Schemes and tropes: A stylistic analysis of Apoↄ festival song text of the people of Techiman in the Bono East Region of Ghana.

Abstract

The public's need to satirise and correct leaders in politics, economics, religion, and other significant spheres of power has been satisfied by Apoↄ songs. By criticising or praising leaders and authorities, Apoↄ songs challenge public discourse and the collective imagination; acting as a public opinion counterbalance to power (whether socio-political, economic, religious, symbolic or otherwise). What requires community leaders to clarify, revise, or adopt policies, for example. Which also points out flaws and inconsistencies, but it is under no obligation to fix them. The performers, however, can sometimes offer remedies to the problems they have identified. The present study is a literary stylistic analysis of “Apoↄ” festival song texts. The study aimed at examining the song texts of Apoↄ from a literary stylistic point of view. The study attempts to determine how meaning is achieved through the creative use of language by the performers through schemes and tropes and their effectiveness in communicating the thoughts and intentions of the performers. Employing the qualitative research approach, the study concluded that the language used in the song text is rich in schemes and tropes, which, in addition to giving the songs a wide range of meaning possibilities, allow the language to soar to poetic heights.