Published Article

?M?

Ihe ?m?m? ? b?la met?tara ?d?mara b? nke n’ad?gh? mfe ileghara anya. Nke a b? maka na ogo ngh?ta ?r? ag?mag? b? nke gbasara aka n’?z? d?gas? iche iche. Nd? ihe am?mam? echichi kwenyere na ngh?ta e nyere otu ihe anagh? ad?gide ?d? ihe ?m?mu a b? nke nwere ike ikpughe anya mmad? n’ihe met?tara omenala, am?maechiche, nkwenye, isiokwu olu odee na ngalaba ag?mag? d?gas? iche iche. Nch?cha a lebara anya, na inyocha aka nka agwa ?d?mara n'iduaaz? Igbo b?, Mmad? ka a na-ar?a. Ebumnuche nch?cha a b? inyocha ka e si site na nkamma ?d?mara kp?p?ta agwa ?kw? na agwa nta nd? d? n’ak?k? a n’?z? d?gas? iche iche. Ebumnuche ?z? b? ?ch?p?ta ogo ngh?ta nwere ike ?d? n’agwa ?d?mara e ji r?? ?r? n’ag?mag?. E sitere n’?ba akw?kw? iduuazi Igbo bara ?ba n’oge ugbu a h?r? otu iduuazi igbo met?tara isiokwu a nke ?ma. E sitere na ng?ghar? na ng?mi h?ta ka iduuazi e jiri r?? ?r? si zip?ta njiatule zuru oke maka nch?cha a. Site na nch?cha a, a ch?p?tara na, iduuaz? Mmad? ka a na-ar?a jup?tara n’agwa ?d?mara. Agwa nd? a b? nd? zip?tagas?r? ogo ngh?ta ab??; ngh?ta nk?t? /nke nko n’elu na ngh?ta ?d?mara/ngh?ta miriemi. Ngh?ta nd? a so nye aka mee ka isiokwu na nd?nisioku d? n’ak?k? p?tawanye ihe. ?r? a na-at?nye aro ka gaa n’ihu mekwuoe nch?cha n'?d? isiokwu a b? nke met?tara nnyocha agwa n’?z? ?d?mara n'iduaaz? na ag?mag? Igbo nd? ?z?. Nke a ga-enye aka mewanye ka ihe ?m?m? as?s? Igbo na-eto, bawanye ma gaa n’ihu.

?kp?r?kp? okwu: ?d?mara, Iduuazi, Ag?mag? na Agwa

Akaeze, Chioma Magdaline, Medolu Agatha Obiageli,

Ezebube, Chinedu Chidiebere & Ugwuoke, Priscilla Ebere

Abstract

Studies in symbolism cannot be easily overlooked. This is because issues related to meaning remain complex. It has been observed that there is no definite meaning. In literary Studies also, studies at the level of meaning can be approached through different levels. A study that looks at symbolic characters in a literary work is capable of projecting the relationship between literature, semantics and culture etc. This study investigates the stylistic device of employing symbolic characters using an Igbo literary text, a novel titled; Mmad? ka a na-ar?a, to be précised. The main objective of the study is to explore the stylistic use of symbolic characters in the study text. The next is to investigate possible levels of understanding symbolic characters in a text and mostly for a deeper appreciation of such characters. Methodologically, the study adopts the qualitative research design. The data used was collected through print document observation. A number of Igbo literary texts were sourced and intensively read to fish out the particular text that is most suitable for the study. It is also through the intensive reading and re-reading of the selected text that the data suitable for the analyses was derived. The findings present the study text, Mmad? ka a na-ar?a, as richly composed of symbolic characters. This literary style is also seen to project two possible major levels of understanding a character in a literary text; the literal level and the symbolic level. It is seen that the symbolic level could be at the reader’s judgmental values. However, it is seen also that separating the literal understanding of the characters from the symbolic understanding is capable of projecting major themes in the work that may not be easily very obvious. Our recommendation is that more related studies in this dimension are encouraged using some other literary texts.

Key words: Symbolism, novel, Literature and Character