Abstract
Stylistics
is a bridge between linguistics and literary criticism, in that it argues that
interpretation should be based on textual evidence. Graphological patterning,
which is usually dismissed as a visual decoration, is a potent site of
deliberate deviation through manipulating punctuation, capitalization, and
typography. The paper discusses "Oriki of an axe" and "Another
parable, apata, the rock", two grapho-foregrounded poems from
Oloruntoba-Oju's Losses, to establish how visual disruption can be used as a
means of satire and socio-political commentary. The poems were purposively
selected because of their prominent use of unconventional punctuation,
capitalisation, spacing and typography, as well as their complementary
treatment of government (military) coercion and civic apathy in Nigeria.
Adopting Jaafar and Hassoon's (2018) three-level model of pedagogical stylistic
analysis, the study investigates the poems at the formal, intertextual, and
socio-cultural levels. Analysis suggests that graphological deviations are
found to be systematically related to thematic issues. The use of fragmented
indentation and unusual capitalization were further revealed as some of the
features that enhance satire and reader interpretation in the context of
Nigerian military history. The study concludes that pedagogical stylistics is
still sine qua non in the development of critical literacy and a text-sensitive
approach to literary experience.
Keywords: Pedagogical stylistics,
foregrounding, deviation, graphology, Nigeria
DOI: 10.36349/sojolics.2026.v02i02.034
author/Habeebullahi Muhammed Yunusa
journal/Sokoto JOLICS 2(2) | August 2026 |
