LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 17:12 December 2017
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
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         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
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         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
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         Dr. S. Chelliah, Ph.D.
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Expressing Grief through Institutional Tributes:
An Appraisal Theory Approach

Napoleon Amoah Yeboah, B.Ed. (ARTS), (M.Phil.)

Abstract

Death is seen as a universal phenomenon in which man’s failure to come to terms with has been pervasive in different times and societies. When death stares at the face of someone, language users try to soften the effect of what they really want to communicate (Fernandez, 2006). The main aim of the present study is to analyse tributes of some private and public institutions in Ghana, paid to the late Professor John Evans Atta-Mills, a former president of the Republic of Ghana, in terms of the linguistic features employed in construing grief. Using the Appraisal strand of the Systemic Functional Linguistics (henceforth, SFL), the study examined thirty (30) tributes, fifteen (15) each from both private and public institutions that were published in two Ghanaian Newspapers – Daily Graphic and Ghanaian Times. The study revealed that the opening information of these tributes of almost all the public institutions chose to acknowledge sorrow, sadness and grief as the overarching topic around which the text unfolds. These sentiments are predominantly revealed in the choice of negative affect employed in the opening comments given by these institutions. Again, from the analyzed tributes, the expression of sadness and grief in the comments given are directed to the wife, son, the political party the late president belonged to, the vice president as well as the people of Ghana. The present study has implications for Systemic Functional Linguistics in general.

Keywords: Death, tributes, appraisal, Ghana, Systemic Functional Linguistics

Introduction

Most scholars share the view that fear, superstition, and religious taboos coexist with different limitations of social nature to limit speakers to bring out issues of tact and respect towards the deceased and the surviving family members (Fernandez, 2006). Thus, the bond between the living and the dead, the desire to offer respect and honour to the deceased, and the trepidation that surround the unknown shape how the bereaved make frantic efforts to choose their words appropriately. Thus, in their bid to fill the vacuum created by the death of the loved one, and maintain a strong relationship with the deceased, mourners of the dead find it difficult to choose the appropriate language to express their sorrow and pain. Moreover, the Akans (the largest ethnic group in Ghana) believe that when death occurs, mourning is seen as an inevitable and universal human reaction to explain how grievous they are to the loss of someone who is loved and very much appreciated. In such circumstances of shock and dismay, grieving forms an attempt to recover the meaning that is suddenly and unexpectedly shattered by the loss. Therefore, the distress and pain for the loss of a loved one leaves the mourners in a situation of dilemma as to what to do or the kind of language to use. When a Black Tuesday befell the people of Ghana on 24th July, 2012, following the death of Professor J. E. A. Mills (the president of the country), people as well as institutions turned to the media to express their emotions, grief and sorrow. The death of a loved one, in the case of Ghanaians, the death of a sitting president, is one scenario in which people shared their feelings in an effort to mourn him. Individuals and various organizations in the country were not left out as they conveyed their deepest shock through goodwill messages, condolence and tributes paid to a man touted as ‘Asomdwoehene’ (translated as ‘King of Peace’). Amid the kind of cordial rapport that existed between the late president and the various institutions, his (president) demise really brought a disconnection in the agenda set to building the country. In effect, language used in the tributes of these institutions for conveying their emotions and sentiments forms part of the discourse that becomes shared in the society as a community of practice (Edu-Buandoh, 2010). Every social organization has its peculiar use of language in discourse patterns and discursive practices that fully represent the ideas, intentions, feelings and experiences of every individual in the organization.

Several studies have been conducted in other funeral text types like death announcement in newspapers (Afful, 2012) and condolences (Dilevko & Gottlib, 2004; Yahya, 2010,). However, little attention has been paid to examining tribute as a funeral text type that is published in the newspapers, using Systematic Functional Linguistics (SFL). The study, thus, aims to explore the appraisal devices employed in published tributes of institutions in some selected Ghanaian newspapers to bring out the sentiments of the people of Ghana, following the demise of the President of the Republic of Ghana, Professor John Evan Atta Mills.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Napoleon Amoah Yeboah, B.Ed. (ARTS), (MPhil)
Abetifi College of Education
P. O. BOX 16
Kwahu-Abetifi
Ghana
napoyeb1@gmail.com

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