Language as Power: Gabriel Okara's The Voice as a Paradigm

Abstract

Briefly discussed are the nature & mode of expression of power as a prelude to stressing the importance of contexts when considering lang - with Eng as the primary focus - as power. That the sense of power varies from culture to culture has implications for the study of how Eng is used in the non-AS nations, particularly in connection with the status of Eng & the new literatures in Eng that have emerged. Representative attitudes to its use as a literary medium are noted & discussed through a selective analysis of Gabriel Okara's The Voice, (London: Heinemann, 1975). Because his approach was systematic, broadly comprehensive, & sustained, Okara explores a variety of possible directions of nativization of creative purposes. Moreover, it is undertaken within the larger intention of how the decolonization of Eng is to reflect the character of a particular society whose shape & ethos are both distinctive & new to the creative reach of Eng. HA.