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THE EPISTLE AS A MEDIUM OF COMMUNICATION: AN ANALYSIS OF ABUBAKAR GIMBA’S LETTERS TO MY CHILDREN AND MARIAMA BA’S SO LONG A LETTER

ABSTRACT

Communication is an act of exchanging information from one point to another; it is a very important activity of life. Humans and animals communicate in different ways and for different purposes. Communication could be either oral or written. However, the major concern of this work is the written form of communication .Written communication is the exchange of information through letters, e-mails, blog etc. There are different forms of written communication one of which is ‘the epistle’. Epistles are a means of delivering communication through the use of letters. An epistolary novel on the other hand is a novel written as a series of documents in the form of a letter. AbubakarGimba’sletters to MyChildren and Mariama Ba’s So Long a Letter are the selected texts for thisresearch work. Therefore, this work sets out to explore the works of these two great feminist writers who in their artistic efforts employed a unique style of writing ‘the epistolary’ in order to convey their message(s) to their readers.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Communication is a very important activity of life. Humans and animals communicate in different ways and for different reasons. Language is the primary but complex form of communication by which human beings are distinguished from other living things. Humans use language to achieve premediated goals to defend themselves to initiate and sustain interaction with one another. Language is not only used to communicate but also to do things and this is supported by Chomsky’s standard theory 1965 where he says “There’s little reason to believe that the primary use of language is to modify behavior or thought.”

Literature is the most effective tool for social criticism as well as a pool of strategies for moral uprightness that promotes literacy and cultures necessary for human and national development. Writers from time immemorial have accepted not just the creative license but responsibility and chosen various forms to play an active role in redirecting communities where they have gone wrong.

This research work sets out to explore the works of two great feminist writers who in their artistic efforts employed a unique style of writing ‘the epistolary’ in order to convey their messages to their readers.