“They called us whores, yet they came to us.” – language and patriarchal ideology in Adimora-Ezeigbo’s <i>trafficked</i>

Abstract

Extant studies on literary texts have indicated the interconnection between language and the construction of ideology. In furtherance of this perspective, this article examines the relation between linguistic choices and the construction of ideology. Specifically, this study investigates the juncture between code-switching and patriarchal ideology construction in Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo‟s novel, Trafficked. In order to tease out the relation between language use and patriarchal ideology construction, the study draws analytical insights from critical discourse analysis and feminist linguistics. Adimora-Ezeigbo‟s, Trafficked is purposively sampled for analysis in this study because it textually accounts for how language is deployed for patriarchal ideology construction. Published in 2008, in 2009 Trafficked received honourable mention as runner-up for the ANA/NDDC Flora Nwapa prize for women. The study reveals that discourse participants deploy language to perform the following forms of patriarchal ideologies: enslavement and messianic. Beyond that, the study reveals that language shapes ideology and ideological sentiments in turn shape the way people use language.