the novel from the other
information.

● Ellipsis

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Ellipsis is another important aspect of graphological analysis that is represented by three
consecutive dots (...) or more. It is used mostly to indicate the deliberate omission of
words in a writing.
Some other functions that ellipsis performs in writing is that it is used to create pauses or
indicate a sense of suspense. Example, in narrative fiction, an ellipses might be employed
to build tension or indicate a character's hesitation. Ellipses can also be used to indicate
when a sentence or thought is left incomplete or trails off.
In addition to all these, some writers also use ellipses for stylistic effect. That is, they use
it to create a distinctive voice or rhythm in their writing.
And lastly, ellipses can be used rhetorically to draw attention to a point or to allow
readers to infer missing information.
Now back to the context of the book I'm analyzing here, Wale Okediran utilizes a lot of
ellipses to serve rhetorical purposes, as well as to provide insights into the text's
persuasive techniques.

Let's look at some data from the novel

1. Linus said, “Bala starts off. If he fails, you will come in. if you fail, we …” (p16) -
The ellipsis here in the context of the novel shows that the listener, who is Sam,
cut in before Linus could finish his statement. This means that the ellipsis marks
an unfinished utterance.
2. With the prayer still on, Lizzy was talking to Hon. Mukter Yinusa. “I … I heard
that some Members want to … to … impeach the Speaker!” (p17). The multiple
use of ellipsis here shows that the speaker (Lizzy) is stuttering probably because
she is shocked, surprised, or even scared by the news that some members want to
impeach the Speaker.
3. “Who is this …?” (p17) The use of ellipsis at the end of this question indicates that
the speaker is surprised or confused that someone touched her. In short, we can
say that the use of ellipses here create a sense of suspense.
4. The Speaker grew suddenly dizzy. “Im … peachment?” A big joke!” (p20). The
use of ellipsis here to divide an otherwise single word (impeachment) describes
the mental state of the speaker. We can assume that the speaker is trembling after
hearing that he is about to be impeached.
5. “The first Order of the day is a motion on the conduct of the Nigerian Police
Force, standing in the name of Hon …” (p22) The use of ellipsis in this context
shows that the speaker was interrupted, hence he was not allowed to finish or
name the culprit.

19
 6. “Your Excellency, it was a very tough session …” The use of ellipsis in this
context shows that the speaker got interrupted by another entity in the same
conversation
7. “I want this done quickly. Wooing and mucking … how long will that take us?”
The ellipsis in the sentence indicates that the speaker is unsure of how long the
tasks will take because he is unfamiliar with something like that. The ellipsis
creates a sense of uncertainty on the speaker part.
8. “How … how did you know?” (p49) The ellipsis in between this simple sentence
indicates that the speaker is trailing off because they are surprised or confused.

9. “No sir, it is not necessary – I – I mean its, it’s …” (p48) The ellipsis here create a
sense of suspense because it shows that the speaker is trailing off because they are
unsure of what to say next
10. “I … I was misinformed about what it takes to effect an impeachment’ (p55) The
use of ellipsis followed by a repetition of the first word “I” shows that the speaker
is confused or bewildered’’
11. “How about all the information in your possession? He won’t allow you to go;
rather, he will … er … er.” (p57). The use of double ellipsis and the repetition of
“er” shows that the speaker is intentionally withholding sensitive information
because she knows that the listener already understands.

● Dash

The dash (—), which is also called the em dash, is the long horizontal bar that is found in
most literary writings. A dash is not the same as a hyphen as the former is much longer
than the latter. The use of dashes is a complex and nuanced topic, as there is no one right
way to use them. But generally, writers tend to replace other punctuation marks, such as
commas, semicolons, and colons with a dash. Also, dash can sometimes be used to
create a sense of suspense, informality and urgency. Some writers also use it to add
emphasis to a word or phrase.
For example, a cursory look at this extract from Wale Okediran’s Tenant of the House
"On the field were gaily—dressed maidens and drummers who were already
performing their acts," shows the role of dash in introducing the parenthetical comment.
The dash helps to create a sense of informality as it emphasis how well the entertainers
dressed i.e “gaily—dressed”

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 ● Paragraph and chapter structure

The paragraph and chapter structure in the novel, "Tenants of the House," plays a crucial
role in shaping the reading experience and conveying the author's stylistic choices.
Throughout the entire novel, the writer intentionally used a larger font for the initial letter
of every word in the first paragraph of each chapter. This type of formatting helps to
draw the reader's attention to the upcoming narratives.

● Quotation Marks

Quotation marks are a type of punctuation that are used to separate direct quotations,
titles of works, and words or phrases from the rest of the texts. They are also known as
“quotes” and unlike commas, they are placed on the top of a word, or phrase.It should
however be noted that quotation marks comes in pair, that is, when a quotation mark is
place at the beginning of a word or phrase, such word must be ended with another
quotation mark.
In the novel “Tenants of the House’’, the writer makes use of quotation marks to separate
the dialogues from the rest of the texts. For example, in this excerpt, “Life is not book,
book, book! Get yourself a gun, Sam. Every politician needs one for self-defence.” (p8)
The quotation marks separate this direct speech from the rest of the texts such that
readers can even begin to imagine how this conversation ensued, including the mood of
the interlocutors.
Also in this excerpt, “But Lizzy, have you, er, have you, you know, ever had occasion
to, em, use this your cute companion?” The quotation marks separate this interrogative
sentence from the rest of the text. It gives what is being discussed a special attention.
Quotation marks are also used in the text to show where the speaker code switches. For
example, in this excerpt , “There are no permanent friends in politics, only permanent
interests … a siya sa ba abotar har abada, sai dai akwai bukatar nar abada.” (p14) The
quotation marks set this dialogue apart from the rest of the texts.
Lastly, quotation marks are also used to set apart dialogues that were introduced in
another language other than English. For example; “Kai Dukna rude, me zan yi ne ma?”
(p23) which is Hausa language, ‘’Chikena!” (p21) - an exclamatory remark in igbo, ‘’se
oti gbo?” (p26) - an interrogative statement introduced with Yoruba language.

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3.1.2 MORPHOLOGICAL LEVEL OF ANALYSIS

Simply put, morphology is the study of words, how they are formed, and their
relationship to other words in the same language. Morphological analysis in stylistics
analysis focuses on the study of word forms, their structures, and how they contribute to
the overall style of a text. This level of analysis explores elements such as affixes and
root words, word length and complexity, patterns of word repetition or variation, and
various morphological processes such as compounding, reduplication, blending, etc.
Some of the morphological tools utilized in Wale Okediran"Tenant of the House" will be
analyzed below.

● Affixation
Affixation is a morphological process in linguistics where affixes such as prefix, suffix,
infix, interfix, etc are added to a base word to either derive new word or inflect the word
(add information to an existing word). In the novel, we witness as affixations such as
prefixes and suffix were used for derivation and inflectional purposes. For example,
words like; uncomfortable, instability, discontented, disaffection, disorder, discontented,
screaming, bewitchingly, urgently, traveled, etc take either prefix or suffix features. Some
of them even take both.
● Compounding
According to David Crystal, Compounding is a process of word formation in which two
or more words are combined to form a new word with a different meaning. In
compounding, two or more words are often combined to form a new word and the new
word will have a meaning that is different from the meanings of the individual words.
Compound words can be formed from words of any part of speech, but they are most
common with nouns and adjectives. In the novel, compounding as a morphological
process abounds, we shaa take a look at some of them.
1. Soft-sell (p12) - The compound word "soft-sell" is formed by combining the
words "soft" and "sell." The new word "soft-sell", which refers to a sales
technique that is subtle and persuasive has a different meaning than the individual
words "soft" and "sell."
2. Self-discovery (p54): The compound word is formed by combining two individual
words "self" and "discovery." to form a new word "self-discovery" which refers to
the process of learning about oneself.

22
 3. Greyish-brown (p53): This word is formed by combining the words "grey" and
"brown." The new word "greyish-brown" refers to a color that is between grey and
brown
4. Loose-fitting (p47): This word is formed by combining the words "loose" and
"fitting." The new word "loose-fitting" refers to clothing that is not tight or snug
5. Voice-activated (p36): This word is formed by combining the words "voice" and
"activated." The new word "voice-activated" refers to something that is activated
by voice commands.
6. Information-gathering (p30): This word is formed by combining the words
"information" and "gathering." The new word "information-gathering" refers to
the process of collecting information.

3.1.3 LEXICAL LEVEL

The lexical level in linguistics and stylistics refers to the level of analysis that focuses on
words, their meaning, and their relationship within a text. At this level, words or phrases
have meanings that are different from the literal meaning of the individual words. The
author of Tenant of the House employs different lexical devices, and in the section, I will
explain some of them and pick relevant data from the text to support my claim.

● Descriptive language/Adjectives
One of the lexical devices that is abundant in the novel is descriptive languages. The
writer makes use of descriptive adjectives in a number of instances to give a proper
description of something or someone. For example, in this excerpt “I had often ogled her
youthful and enticing body with male intent’’ (p7) Wale Okediran employs two
descriptive adjectives “youthful and enticing’’ to describe the physical qualities of Lizzy.
Also, in this excerpt, “Agnes had left me four years earlier. I could not find a
replacement in Abuja, try as I might. The ladies were there but no relationship lasted.
Young and predatory, they sought to milk you for what you were worth’’ (p12) The
writer makes use of two descriptive adjectives “Young and Predatory” to describe the
physical attribute and attitude of the women he has been meeting in Abuja.
The use of descriptive language is also evident in this excerpt in (p13) “Tall and burly,
Linus was a middle-aged man. He wore an expensive, tight-fitting brown silk shirt that
accentuated the muscularity of his wide chest. On his neck was a glittering silver
chain” The writer makes use of “Tall and burly” to describe Linus’s physical build, and
“glittering silver” to describe the chain he is wearing. The adjectives in operation here all
seem to describe Linus as a wealthy man who is also fit. In another excerpt in (p15) “The

23
rain continued to thrash against the green-domed National Assembly building”, the
writer makes use of the descriptive phrase “green-domed” to add specific detail that will
help readers imagine the building more vividly.
Also, in excerpt “The DPO, a short thickest man in dark-blue and black police officer’s
uniform” (p91). The descriptive adjectives “short” “thickest” “dark-blue” and “black”
describe the DPO’s physical attributes and uniform.

● Idioms
Idiom is an important lexical device. It is often used to express complex ideas in a
concise way. In the novel I am analyzing here, idioms abound in the text, so let us look at
this excerpt; “In addition to this, once we can confirm the allegation of the $100,000
bribe from Hon. Ojebode, then we are home and dry,” (p39) - The phrase "Home and
dry" is an idiomatic expression. It simply means that someone is sure of succeeding, or
winning. Also, in (p. 114), two idioms appear side by side "The early bird catches the
worm. Time and tide wait for no man". The central theme of the two idioms is to warn
the other party to be quick with what they are doing.

● Use of specific word

The writer, throughout the entire novel makes use of some words that are not always used
in everyday conversation. That is, words that are only associated with a specific
profession or people. Example include words like;
1. Chief Whip: Collins Dictionary describes a chief Whip as the highest-ranking
whip in a legislative or parliamentary house. Their role is to ensure that other party
members are present to vote.
2. Quid pro quo (p124): This is a Latin phrase that is often used in political or legal
context. It basically translate to “something for something”
3. Pro tempore (p65): This is a Latin word that basically translates to “for the time
being”.
4. Almajiris (p80): The term “Almajiris” is from the arabic word “Al nuhajirun”, it
basically refers to a system of islamic education practiced in Northern Nigeria. It
should however be noted that the term “Almajiris” is slowly becoming a
derogatory term because of the numerous issues the system creates or has created.
In the context where it appears it in novel, the writer didn't in any way use it as a
derogatory connotations
5. Esprit de corps (p49): This is a french phrase that translates to “spirit of the body”
in English. This phrase is used in a variety of contexts including military context,

24
 political context, and more to describe the camaraderie and team spirit that exists
among individuals who work together to achieve a common goal.
6. Id-el-kabir (p223). An islamic festival that happens once every year.
The use of these words adds diversity to the book.

● Contrastive language
Contrasting language can bee seen as the use of opposites or contradictory ideas to create
emphasis on a particular point or idea, surprise the reader and create a sense of intrigue,
or create an irony. In Tenant of the House, the writer, Wale Okediran makes use of this
tool to create a more vivid and engaging experience for the readers.For example, in this
excerpt “As he watched the singing and dancing of the demonstrators, his stomach
churned. He was fearful, angry and anxious. The opponents had paralyzed his plans
and were rejoicing’’ (p93). In this context, the juxtaposition of “Singing and dancing”
and “fearful and angry” creates a vivid contrast that underscores the characters internal
struggle in the face of the external events.
Also, in this excerpt “Honourable Tough-man Kasali, the strongman of Ibadan, terror
of the Southwest, money is your own headache-oh!” (p86) The juxtaposition of the
character's strong and imposing reputation ("strongman," "terror") and the light-hearted
and somewhat playful phrase "money is your own headache" is contrastive in nature.
The use of the negative word “do not” after two distinctive ideas in this excerpt
“Education and political gangsterism do not go well together" (p51) also show
contrast.

3.1.4 GRAMMATICAL LEVEL

At the grammatical level of stylistics analysis, every sentence that makes up the novel
will be examined to determine their structure and function.

● Examining sentence structure according to structure

In writing the novel, Wale Okediran makes use of simple sentences, complex and
compound sentences.
Simple sentence: This is a type of sentence that has one independent clause. An
independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and expresses a

25
complete thought. In the novel, the writer makes use of simple sentences to create a direct
and concise tone. Let's look at some excerpts from the novel:
1. “Tenant of the House '' The title of the novel itself is a simple sentence. It is a
noun phrase which comprises two nouns “Tenants” and “house”, and connected by
the preposition “of”. Wale Okediran decides to write the title in simple sentences
to keep the readers guessing on who the tenants are and the type of house the
tenants inhabit
2. “A chill traveled down my spine” (p8) This is also a simple sentence that contains
a noun, verb and the complement.The use of simple sentence here to express the
character’s ordeal helps to create a vivid and evocative image in the reader's mind
3. “The road here was hard” (p9) - The use of this simple sentence in the context in
which it appears helps to properly capture Sam’s inner thought.
4. ‘’The panel supported the impeachment’’ (p243) - The writer here employs this
simple sentence to convey important information in a clear and direct way. It
comprises a noun “The panel”, verb “supported” and the complement.

Compound sentence: A compound sentence is a type of sentence that has two

independent clauses that are joined together by coordinating conjunction such as and, but,
or, nor, for, so, yet. In the novel “Tenants of the house”, the writer makes use of simple
sentences to create a more flowing and complex tone. Let’s take a look at the following
data
1. “The ladies were there but no relationship lasted” (p12)
2. “I had had her to dinner twice but she had not given me signals to go beyond this”
(p11)
3. “I hinted that I was a single parent like her but she was not buying the idea” (p11)
4. “General Abacha died several years ago and yet Nigeria has not gone to pieces”
(p207)
5. “Over 3.5 billion naira was spent, yet we didn’t get what we wanted” (p227)
In the data above, the main clauses in 1,2,3 are joined together by “but”. Conversely, in 4
and 5, the clauses in there are joined together by “yet”

Complex Sentence: Complex sentence is a type of sentence that is mostly used to

express more complex relationships between ideas. It typically comprises one
independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. A dependent clause is a group of
words that contains a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. I
will bring some instances of simple sentences from the novel.

26
 1. “A former Senator, he had been made the President’s point man in the often
turbulent House of Representatives because of his legislative experience and
contacts” (p25)
2. “And keep your ear to the ground, as a good grassroots politician” (p115)
3. “He was in high spirits because he had coordinated part of the events that led to
the disappearance of the mace from the Chambers of the House of
Representatives” (p25)
4. “The President has succeeded in his nefarious plan thus far because of the greed of
some of our colleagues on the other side” (p88)

● Sentence according to function

Several sentences in the novel perform different functions. In this part, I will bring
excerpts from the book to analyze the function they perform
Declarative sentence: Declarative sentence is by far the most common type of sentence
in English. This type of sentence, which always end with a period (.) states a fact or
opinion.
1. “It is not whether I think they will succeed.” the Sokoto Member said. “They have
already succeeded” (p234) - The speaker makes use of this declarative sentence to
state a fact that he believes in.
2. “We shall follow due process because we want to ensure that Nigeria survives this
crisis.” (p212) Here, the Senate president makes use of this declarative sentence to
express his belief in the steps they have taken.
3. “Now that the President had become direct and open, I decided to be sincere.”
(p151) - The speaker here declares their intention to change their stance after the
president changes his own.
4. “But America is developed.” (p114) This declarative sentence states a fact or an
opinion.

Interrogative sentences: Interrogative sentences are those sentences that ask questions.
They always end with a question mark (?). Below are excerpts from the novel

1. “My heart missed a beat. I swallowed hard. What? I thought; A gun here?” (p1)
2. “Where have you been?”(p8)
3. “But Lizzy, have you, er, have you, you know, ever had occasion to, em, use this
your cute companion?” (p8)

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 4. “What did guns have to do with serving one’s country?” (p9)
5. “Of course I am,” I replied. “Are the others ready? Where is Bala?” (p16)
6. “But if it is urgent why didn’t you take it with the previous one?” (p20)
7. “Who is the Chairman of the committee of the NDDC?” (p18)

Imperative sentences, which also abound in the novel, are used to give a command or
instruction. They often end with a period (.) or an exclamation point (!).

1. “Double the money!” (p9) - Here, a party chief is commanding Samuel to pay
more money.
2. “Give me my money back! A cult – to join a cult! Give me my money back!” (p9)
In the entire dialogue here, the writer repeatedly uses the exclamation mark to
show how vehemently Sam demands for a refund.
3. “Order, Order!” (p18) Here, the Chief Whip is commanding the parliament
members to calm down.
4. “Chikena!” This is an igbo word which loosely translates to; period, complete,
that's it, final, etc

Exclamatory sentences: Exclamatory sentences always end with an exclamation mark

(!). This type of sentence is used to express strong emotion about something or someone.

1. “Lizzy, ah, ah! Why? The Speaker is your friend” (p14) The repetition of “ah”
follow by an exclamation mark perfectly expresses the speaker’s emotional state
(shocked).
2. “God forbid!” (p9) - This statement is a common saying among Nigrians to reject
an idea, decision, or thoughts.
3. “I … I heard that some Members want to … to … impeach the Speaker!” (p17)
This exclamatory sentence in this context expresses shock about what is about
what other members are planning.
4. “Lizzy shrugged her shoulders. “Poor Speaker! We are trying to protect him but he
does not know it.” (p17) The exclamatory remark “poor speaker!” shows that
Lizzy is feeling sorry for the speaker.
5. “No! No! No!” (p22) Here, the supporters of the Speaker are expressing their
unanimous feelings to dissuade Bakura from dropping the bombshell.

● Question type
A question is a sentence that asks for information. It is an important part of
communication because they allow us to learn more about the world around us and to
connect with others. In Tenants of the House, different types of questions abound, but the

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most prominent ones are wh-question, polar question (Yes/No), a question tag, and
rhetorical questions.
Wh-questions typically begin with a wh-word, such as who, what, when, where, why, or
how. This type of question is used to ask for specific information. For example; “Where
have you been?” (p8), “Where is the fertilizer?” (p14), “Who is he?” (p18), “But if it is
urgent why didn’t you take it with the previous one?” (p19), “But how were you able to
beat the metal detectors?” (p8)
Polar questions on the other hand are simple yes or no questions. They are often used to
gather quick, fast, factual information. For example, from this excerpt in (p83), “Well, do
we have any news or information from the Speaker’s group?” The listener, Wenie
replied with No.
Rhetorical questions: Simply put, rhetorical questions are those types of questions that
do not require an answer. It is a question that is asked for effect rather than to elicit an
answer. Rhetorical questions are often used to make a point, persuade the audience, or
engage the audience's thoughts. For example; "Honourable Members, or a rag-tag team
of miscreants? (p67) Here, the President is expressing his rage by asking a rhetorical
question. Also, this excerpt “ “How many Reps make it back? Only two out of ten…”
(p11), shows the speaker asking a rhetorical question to make a point. Also, in this
excerpt, “Who told you I will fail?” I retorted. “Nobody can stop me today!” (p17), the
speaker is asking a rhetorical question to boast about his preparedness.
Questions were also asked in Nigerian pidgin, e.g “Wetin now? (p19) which translates to
“What is it?”

3.1.5 LITERARY LEVEL

At this level of analysis, I will examine the author's choices of words, figures of speech,
and the various literary devices used in the novel.
Alliteration is a literary device that abound in the novel, it refers to the repetition of
consonant sounds at the beginning of words. It is often used by writers to create a sense
of rhythm and flow in writing. For example, the repetition of the consonant “f” in “...it
will be fire for fire,” (p116) helps to create a rhythmic flow. The writer also makes use of
parallelism to create balance and rhythm in the novel. For example, this excerpt "naira
for naira, dollar for dollar" (p28,32,38 and 41) is an example of parallelism as the two
pronouns "naira" and "dollar" are repeated in the same order in each phrase. Also, this
excerpt from (p11) "Take the money; make the money, from anywhere, everywhere" is

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also parallelism. This phrase uses parallelism to emphasize the idea that there are many
different ways to make money. Lastly, this excerpt from (p10) "Each day was long:
from cockcrow to the wee hours of the morning it was debates, meetings, visits,
meetings, debates, meetings" is also parallelism. This phrase uses parallelism to describe
the repetitive and demanding nature of the speaker's daily routine.

Simile is another literary device in this novel.Simile is denoted by the use of “as” and
“like”. For example: “It was like the icing on the cake” (p54) is a good example of
simile.
Irony is a literary device in which the intended meaning of a statement or action is the
opposite of its literal meaning. In Tenants of the House, the writer makes use of irony to
create a variety of effects, including humor, surprise, or suspense. For example, in this
excerpt “Sam, I have a private life. Don’t you forget that. And that is the way it’s going
to stay.” Her blunt declaration hurt me. I had grown to like Lizzy. She was petite and
curvaceous” (p11) Sam’s description of Lizzy as “petite and curvaceous” after being hurt
by her response is ironic and highlights his conflicted feelings towards her. Also, in (p12)
“Agnes had left me four years earlier. I could not find a replacement in Abuja, try as I
might. The ladies were there but no relationship lasted. Young and predatory, they
sought to milk you for what you were worth” Sam’s description of women in Abuja as
“young and predatory” is very ironic as it contradicts what he earlier believed in (p11)
that “money is a fertilizer”
Chiasmus is also present in the book. Chiasmus is a rhetorical device in which two or
more clauses are arranged in parallel structure, but with the words in each clause
reversed. For example, this extract from (p30) "Politics is war. War is politics," is a
good example of chiasmus.
Personification is a figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstract concepts are
given human qualities. For example, in this excerpt at (p14) “I ripped the envelope open.
Many freshly minted American dollars greeted my eyes’’ The freshly minted dollars are
given human-like attributes to greet. Also, in an excerpt in (p101), “The rain had just
stopped and the queen-of-the-night flowers lining the front of my flat began to exude a
beautiful, tantalizing fragrance” The flowers are being given the human quality of
exuding, which means to give off a smell. This personification makes the flowers seem
more alive and active, and it also helps to emphasize the beauty and tantalizing nature of
their fragrance. Also, in “The rain continued to thrash against the green-domed
National assembly building” (p15) The use of the verb “thrash” to describe the rain
personifies the natural element, creating a sense of dynamism and intensity. In (p. 214)
“People jubilated and danced on the streets at the news of the death of the highly

30
controversial Bill” The use of the verb “death” to describe the defeated “Bill” is also
another great example of personification.

Repetition is another device that abounds in the novel. It as it name implies, it is the
repetititon of the word in a sentence. There are instance of repetition in the novel. For
example: “And the money! Every step of the way it was more and more and more
money. Money for the chieftains; money for the constituency moguls; money for party
stalwarts; money for party thugs; money for the polling agents” (p10) The repetiton of
the word “money” creates a sense of accumulation, emphasizing the vast amounts of
money that are required to be successful in politics. Also, in (p10) “Each day was long:
from cockcrow to the wee hours of the morning it was debates, meetings, visits,
meetings, debates, meetings” - The repetition of the words “debates,” “meetings,” and
“visits” shows how busy the speaker is. In an excerpt from (p11) “Huge loads of
fertilizer is what you need. Money, money, money is the fertilizer of politics” The
repetition of the word “money” creates emphasis and reinforces the idea that it is the key
to success in politics. Also, in (p11) “How many Reps make it back? Only two out of
ten. Sam, Sam, Sam, and how many times did I call you? You want to make it back?
Take the money; make the money, from anywhere, everywhere…” The repetition of the
name “Sam” and the word “money” helps to create emphasis. In (p27) “The man is
grounded, well grounded” The word "grounded" is repeated twice to show just how
strong Speaker Suileman is. In (p31) “We shall attack on several fronts.Name it –
diplomacy; name it – intrigue; name it – blackmail; name it – propaganda” The phrase
“name it” is repeated several times to add emphasis to the different strategies that can be
used. In page (38) where Wenike tries to inform his compatriots of the Speaker’s
intention to meet them, the memeber’s answered by saying "We don’t want it,we don’t
want it, we don’t want it!” came the chant." The repetition of the phrase "We don’t
want it” shows their strong dissaproval of the idea.

Synecdoche is also present in the novel. Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part
is used to represent the whole, or the whole is used to represent a part. From my excerpt,
the physical quality of powder was used to represent cocaine.

In (p82) of the novel, we are introduced to the Deputy Speaker's use of cocaine in the
book ‘’Oh yes, cocaine, cannabis, good old alcohol …”. Later on in that scene, the

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writer substitutes cocaine for ‘White-powder - “He took another pinch of white
powder’’
Metaphor is by far the most common literary device in the novel. Metaphor is a figure of
speech that compares two things that are not usually compared. It does this by stating that
one thing is another thing. Metaphors can be used to create vivid imagery, to make
comparisons that are more concise and memorable, and to express complex ideas in a
simple way. In the novel, metaphoric words are a constant occurrence, let us take a look
at some examples;
1. ‘’Huge loads of fertilizer is what you need. Money, money, money is the fertilizer
of politics’’ (P11) This statement is metaphoric because the speaker compares
money to fertilizer.
2. ‘’My word is my bond’’ (p21) This statement is metaphoric because it compares
the speaker's word to a legal bond.
3. “Fire for fire” (p30). The phrase here is metaphoric as it compares two things that
are not usually compared.
4. “Cocaine-fueled performance” (p88). This statement is also metaphoric
5. "he is a fox in a sheep's skin" (p110) Here, the writer compares President Oneya to
a fox. And since foxes are usually cunning, while sheep are known for being
gentle and innocent, the writer is basically calling President Oneya a pretentious
person.
6. “The Presidency is brimming with firepower and funds” (p74) The excerpt here is
metaphorical as it portrays the president as a powerful and well-funded entity.
7. “...do we know how rich the Speaker’s war chest is?” (p40). The excerpt here is
metaphorical as it describes the Speaker's financial resources.
8. "The President, a middle-aged man from Delta State, sat down to listen to Smollet
and exploded at the end of the Senator's account" (p26) . This excerpt is also
metaphoric as the President’s reaction is compared to an explosion.
9. “Sam, you cannot marry this tomato-faced Fulani girl’’ (p233) This is a metaphor
as the writer compares the facial appearance of the girl to that of a tomato.
10. "Money is the name of the game" (p28) is also a metaphor as the speaker describes
the importance of money.

Antithesis is also a constant feature in the novel. This is a rhetorical device in which two
opposing ideas are juxtaposed for contrast and effect. In the novel, antithetical phrases
and words abound. For example, “To kill is a crime; to kill at the right time is politics”
(p8,9 and 13) is an antithetical statement as it emphasizes the contrast between the two

32
interpretations of killing. Also, in this excerpt “There are no permanent friends in
politics, only permanent interests” (p14 and 131), the juxtaposition of "permanent
friends" and "permanent interests." creates a sense of contrast and emphasis, and it also
helps to convey the idea that political alliances are often based on self-interest rather than
on friendship.

3.1.6 NARRATIVE LEVEL

The narrative level of a novel can play a fundamental role in word formation in a number
of ways. In the context of “Tenant of the house”, we shall look at some of them

● The structure of the novel and the storytelling technique:

The storytelling technique used in “Tenant of the House” is faction. Faction is a literary
work that presents factual contents in fictional form. It combines fact and fiction to create
a narrative that draws on a historical event or situation that is mediated by the literary
mode. By mixing fact with fiction, Okediran tries to transform literature to a product of
self-awareness using the aborted third term saga of the former Nigeria’s President, Chief
Olusegun Obasanjo

● Narrative perspective (first-person, third-person, etc.)

The writer makes use of a first person omniscient point of view. That is, the narrator
makes use of first person pronouns like “I” but also knows everything that is going on
with other characters. This is evident in the first paragraph of the novel where the writer
started with "I held a gun for the first time…" (p1).

● Chronological vs. non-linear narrative structure

A chronological narrative structure is a story that is told in the order that the events
happened. In contrast, a non-linear narrative structure is a story that is told out of order,
with events presented in a way that does not follow a linear timeline.
In “Tenant of the House,” Wale Okediran uses a non-linear narrative structure to tell his
story. He started the book with actions happening in the Nigerian National assembly, but
after some chapters, he deviates from that to shed light into what happened to Sam before
becoming a representative in the house. This includes his relationship life, and his
upbringing.

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The use of a non-linear narrative structure also allows Okediran to explore different
themes and ideas in his book. By presenting events out of order, he can highlight the
connections between different characters and events in a way that would not be possible
with a linear narrative structure

● Use of flashbacks, foreshadowing, and other narrative devices.

Flashback is as its name implies, it is the act of going back in time to explore past events.
In the book, Wale Okedira makes use of flashback techniques to show readers the
various difficulties that the protagonist (Samuel) faced while growing up. In Chapter 6 of
the book, the writer introduced a paragraph thus
"At least, that was what I told my father many years ago when I told him I wanted to
become a lawyer. I made up my mind on my career the day Fulani herdsmen ransacked
my village" (p51)
The repetitive use of past tense in this paragraph shows the writer is trying to use a
flashback to take the reader back in time to an earlier event in the character’s life.
Also, this excerpt "Agnes left me four years earlier. I could not find a replacement in
Abuja, try as I might" (p12) is also a flashback.

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 CHAPTER FOUR
PRAGMATICS ANALYSIS
4.0 INTRODUCTION

The pragmatic analysis of the novel Tenant of the House will center around some
pragmatic elements such as the speech acts (locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary
acts), mutual contextual belief and world knowledge, and intention (that is, goals to be
achieved). Here, I will extract some texts from the novel and analyze them independently
on the basis of the aforementioned elements.

4.1 THE ANALYSIS

DATUM 1

Locutionary act: “I handled a gun for the first time, the day I saw one in Hon. Elizabeth
Bello’s handbag” (p. 11)

Illocutionary Act: Assertive (stating)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB) and world knowledge: This excerpt from page one of
the novel shows Sam talking about the number of times he has handled a gun (which is
never). The speaker understands how dangerous a gun is, and he also finds it surprising
that Hon. Elizabeth Bello has one since it is unusual for a woman to carry a gun.

Intention: Sam's intention is to inform the reader about his personal experience with
guns. Sam is also shocked and alarmed by the fact that the character who has the gun is a
woman.

Expected perlocutionary act: Concerned

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DATUM 2

Locutionary act: “Elizabeth was one of the fifteen women that made up the 350-member
parliament.” (p 1)

Illocutionary Act: Assertive (stating)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB) and world knowledge: Elizabeth being one of the few
women in the national House of Assembly shows how well men dominate the political
scene in Nigeria. It shows the lack of equal representation in the Nigerian political scene.

Intention: The intention of the speaker (Sam) is to draw the attention of the readers to the
number of representatives that make up the National Assembly and the lack of equal
representation among the two genders.

Expected Perlocutionary act: Reflective

DATUM 3

Locutionary act: “It is my cute companion. It is small, lightweight and very accurate.
Easy to maintain, too.” (p. 7)

Illocutionary act: Assertive (Praising)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB) and world knowledge: By using all that descriptive
(positive) adjectives to describe a gun, Elizabath is desperately trying to make Sam share
her belief that guns are worth having despite how dangerous they are.

Intention: The intention of Lizzy is to gloat about the gun, and also to get Sam to agree
with her that having a gun is desirable.

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Expected Perlocutionary act: Agree

DATUM 4

Locutionary act: “To kill is a crime; to kill at the right time is politics” (p. 8)

Illocutionary act: Assertive (expressing)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB) and world knowledge: The mutual understanding
with this excerpt is that politics is a very dangerous business such that killing, which
originally, is a big crime, can even be permitted.

Intention: The intention of the speaker in this context is to let everyone into the ugly side
of politics in Nigeria.

Expected perlocutionary act: Shock

DATUM 5

Locutionary act: “We will use part of the money for the necessary rituals. No cult for
you now but you will see the need in future …” (p. 9)

Illocutionary act: Commissive (guaranteeing/promising)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB): This statement from the party chief reinforces the fact
that apart from money and the support from the people, politicians still need to perform
rituals before they can be elected. Again, this just shows how hard it is to hold political
office in Nigeria.

37
Intention: The intention of the party chief is to guarantee Sam that despite his objection,
he can not do without performing the ritual. It may not even be now, but one thing is
certain, he can’t escape it.

Expected perlocutionary act: concern

DATUM 6

Locutionary act: “Huge loads of fertilizer is what you need. Money, money, money is
the fertilizer of politics” (p. 11)

Illocutionary act: Assertive (Informing)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB): Elizabeth is trying to be coy here by substituting

“money” for “fertilizer”. The mutual contextual belief is that money is important in
politics.

Intention: The intention of Elizabeth here is to persuade Sam that money is necessary to
succeed in politics.By repeating the word “money”, she is trying to lay emphasis on the
importance of money.

Expected perlocutionary act: Enlightenment

DATUM 7

Locutionary act: ‘’Politics can be good for you. In this Nigeria, life outside parliament
is hard, hard, hard.” (P. 11)

Illocutionary act: Assertive (informing)

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Mutual contextual belief (MCB): This utterance by Elizabath is significant as it
highlights the issues with politics in Nigeria and africa as a whole. Politicians now
consider politics as a job, rather than an avenue to serve the people. So, by saying that
‘’life outside parliament’’ is hard, it further reinforce my earlier point that they only care
about themselves.

Intention: Lizzy’s intention is to convince Samuel to see politics as the best thing to do
to survive in Nigeria.

Expected perlocutionary act: Awareness

DATUM 8

Locutionary act: “He is a changed man. He has undergone, what is this term in biology
about insects?” "Complete metamorphosis.”

Illocutionary act: Assertives (Stating)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB): This statement agrees with the popular belief that
change is one of the features that humans, generally, have. This is evident where the
speaker compares the change that the president undergo to the change in body of an
insect i.e complete metamorphosis (egg, larva, pupa, and adult)

Intention: By likening humans to the life cycle of insects, the intention of the speaker is
to describe how humans can change.

Expected Prelocutionatry act: Recognition

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DATUM 9

Locutionary act: “Wrong guess this time. Your time will come, Sam. You are a potential
Speaker, I tell you" (p. 111)

Illocutionary act: Commissives (Promising)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB): Even without saying it formally, the speaker, by
saying that "your time will come" shows that he already knows Sam's ambition, plus he
also acknowledges that he has all the needed quality to lead the house. This statement
shows that people's character can be studied without the "subject" even knowing. So, it
shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone when someone who has close affinity with them
lists their qualities.

Intention: The intention of this utterance is to praise Sam's leadership skills

Expected Prelocutionatry act: Encouragement

DATUM 10

Locutionary act: “His father refused to send him to school, told him to follow the cattle
instead.” (p. 124)

Illocutionary act: Assertives (Telling)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB): This short, and rather blunt statement describes the
situation that many children in Fulani households face. They don't see education as a
necessity, instead, they train their children to become a herdsman. While this may seem
like a big problem, the Fulanis, on the other hand, don't see education as something their
children must have

40
Intention: The intention of this statement is to convey information about Gidado's
father's decision to prioritize cattle herding over education. It also highlights a contrast or
expresses disapproval of the father's choice.

Expected Prelocutionatry act: Sympathy

DATUM 11

Locutionary act: “Husband-to-be? Are you already betrothed?” “Yes, last year. I am
carrying his radio and he is wearing my scarf.” (p. 123)

Illocutionary act: Assertive (informing)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB): The writer makes use of the term "Betrothed" to
highlight the type of engagement that Batejo and Gidado have. This helps to differentiate
between the types of engagement that happens in civilized and uncivilized parts of
Nigeria and Africa as a whole. Also, it highlights that, despite the influence of foreign
culture and practices, some cultures still haven't moved on from this type of engagement.
Batejo and Gidado (her betrothed husband) also having a piece of each others personal
belongings also highlights the how relationship generally works

Intention: The intention of the interculotors here is to expose the readers to another
marriage or courtship culture that is maybe different from the one we are all familiar
with.

Expected Perlocutionary act: Surprise

DATUM 12

Locutionary act: “Politics was something I watched with trepidation and pain. They
called it a dirty game but I was a clean man” (p. 9)
41
Illocutionary act: Expressive (Lamentation)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB): The mutual contextual belief of this excerpt is that
Sam is a good and honest person who is hesitant to enter the world of politics because of
how corrupt it is. This is evident in the use of words like "clean man" to describe himself,
and "trepidation" and "pain" to describe his attitude towards politics. Also, the use of the
past tense “was” in the excerpt shows that despite Sam’s reservations regarding politics,
he still manages to get involved. If anything, this goes to show how the world of politics
can suck one in.

Intention: The intention of the speaker is to show distinction between two worlds. His
own perfect and pure life, and the world of politics which is describe as “dirty”

Expected Perlocutionary act: Reflect

DATUM 13

Locutionary act: “Yes, Speaker Yaya is my friend. But in this matter he is not. You know
the saying, “There are no permanent friends in politics, only permanent interests” (p. 14)

Illocutionary act: Assertive (Expressing)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB): This excerpt highlights how competitive and often
ruthless politics is. People in politics are often motivated by their own personal interests,
rather than the interests of their friends or colleagues. In short, it is all man for himself. .

Intention: The intention of this speaker is to remind Sam, as well as the reader that
friendship may be compromised by political factors.

Expected Perlocutionary act: Persuasion

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DATUM 14

Locutionary act: “Nobody can stop me today!” (p. 17)

Illocutionary act: Commissive (Guarantee)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB): Self doubt is one of humans greatest enemy. But in
this excerpt, Sam utters this statement to show how confident they are in their ability.
Again, self assurance can go a long way in helping someone gain motivation to fulfill
personal and professional goals.

Intention: Even though Wanike has his doubts, the intention of the speaker (Sam) by
utterance this statement is to show sign of his determination to complete the task they
assign to him.

Expected Perlocutionary act: Motivation

DATUM 15

Locutionary act: “Believe me, Your Excellency, it was the only way out…But we shall
shake him and flush him out. Conventional tactics will fail. Unorthodox measures …” (p.
27)

Illocutionary act: Commissive (Promising)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB): This excerpt is based on the unwavering

determination that some people have. That is, their willingness to do anything, and
everything (legal or illegal) to achieve their goals.

Intention: The intention of the speaker is to highlight how determined he and his cohorts
are to impeach the speaker of the house of assembly.

Expected Perlocutionary act: Persuading

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DATUM 16

Locutionary act: “we have a battle ahead of us, a long and difficult battle. We shall
attack on several fronts…” (p. 31)

Illocutionary act: Commissives (vows)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB): This excerpt is captured in the first person plural to
show that they are all in this together. It describes the theme of working together.

Intention: The intention of the speaker here is to describe the nature of battle they are
about to fight.

Expected Perlocutionary act: Motivation

DATUM 17

Locutionary act: “Smollet, you disappoint me. You have very badly disappointed me" (p.
67)

Illocutionary act: Expressive (Expressing disappointment)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB): This utterance by the president conveys a sense of
disappointment and displeasure. The addition of the adverbial clause of degree “very
badly” intensifies the degree of the disappointment that the president feels.

Intention: The intention of the writer is to show how disappointed the president is even
though Smollet has always been good.

Expected Perlocutionary act: Reproach.

DATUM 18

Locutionary act: “When I was with them we used to meet every day. You know it was
that pest Samuel that exposed me. Pestering, pestering, always pestering me. ‘I like your

44
dress. Your skin is fine. Let us go for dinner.’ I never gave the randy goat a chance!" (p.
83)

Illocutionary acts: Assertives and Expressive (Reporting and Insulting)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB): The mutual contextual belief here is that the speaker
and Samuel are previously close to the extent of him asking her out. However, when the
situation changes and they both move in different directions, her opinion of him suddenly
changes. This disdainful utterance by Lizzy shows that she and Sam were only friends
because of what they hope to gain from one another.

Intention: The intention of the writer here is to describe how Sam and Lizzy’s situation
has gone sour.

Expected Perlocutionary act: Disgust.

DATUM 19

Locutionary act: “The randypest. May AIDS catch him or may he catch AIDS" (p. 84)

Illocutionary act: Expressive (wishing)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB): Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a

chronic immune system disease caused by Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). So, by
cursing Sam to “catch” AIDS, it suggests that the speaker (Lizzy) really hates Sam. Also,
the speaker's curse is also a reflection of the stigma and discrimination that is often
associated with HIV/AIDS.

Intention: The intention of the speaker is to express her total disdain towards Sam. To
the extent that she would wish him to contract AID.

Expected Perlocutionary act: Insulting

DATUM 20

Locutionary act: “Then leave her. Is she the only woman in the world?” (p. 214)
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Illocutionary act: Directives (Advising)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB): By using rhetorical question, the speaker advises the
listener to end their relationship if they are not happy in it. This excerpt is predicated on
the popular saying that love is blind, and how this thing called love can make one blind to
the simple fact that there are women out there that will love you for who you are.

Intention: The intention of the speaker is to advise the listener about his options.

Expected Perlocutionary act: Persuasion

DATUM 21

Locutionary act: “In view of that, the Bill is hereby withdrawn from the chamber.” (p.
213)

Illocutionary act: Declarations.(Announcing)

Mutual contextual belief (MCB): Based on the context of the utterance, the proposed
bill has been found to be unpopular with the public thus causing it to be thrown out. This
helps to highlight the power of people and their opinions.

Intention: The intention of the speaker is to inform the hearer about the dissolution of the
bill.

Expected Perlocutionary act: Withdrawal

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 CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 INTERPRETATION OF THE STYLISTICS AND PRAGMATICS ANALYSIS

The analysis above shows the breakdown of the stylistic and pragmatic elements
employed in the text. The stylistic aspect of our study involves the linguistic and literary
styles that Wale Okediran employed to convey his message effectively. For instance, the
author shuffles between simple, compound, and complex sentences across the entire text.
This versatile sentence structure allows him to convey every piece of information in a
varied and engaging manner, catering to different reading preferences and comprehension
levels.

Also, there are instances where languages such as Hausa, Yoruba, Nigerian pidgin, and
Igbo are incorporated into the text. This strategy aids the author in immersing the reader
in the text's Nigerian setting, making the reader feel more connected and familiar with the
cultural and linguistic nuances of the narrative.

Some morphological processes, such as compounding and affixation, are also present in
the book. The author specifically employs them to enrich the language and enhance the
overall reading experience. Various literary devices, such as personification, alliteration,
repetition, irony, idioms, and more, were skillfully employed in the novel to enhance its
stylistic beauty and captivate the readers.

The pragmatics analysis (see Part 3.1) done on this text also shows that the text contains
all five speech acts that Searle (1999) describes (even though they all occur at varying
degrees across the text).

This is evident in some excerpts from the book where the speakers are committing
themselves to doing something in the future (commissives). For instance, the speaker of
the House of Assembly makes use of a commissive act to promise Sam that he will one

47
day become the speaker of the House of Assembly, as he has all the needed leadership
skills. Also, the party leader also makes use of this act to guarantee Sam that, despite the
ritual he is trying to avoid, he will end up doing it sometimes in the future.

Assertive, a speech act, is also a constant feature throughout the text. In the text extracts,
we can see how some characters make use of this act to express their position, report,
present information, and also praise something or someone. For example, Lizzy used this
act to justify her action for betraying her friend and speaker of the House of Assembly,
Yaya Bello.

From the excerpts, another speech act that is present in abundance is the expressive act.
Expressive acts involve statements of a speaker's emotional state. In the excerpts, the
politicians make use of the speech act to connect with their audience on a personal level,
insult other characters, lament, and express disappointment. The Directive Act is also
present in the excerpts to give orders, make requests, and give advice. For example,
Sam's friend used this act to advise him to leave the girl he is currently pursuing to have a
relationship with.

Lastly, since Tenant of the House is a political novel, most of the action happened in the
National House of Assembly; hence, a speech act that is peculiar to such settings is a
declarative speech act. The speaker of the house often makes use of this speech act to
either pass the bill or throw it out.

5.1 SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATION, AND CONCLUSION

The primary goal of this analysis has been to identify the speech acts and stylistic devices
present in Wale Okediran's "Tenants of the House" and to illustrate how they help in
shaping the meaning of words and phrases in the text. This comprehensive analysis
delves deep into the layers of meaning within the novel, shedding light on the diverse
communicative functions inherent in political discourse.

48
This project, which is 5 chapters long, starts with a brief introduction to what I will be
working on. I delve into the field of stylo-pragmatics and its relevance to the study of
language use in politics. In addition, there is a dedicated section in chapter one where I
craft a thoroughly comprehensive biography of the author of the text, Wale Okediran.
The remainder of chapter one encompasses both a summary of the novel and an
exploration of the significance of the stylistic and pragmatic analysis of the novel in
political discourses.

Most of Chapter 2 of this project is used to discuss and explain the key concepts in
stylistics and pragmatics, such as deixis, implicature, mutual contextual belief (MCB),
speech act (locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts), intention, context, styles,
and many more. The works of some pragmatics and stylistic scholars, such as Mey, J.,
Searle, Austin, J. L., Halliday, M. A. K., Babajide, O. A., Huang Yuang, and many more,
were used to accurately explain the key concepts to make them easier for readers to
understand. The reminder of chapter two contains a detailed description of Bach and
Harnish's theory of communication known as the “Inferential Model,” which focuses on
the process of making inferences from language use.

Chapter three of this project contains the stylistic analysis of the novel. Here, I analysed

the text at various levels, including graphological, morphological, lexical, literary,

narrative, etc. At the graphological level, I have identified the use of capital letters,

ellipsis, italicization, and various punctuation marks to emphasise certain words and

phrases. At the morphological level, I have analysed the use of prefixes and suffixes to

create new words. At the literary level, I have identified the use of various literary

devices such as metaphors, similes, personification, antithesis, repetition, etc. to create

49
vivid imagery and also add beauty to the text. At the lexical level, I have analysed the

various types and structures of sentences employed in the text to give it a distinctive taste.

At the pragmatic level, which takes the whole of Chapter 4, I have analysed selected text
from the novel based on the principles of mutual contextual belief (MCB), speech act
(locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts), and intention. Through my analysis,
I have identified how these elements contribute to the overall meaning of the text.

As I have said earlier in this project, this novel is 27 chapters long, and so, from a
stylistic and pragmatic perspective, there is still a lot of work to be done on this novel.
And so, future researchers that wish to do a stylistic or pragmatic analysis of this book
will have abundant data to work with. Additionally, further researchers may use this
project as a guide to analyse the stylistic and pragmatic elements in other forms of
literature, such as poetry or drama.

In conclusion, the analysis of "Tenants of the House" has provided valuable insights into
the text from a stylistic and pragmatic perspective. The analysis has revealed how various
elements such as graphology, morphology, lexicon, literature, MCBs, speech acts, and
intentions contribute to the overall meaning of the text. While there is still much work to
be done in terms of analysing this text and others like it from a stylistic and pragmatic
perspective, this work has laid an important foundation for future research.

50
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