Linguistic Deviation and Parallelism in Timothy Wangusa’s Poetry

Abstract

This study is on linguistic deviation and parallelism in Wangusa’s poetry. The selection of this research topic is informed by the fact that for all Wangusa’s craft especially with regard to his practical language, vi there are virtually few studies on his works which is the gap that this study intends to fill. This study set out to assess the use of different linguistic deviations to create novelty and beauty and the use of different forms of linguistic parallelism to foreground or emphasize the message in Wangusa’s poetry. Besides, it sets out to answer the following research questions: How does Wangusa use different linguistic deviations to create novelty and beauty in his two selected poetry collections? How does Wangusa use parallelism to foreground /emphasize the message in his two poetry collections? The theoretical framework used was from Russian Formalism especially the tenets/strands of defamiliarization and estrangement which sought to interrogate the way Wangusa communicates his message in quite novel ways. This study, being qualitative in nature, employed a descriptive research design. It was found out that deviant parts of a poem ‘stick out’ of the background thereby foregrounding the poet’s message. It was found out that indeed, Wangusa uses deviation and parallelism on several occasions in his two poetry collections with an intent to create a sense of newness (with regard to the way readers perceive it) and foreground his message. The study concluded that Wangusa uses linguistic deviation and parallelism to create artistic beauty and emphasize his message in the two poetry collections at different linguistic levels. This study recommends that a thorough study be carried out on Timothy Wangusa’s use of sound structure and devices in his poetry collections. Also, this study recommends that a thorough comparative study be conducted on the poetry of Wangusa vis-à-vis that of other Ugandan poets of the same generation.