مجلة الواحات للبحوث و الدراسات
Volume 16, Numéro 1, Pages 791-812
2023-06-07

Self In The Postcolonial Novel: A Cognitive Stylistic Analysis Of Chika Unigwe’s On Black Sisters’ Street

Authors : Bessadat Aicha Imane . Abdelhakem Slimane . Korichi Souhila .

Abstract

The exploration of “self” in literature currently faces a significant methodological gap. It is well-established that using cognitive linguistic theory is more rigorous than abstract philosophical negotiations of the “self”. Since cognitive linguistic theories grant an understanding of types of communication and cognitive processes, stylisticians are trying to benefit from useful frameworks from this interdisciplinary field to analyze literary texts. This study aims to demonstrate how Cognitive Linguistic theory can handle and give a comprehensive image to “split-self” phenomena found in narrative texts referring to a postcolonial fictional narrative: Chika Unigwe's On Black Sister's Street. Specifically, the researchers investigate how characters’ selves oscillate between polar modes of self in a narrative which in turn reflects the sense of fragmentation of identity in postcolonial society. They draw on Lakoff’s (1992, 1996) works on the ‘self’ metaphor and the division of subject-self. The analysis reveals that the author projects the traumatic experiences of characters through using split-self metaphors which proves the utility of Cognitive Linguistics in providing important techniques that assist in understanding latent themes in literary texts.

Keywords

Cognitive Linguistics ; Split-Self Metaphor ; Subject ; Self