Iafa: A Journal of African Studies 8: 1 June 2016, 54-72 Grapological Foregrounding in unnuga University of London Abstract te way and manner tey exploit te paralinguistic resources of te language. Te malleability of te language exploitation is acieved troug te symbiotic relationsip between te language structure and language function. Employing te teory of foregrounding as analytical template, tis study discusses grapological patterning of s writers, as communicative tools. Te study contends tat te grapological tecniques ave pragmatic forces wic are stylistically contrived by te writers to capture readers' attention and interest wit a view to entertaining and informing tem. Te paper concludes tat te tecniques are products of intention. Keywords: Grapology; Newspapers; Stylistics; Foregrounding. PD. Language Centre SOAS, University of London, UK. Pone: +44 744 047 7442; E-mail: to16@soas.ac.uk or tolaosunnuga@yaoo.co.uk
55 Grapological Foregrounding... 1. Introduction Among te o s writers is to present a mass audience of different educational levels and interests wit news items in simple, easy-to-understand, language. Largely due to te competition among te newspapers to attract readers, several eadlines are splased on te front page. Tis pressure, coupled wit limitation of space on te front page, compels writers to compress teir information wile still making it clear, interesting and sustaining. Te lack of space and te need to be compact, clear and sustaining require tat te grapological design of eadlines, paragraps and sentences follow a peculiar arrangement to acieve directness and vividness of language. More so, te writers are muc aware tat readers focus on te eadlines on a page and te few m m s' interest to look at te first paragrap. If te first paragrap interests te readers, tey go on to read te entire news story. To acieve te goals of entertainment and info m m m m are and ọ ọ and ọ Precisely, te following elicitation steps were taken: te researcer collected and sorted te newspapers tat ave circulation range between 2,000 and 20,000, and were on newsstands m - m un and y. After te collection of te newspapers, te researcer read every section of te newspapers namely te news items, features, columns, editorials and advertisements. Tereafter, te data were sifted, and tose tat focus on te
ọ unnuga 56 study's objectives were compiled. Te data utilised in tis study are from te wole gamut of te newspapers. Tat is, tey were taken from te editorial, news reports, features, correspondences, sports and advertisements. Having got enoug data, te researcer applied te principles of te te m m m isolated and discussed. Te torougness of te analysis results in most of te positions and claims made in tis paper. Toug te newspapers are written in Yoruba, te excerpts were translated into Englis. It is wort to mention tat te data are reproduced in tis work as tey appeared in te newspapers; tat is, tere are no modifications watsoever to te language and style of te newspapers. As important as autosegmental features are in Yoruba, being a tonal language, tis paper does not attempt to reflect tem were tey are not reflected in te data. However, te translations are written to conform to Englis ortograpy. For example, te translations of te eadlines in flus left, centred form, inverted pyramid and over line kickers are written in straigt lines. 2. Tere is no argument against te fact of ọ being te first newspaper in Nigeria. According to Adebajo (1991), te ọ set te objective clearly wen its founder and editor, Henry Townsend writes: first number is out. I am writing te second. My object is to get te people to read; i.e. to
57 Grapological Foregrounding... beget te abit of seeking for information by reading. (p. 34) m m m m time wen a large number ad not cultivated te practices of reading and writing; wen Britis colonialists foisted teir language and culture on te people against teir collective wis. From te newspapers ave grown and are m - 1859 and 2015 (Osunnuga 2015, p. 90). It is worty to note te concentration in 1999 and 2000 wen 10 and 8 newspapers were establised respectively. Te reason wy 18 m m m te Englis newspapers. Tose two years (1999 and 2000) were remarkable in te istory of Nigeria because te nascent democratic government was firming up at te time. 3. Foregrounding and Grapology Te concept of foregrounding as its roots in Russian Formalism. According to te scolars of Russian Formalism at te beginning of te 20t century, te target of literary studies is "literariness" wic lies in te special use of language witin a literary work. Liseng (2006) claims tat "Defamiliarization or making strange is te device by wic literary language differs from everyday language'' (p. 23). Sklovsky (1965), a major speaker of te Russian Formalism olds te view tat in daily life we are so accustomed to tings around us tat we cannot feel or even would not pay attention to teir unique quality. Terefore, our feeling towards tese tings, including language,
ọ unnuga 58 becomes automatic. Te purpose of art and literature is ten to make people realise te world in a fres way, to defamiliarise te familiar, and by defamiliarising a work of art or a text we make it stand out from te norm it becomes foregrounded. Sklovsky (1965) posits tat: Art exists tat one may recover te sensation of life; it exists to make one feel tings, to make te stone stony. Te purpose of art is to impart te sensation of tings as tey are perceived and not as tey are known. Te tecnique of art is to make objects "unfamiliar", to make forms difficult, to increase te difficulty and lengt of perception because te process of perception is an aestetic end in itself and must be prolonged (p. 20). "Defamiliarization" and "deautomatization" as put forward by Sklovsky (1965) were widely ailed by formalists at tat time, and te focus of literary studies at tat period was mainly on form rater tan content. One of te drawbacks of Russian Formalists' analysis is tat tey focus on te formal literary devices in isolation. Despite te sortcomings, Sklovsky's "defamiliarization" teory lies at te root of te teory of foregrounding. Meanwile, in ligt of te weak points of "defamiliarization" teory, critics ten started to study te interrelationsips among various elements of literature, and te trend towards structuralism came into te fore. Te teory of foregrounding concentrates on te disruption of everyday communication and enables literary and non-literary texts to present new understanding and meanings wrapped in complexity and sometimes in an intricacy, wic
59 Grapological Foregrounding... does not occur in ordinary language. Consequently, foregrounding is a teory of language, wic consists of analytical tools tat are employed to evaluate texts and sow teir linguistic, literary, istorical and cultural significance based on breaking rules and norms of language by implementing devices of deviation and parallelism wit a view to yielding aestetics. Furtermore, foregrounding refers to any attentioncatcing device in a text, wic makes parts of te text to stand out witin a specific context. In oter words, foregrounding is te aestetically intentional distortion of te linguistic components of a text. Terefore, te normal language patterning is te background wile any deviation from te normal language patterning is te foreground because suc deviation brings te message to te forecourt of te reader's attention (Yankson 1987:3). On te oter and, grapology relates to eiter grapical or ortograpical features of a text. Suc features include paragraping, italicization, punctuation, arrangement of eadlines and sub-titles, etc. Tese elements relate exclusively to te visual dimension of language use. Tese elements are manipulated by te writers to capture specific grapic senses in te text wic ultimately guide te reader's sense of compreension and interpretation. 3.1. Grapology as Tecnique Grapological tecnique is an element of foregrounding wic relates to deliberate selection of linguistic elements tat are made to stand out. Apart from striking lexical items m m m newspaper and look at its front page, we are attracted by te mastead or nameplate presented in Gotic style, a eavy-face type of printing wit tick, pointed letters wit variation in size and sape. Often, tere are many eadlines on te front page wit an average of eigt. Te
ọ unnuga 60 eadlines also ave a variety of sizes and sapes. Tey appear in different colours. Potos are generously used on te front page. All tese are used to catc te reader's eye and rivet is attention on wat is most important and yet most attractive and easy to read. Troug measurement, it is discovered tat some eadlines are printed in 16.5 mm ig, eavy, and in lower case roman letters. Some eadlines are sort wile some are long covering eiter one or two to tree lines wic is called as 'flus left' or a ead tat flus to te left margin witout considering te margin on te rigt. For example: (1) Funkẹ Akindele W waala Lori fiimu 'Ipadab Jẹ ' ( 2012, Marc 12, p. 1) Funke Akindele in trouble because of te film titled 'Jenifer's Return'. Te above eadline exemplifies a culture of reading and writing because we learn to read from left to rigt and from top to bottom of te page, an art m te Western education imposed on tem by te Britis imperialists. newspaper writers are aware of tis and places important news story at te top left and corner of te newspapers. A eadline could also be in drop form; tat is, a eadline occupying several lines wit te end lines indented, eac furter inwards from left margin as could be seen in te next eadlined written in lower case: (2) L'Eko Kansẹl t w b aw n
61 Grapological Foregrounding... onidanfo lẹnu (, 2004, November 17, p. 1) In Lagos, councillor irks commercial bus drivers Some eadlines are in inverted pyramid form. Tis appens wen a eadline occupies several lines in wic te top line is te longest, and te oter lines are sortened in proper order so tat it looks similar to an inverted pyramid. Te inverted pyramid can be traced to te American civil war. Due to te fear tat telegrap migt break down before teir transmission is complete, correspondents put te most important information in te first paragrap. Tereafter, tey present te supporting facts in a descending order based on te value of te news. Examples of an inverted pyramid eadline include: (3) Jonatan bura lati fi aw n to pa aw n oyinbo ak ẹm ẹ fin (, 2012, Marc 3, p. 1) Jonatan vows to prosecute tose wo killed expatriates in Sokoto. (4) Gomina Alao-Akala e ikil fun aw n alaga ij ba ibilẹ titun (, 2007, December, p. 12) Governor Alao-Akala warns new Council cairmen.
ọ unnuga 62 A also be in a centre form; tat is, a eadline occupying several lines tat are placed in te middle of respective lines as in te following examples: (5) l paa mu Ṣẹgun Adisa ataw n m ẹ Gbenga Adeboye (, 2004, November 18, p. 4) Police arrest Segun Adisa and Gbenga Adeboye's staff (6) Asasi m PDP (, 2004, December 21-2, p. 1) PDP is jinxed. newspaper writers is te over-line or kicker. Over-line or kicker is usually a sort prase set above te eadline. In most cases, it is set in a smaller use tis style to form a visual signpost tat elps readers assess a story or report before committing to reading te wole piece. Beyond te assessment function, writers use kicker to afford te readers a small int as to wat e/se is to expect in te report. It is usually only a word or prase in lengt. Examples are: (7) Ij ba apap nlu aago lori ile Jerry Useni (, 2000, April 17-23, p. 6) Federal government auction Jerry Useni's ouse.
63 Grapological Foregrounding... (8) Alaga Kansu ati igbakeji rẹ pẹẹta (, 2001, October 17, p. 7) Council boss and is Vice in a brawl From examples (7 & 8), te kickers are te noun prases ọ ọ and. Tese are called simple noun prases tat do not require uge mental processing from te readers to visually compreend wat te story could centre on. Te use of kickers in eadlines aids quick processing of information. However, te writers did not stop at using te two-word noun prases as te kicker; tey went aead to provide riders. m m m, giving more information about wat sort of Cairperson te eadline refers to. Te essence of te riders is to clear any sort of ambiguity because a reader wo does not understand te subject matter migt not fully understand te noun prase alone. Sometimes, subead, a usually smaller ead under te main ead is used. Te subead uses more words but still relates to te caption. Examples include: (9) Waala Amẹrika Ija bẹrẹ nilẹ Larubawa (, 2001, October 9, p. 1) America's crisis, figts erupt in Middle East. (10) Ija rẹpẹtẹ ni i Josua ati Okotie k ju ija sira w n (, 2001, November 8, p. 1) Intrigues in Curc Josua and Okotie figt eac oter. (11) Ogun amokole
ọ unnuga 64 gbe O ere tiata de sibitu Use of Viagra lands teatre practitioner in ospital. (, 2004, December 21-27, p. 1) Te subead gives more information about te article and does not just repeat wat te eadline says. Togeter wit te eadline, te subeads in (9-11) answer question suc as wy; tus bridging a gap and reducing te cances of misconstruing te eadlines. s sometimes use jump ead, wic is a eadline tat is continued on oter pages suc as: (12) Ominra Naijiria Aw n Agba Ti Ko Ṣee Gbagbe (p.13) (, 1999,October 4-31, pp. 12-13) Nigeria's independence and Te unforgettable eroes Tis tecnique is deliberate and purposely used to compel te readers to read te story to te end. It is used wen news reports are lengty. Te varieties of tecniques adopted b newspaper writers to cast eadlines are primarily meant for eyecatcing and easier-to-read effect. Using variety of eadlines wit different colours entices te readers and presents tem wit coices of stories and reports from wic to coose. writers use for eye-catcing and easier to read effect is te way in wic a news story is spilt into smaller units. Tis involves te use of subeadings, very sort paragraps (sometimes onesentence paragraps of a few lines eac). In a news story titled:
65 Grapological Foregrounding... (13a) BI DU DUR D P tu a ẹ 'o ni b DUR D P ki ẹ mi ni' (, 2012, Marc 5, p. 10) Duro Ladipo's wife, Biodun reveals ow se made Duro Ladipo famous. Te news story consists of four subeadings and twenty-four paragraps. Te subeadings are: B m ẹ ẹ (How I started) ẹ m e (Te career I wanted) B m m D (How I met Duro Ladipo) Oun to mu m ẹ D (Wy I agreed to marry Duro Ladipo Te news story about Duro Ladipo consists of twenty-four paragraps, and tey vary in lengt as sown in Table I. Table I No. of Paragraps No. of sentences 1 4 1 5 1 7 2 1 3 3 16 2 Total 24 59
ọ unnuga 66 Table I sows ow te entire story is divided into paragraps and ow many sentences are contained in eac of te paragraps. Splitting news story into smaller units under several subeadings is used wen te news story is quite long and tere is possibility of te reader getting bored. To avoid boredom and lack of interest, te writer devices a tecnique of splitting to guide and direct te reader to specific information tat will sustain te reader's interest. In suc a situation, te reader migt cose to skip and quickly jump to any subeading tat strikes im te most or e is anxious to read. In te above example (13a), and several oters tat we examined, it is discovered tat wen a wole paragrap is made up of a sentence, te writer wants reader to pay more tan usual attention to te paragrap because it contains information central to te news story. From (13a), te 13t paragrap goes tus: (13b) emi gan- ẹẹ to m m ẹ m ẹ ẹ m m m a n ẹ Truly, it wasn't as if I ad interest in teatre or I wanted to make it a career but te love I ad for music prompted me to watc te plays. (, 2012, Marc 5, p. 10) Te one-sentence paragrap contains te key information tat te entire story revolves around because te news story discusses ow an B D Lád, took to acting at a time wen everyone wanted a wite-collar job in Nigeria. Tis tactic/tecnique m
67 Grapological Foregrounding... aids easy reading, compreension and 'fast-forwarding' reading to any part of te story as desired by te reader. Furtermore, it is mm frequently used for direct or indirect quotation as exemplified in te next excerpt taken from a news story about inefficiency and arbitrary carges of te National Electric Power Autority (NEPA) wic incured people's wrat to te extent of consumers placing curses on te staff of NEPA. Te writer assumes tat tese curses ave impact on te performance and service delivery of te organisation. Tus, we read: (14a) Looot, nigba ti eeyan ba n e aisan ti a ko adura fun, ti o jẹ epe ni t m de-tagba n e le aisan naa, na ti yoo fi san da? idi ree o ti mo fi s pe 'nigba ti epe ba ti pap ju, alaisan ko ni san'. Bẹẹ bi alaisan ko ba san, ki lo maa gbẹyin?. (, 2005, February 14-20, p. 3) Honestly, if someone is sick and we keep placing curse on im instead of praying for is recovery, ow will e get well? Tat is wy I said 'were a sick person is always cursed e would not recover. And if e does not recover wat will eventually appen to im? Te use of inverted comma as in te above example is employed to spotligt te clause san' for particular attention of te reader. Te writer wants te reader to know tat, beyond a typical organization's tecnical indrances, NEPA as actually not been performing to
ọ unnuga 68 expectation because of frequent curses people placed on te organization. Te writer infers and wants is readers to sare same tougt because bot te writer and te m Te believe tat wen curses are placed on an individual or organisation, tey ave negative effects and make te targeted individuals miserable. Te writer ten implores te public to desist from cursing NEPA and spotligts wat needs to be done by using inverted comma as in: (14b) Ṣugb n ẹbẹ ti mo fẹ bẹ ẹyin eeyan ni pe, 'ẹ ma epe fun NEPA m lati oni l, adura ni ki ẹ jẹ ki a maa gba fun w n'. Bi a ba n gbadura fun NEPA daju-daju aisan ara w n a kuro... mo bẹ yin loruk Olodumare ba alaaanu, ẹ ma epe fun NEPA m adura lo yẹ ki a maa gba fun w n. (, 2005, February 14-20, p. 3) But I plead wit you 'not to curse NEPA again as from today, let's pray for tem'. If we keep praying for NEPA, certainly teir sickness will eal up... I plead wit you in te name of merciful God to stop cursing NEPA instead we sould be praying for tem Again, to buttress and reinforce is message, te writer forms an acrostic wit te acronym NEPA. Acrostic is series of line were first letters in eac line form a word or name wen read in sequence. It is a popular form of entertainment tat serves as a memory enancing device as well as a type of verbal play as sown in (14c).
69 Grapological Foregrounding... (14c) Nigba ti Epe ba ti Pap ju Alaisan ko ni san ( ọ, 2005, February 14-20, p. 3) Te tecnique is contrived in te above example to forcefully drive a message into te memory of te readers in order to stem te tide of cursing NEPA. In (14a-c), te writer uses two mm is intention. Tus, te writer foregrounds te elements of te text tat e wants readers to focus on because tose elements are central to understanding te text. Te expressions in inverted comma in (14a and 14b) are te motivated prominence because tey are related to te subject matter or te teme of a text. Tis armonises wit Halliday (1973) wo asserts tat a feature tat is brougt into prominence will be "foregrounded" only if it relates to te meaning of te text as a wole. Sometimes, te writers igligt te major caracter of a report and motivate te caracter into prominence by emboldening some constituents in a text. For example: (15) O yẹ ki ẹ ti gb kẹ, ani w n ni o rẹ Aarẹ ologun ana, iyẹn Ibraim Babangida, wa ninu aisan bayii w n ti gbe kunrin ẹlẹrin eyẹ un l si sibitu kan ni orilẹ ede Germany nibi ti o l gba it ju... (, 2011, November 20, p. 12) You sould ave eard tat former Military President, tat is, te ever-smiling Ibraim
Babangida is sick and as been taken to a ospital in Germany to receive treatment. ọ unnuga 70 Te igligted words are deliberately motivated into prominence and used as attention-getters. Te writer sifts te attention of te reader to a few words in te body of te paragrap by employing extra bold prints to igligt te unconventional title ẹ wic Ibraim Babangida adopted for imself against te traditional title Head of State tat most military rulers use wen tey seize power troug coups. It is interesting to note te creativity of te grapological device used ere. Wile te writer does not want to support te title (wic e does by inserting ), e still igligts it and te names suc tat if tey are brougt togeter, it will read ' ẹ Ibraim Babangida'. Te foregrounding of te title and names is unique and semantically significant because te reader will naturally pay attention to te words inserted between ẹ and Ibraim Babangida. In te process of paying attention to te words, te reader will begin to impute meaning into te sentence and will eventually come to conclusion tat te title ẹ (president) is a mismatc witin te context of a military regime. 4. Conclusion Tis study as attempted a lucid stylistic analysis of a few grapemic resources contrived by s writers in teir attempt to acieve aestetics and information dissemination. It copiously demonstrated tat grapological tecniques play essential role in communicating te message of a particular text because suc tecniques allow te writers to bring into prominence parts of a text tat are crucially important to its overall meaning. Te study also igligted m
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