VOCALISING FAITH AND IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION IN GOSPEL MARKETING TEXT: A PRAGMA-DISCURSIVE STUDY OF CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS STICKERS IN NIGERIA
Keywords:
Gospel advertisement, Beliefs, Stickers, Identity brandingAbstract
This study examines how Christian religious stickers are used to perform a range of communicative and socio-religious functions in Nigeria. Situated within the framework of Transcendental Discourse Analysis (TDA) (Opeibi, 2018), the study views language use in religious domain as a social enterprise creatively constructed to execute socio-religious objectives. The theoretical framework utilises principles from semiotics and pragmatics [multimodal discursive approach- O’Halloran (2011)] based on the inter-mix of text and images for meaning negotiation. The data set used for analysis was extracted from a self-collected corpus (Transcendental Christian Religious Corpus-TCRC), consisting of end-users Christian religious stickers and messages elicited from public and private spaces (e.g. doors of living/bedrooms, private vehicles, Bible covers, handbags, laptops of some residents) in South West Nigeria. Using content analysis based on approaches in discourse analysis, semiotics and pragmatics, we demonstrate how the producers of the stickers apply a range of communicative strategies to convey socio-discursive meaning and pragmatic functions. The findings show increase usage and proliferation of these religious marketing strategy for identity construction, denominational branding, membership recruitment, faith-professing and confidence-building rhetoric as well as general gospel advertisement. It thus highlights the linguistic, pragmatic and socio-discursive significance of this new trend of professing and confessing beliefs and faith among modern Pentecostal Christians in Nigeria.
References
Acheoah, John Emike and Abdulraheem, Hamzah (2015) Style in Christian and Islamic Sermons: A Linguistic Analysis. American Research Journal of English and Literature. Vol 1, Issue 1, 23-31. Available at https://www.arjonline.org/papers/arjel/v1-i1/5.pdf. Accessed on February 14, 2019.
Adedun, Emmanuel Adedayo and Mekiliuwa, Olajumoke Oluwatoyin ( 2010 ) Cooperative Principles In A Nigerian Christian Sermon. Lagos Notes & Records, Vol 16, Issue 1. 110-125
Alonson, Pilar; Sanchez, Maria Jesus; Hyde, John & Moran, Christopher (eds) (2002). Aspects of Discourse Analysis. Spain: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca
Bellah, Robert N. 1973. Emile Durkheim: On Morality and Society, Selected Writings. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Durkheim, Emile. 1912/1915/1982. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Oxford: Oxford World Classics
Esimaje, Alexandra Uzoaku 2012. A Corpus-Based Lexical Study of Sermons in Nigeria
English Language Teaching, v5 n9 p24-32. Available at https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1079912. Accessed on 14 February, 2019.
Evans, V. (2009). “Semantic Representation in LCCM Theory”. In Evans, V. and Pourcel, S. (Eds.). New Directions in Cognitive Linguistics. 27-55 Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Evans, V. (2010). “Figurative Language Understanding in LCCM Theory”. Cognitive Linguistics. 21. 4. 601-662.
Evans, V. (2013). “Metaphor, Lexical Concepts, and Figurative Meaning Construction”. Journal of Cognitive Semiotics. V(1-2): 73-100.
Finch, L. (2000) Linguistic Terms and Concepts. London: Macmillan Press Ltd.-
Gillespie, M., Herbert, David Eric J., Greenhill, A.(eds)(2013) Social Media and Religious Change. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
Hjarvard, Stig. 2011. “The mediatisation of religion: Theorising religion, media and social change.” Culture and Religion 12 (2): 119 – 135.
Kandisky, W. 1977[1914]. Concerning the Spiritual in Art. New York: Dover Publications.
Kövecses, Z. (2002/2010). Metaphor: A Practical Introduction. (2nd Edition). USA: Oxford University Press.
Kress, Gunther and Leeuwen, Theo Van. 2001. Visual Communication. Vol 1(3). 343-368
Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M. 1980. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Larrazabal, J.M and Korta, K(2002) Pragmatics and Rhetoric for Discourse Analysis: Some Conceptual Remarks. Available at
http://www.academia.edu/7977716/Pragmatics_and_Rhetoric_for_Discourse_Analysis_Some conceptual_remarks
Lu, Xing. 1999. "An ideological/cultural analysis of political slogans in communist China." Discourse & Society 10.4 (1999): 487-508.
Meyer, Birgit (2013. Hallelujah, Africa. Humboldt Kosmos 101/2013. 22-31
Naik, Z. (2007). The Concept of God in Major Religions. Riyadth: Darussalam.
Neubert, A. (1984). Text linguistics and Pragmatics. Available at [http://artisinitiative.org/online-course/module-theories-of-translation-interpreting/module-2-unit-1-disciplinary-objectives-theo-hermans/chapter-4-text-linguistics-and-pragmatics/]. Accessed on 13 June, 2015.
Onoja, Andrew. 2010. The Language of Church Sermons: A Stylistic Perspective . Jos Journal of Humanities. Vol 4, Issue 1., n.p. Available at http://www.josuga.org/sites/default/files/201008-Onoja-Church%20Sermons.pdf. Accessed on 14 February, 2019
Opeibi, B.O. (2018). Reconfiguring Our Worlds through Words: A Critical Mapping of Discourse in Human Socio-Cyberspace. An Inaugural Lecture. Lagos: University of Lagos Press. Pp 141
Sobola, E. (2016). ‘Metaphor of Time in Ebenezer Obey Songs: A Pragmatic Analysis.’ Eyo Journal of the Arts & Humanities. Vol. 2. No. 1
Thompson, Kenneth. 1982. Emile Durkheim. London: Tavistock Publications.
Urdang, Laurence and Ceila, Dame Robbins (eds). 1984. Slogans. Gale/Cengage Learning van Dijk, T.(1993) Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis. Discourse and Society. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul
Webography
http://www.234pulse.com/2015/01/christianity-is-the-largest-religion-in-nigeria-2014-statistics/
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
