Appropriation And Abrogation: A Study Of The Language Strategies In Anthills Of The Savannah From A Postcolonial Perspective

Anthills of the Savannah is the fifth,and the last,novel in Chinua Achebe’s writing career.It was selected in the final list of the Booker Prize and it is also one of the most important African novels.With a sorrowful tone,Achebe describes the process of the struggle between democracy and centralization,and the novel can be regarded as the most mature work of Achebe in writing skills.Anthills of Savannah imagines a West African country called Kangan,which is ruled by a dictator.Through detailed descriptions of three educated youths’ enthusiastic pursuit of African modernization,and a story finally ended in tragedy,Anthills of the Savannah conveys a kind of African voice that challenges the European central discourse.Anthills of the Savannah has attracted great attention not only from Africa,but from all over the world.There are abundant studies of Anthills of the Savannah from various perspectives,including post-colonial criticism,feminism,narrative strategy,etc.But there is not any article which talks about Anthills of the Savannah from a linguistic perspective.This thesis intends to analyze the language strategies of the novel.It will focus on the efforts of the author to oppose cultural hegemony in the English language.In addition,by analyzing the role language plays in critiquing of cultural hegemony,the thesis makes a further confirmation that the challenge from the marginality is gathering momentum and has become a new power to change the world.This thesis falls into five chapters.The first chapter introduces Chinua Achebe and his novel Anthills of the Savannah.The second chapter contains a review of the international studies,domestic studies,the purpose and the significance of the study.The third chapter introduces post-colonial theory,post-colonial literary theory and some other relevant important concepts in brief.Chapter Four is the most significant part,which mainly consists of three sections.The first section discusses the interplay of colonial people’s language and their identities.The second section talks about the four ways of rejecting imperial languages.The last section discusses the relationships between marginality and creativity,and Achebe’s positive description of Africa,and critique of cultural hegemony.The last chapter reiterates the language strategies in Anthills of the Savannah.