A study of the ideological language in creative fiction with reference to Gabriel Okara’s The Voice and V.S. Naipaul’s A House For Mr. Biswas

Abstract

In an era where a proliferation of various types of literary fiction exists, one needs to question the purpose of such literary creations. In the endeavour, it is inevitable to search for the functional element within the act of creative fiction. With this question in mind, the present paper engages in an examination of the indivisible relationship between language, ideology and literary fiction to ultimately prove that ideology is coded in fiction in what is termed ideological language and that it is a deliberate venture. By means of secondary sources and a highly qualitative approach, which predominantly comprised content analysis and interviews, the paper analyses Gabriel Okara’s The Voice and V.S. Naipaul’s A House for Mr. Biswas for its ideological language, to bring out the relationship between ideology and language, how fiction from different contexts carry different ideologies, the different stylistic features of the texts, the political, economic, socio-cultural and personal aspects coded in the ideological language, and finally the essential didactic element and purpose of this exercise. The findings prove that there is an inextricable link between language and ideology in creative fiction, and that it is not a haphazard endeavour but a deliberate political project. Finally, the paper brings forth several recommendations in relation to ideological language and creative fiction, highlighting the necessity of both positive social change and development geared towards its society’s own progress.