A PRAGMA – SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF GRAFFITI OF KADUNA POLYTECHNIC STUDENTS
A PRAGMA – SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF GRAFFITI OF KADUNA POLYTECHNIC STUDENTS
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Date
2010-11
Authors
ACHI, PATRICIA SARAH
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Abstract
This work is a pragma-semiotic analysis of graffiti of Kaduna
Polytechnic students. Graffiti refer to the crude inscriptions or
drawings which can be found on the doors and walls of public places.
In this paper, an attempt is made to understand the signification
systems involved in students’ graffiti, hence the employment of
elements of pragmatics and semiotics necessary for the interpretation
of the various meanings and their effect on the decoders. The fact
that there is fluidity of pragmatics in semiotics and the effect of this is
the prompt interpretation of symbols and reaction to the systems of
signs. The pragma-semiotic theory therefore, investigates the totality
of signification systems, linguistic (verbal) and non-linguistic (pictorial,
colour, image etc). The findings from this study concludes that
students graffiti are meant to inform the decoder, affect his/her
opinions by persuading him/her towards a particular point of view,
influence and orient him/her morally towards more beneficial and
positive goals, warn about impending danger, and generally integrate
everyone for mass participation in the desired and altruistic
regeneration of development efforts. Most importantly, student’ graffiti
are found to be verdictives, exersitives, commissives, behavitives and
expositives which account for the perlocutionary effect on the
decoder. The study arrived at such findings by integrating Austin,
Searle and Adegbija’s theory of speech acts and Peirce’s theory of
‘semeiois’.
Description
BEING A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
AWARD OF THE MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE IN
ENGLISH LANGUAGE, IN THE DEPARTMENT OF
ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES,
FACULTY OF ARTS,
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA.
Keywords
PRAGMA – SEMIOTIC,, ANALYSIS,, GRAFFITI,, KADUNA,, POLYTECHNIC,, STUDENTS,