THEMATIC STRUCTURE AND FOREGROUNDING IN SELECTED EXTRACTS FROM ADETUNJI OGUNDIMU’S A SILLY SEASON

Abstract

The metafunctional approach developed by Systemic Functional Linguistics is a theory commonly used for the analysis of texts. The importance of this linguistic tool is that it helps to find out how language functions and is used in a cultural and situational context. This paper focused on an aspect of textual meaning, which is realized through Theme patterns. It attempted to analyze the language of Adetunji Ogundimu’s A Silly Season. The findings revealed that there is a predominance of topical unmarked and textual Themes in the selected excerpts of the novel under study. In addition, other Theme-types such as topical marked, interpersonal Themes and marked dependent clauses are foregrounded to point out some prominent features of these passages of the literary artifact. The work concluded that these foregrounded elements, that is, some thematic features which emphasize the meanings expressed in the selected extracts, also contribute to the understanding of the novel