Aspects of graphology in the construction of selected Kiswahili children’s novels

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Eliud Musotsi
Frida Miruka
Benard Okal

Abstract

Graphology has today dominated children’s literature making it look like an amorphous and an ambiguous creature with its relationship to its audience. Children lack the required knowledge and skills to associate meaning to the stylistic devices in use. This, however, means that children’s literature has undergone a series of transformations and it appears that in the process of its transformations, it has been affected and it has equally affected its representation as well as the socialization of children as manifested in five (5) purposively selected Kiswahili children’s novels of Nyumba ya Sungura (2012), Hadithi ya Mamba (2009), Harusi ya Mwanasungura (2006), Usicheze na Moto (2003) and Dani na Wezi wa Toyota (2015).This is so because a keen look at the five (5) literary texts confirms a lot of graphological dominance which has presented an avenue for debates and radical shifts in the scholarship in the discipline of children’s literature. With Leech & Short’s (1981) Stylistics and Rosenblatt’s (1939) Readers Response theories Rosenblatt (1939), this paper attempted to highlight and re-examine some of the graphological aspects used in the construction of children’s literature with a focus on selected novels and how those graphological features impact on the readers. It established that graphological aspects enhance thematic foregrounding in children’s literature besides giving those texts some aesthetic appeal resulting into ideal comprehension.

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How to Cite
Musotsi, E., Miruka, F., & Okal, B. (2021). Aspects of graphology in the construction of selected Kiswahili children’s novels. Research Journal in Modern Languages and Literatures, 2(2), 104-113. https://royalliteglobal.com/languages-and-literatures/article/view/591
Section
Articles
Author Biographies

Frida Miruka, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kenya

Dr. Frida Miruka is a lecturer at the department of Language and Literature Education at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kenya. She has a speciality in Kiswahili studies. Her research interests include Kiswahili linguistics, Literature and communication

Benard Okal, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kenya

Dr. Benard Okal is a lecturer at the department of Kiswahili and other African Languages at Maseno University, Kenya. His research interest cut across   Language, Linguistics and Litrature

How to Cite

Musotsi, E., Miruka, F., & Okal, B. (2021). Aspects of graphology in the construction of selected Kiswahili children’s novels. Research Journal in Modern Languages and Literatures, 2(2), 104-113. https://royalliteglobal.com/languages-and-literatures/article/view/591

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