Conceptual Metaphor Analysis of Taban Lo Liyong’s Showat and Sowhat

Abstract

This work explores the conceptual metaphors in the drama Showat and Sowhat by Taban Lo Liyong, a Ugandan playwright. It seeks to highlight those conceptual precepts that are linguistically shared in the text to achieve meaning. Again, the linguistic metaphors that conventionally convey innocuous and transparent meanings are examined through the mapping of conceptual domains. The study examines how these inferred meanings and some obvious misinterpretations can have profound consequences on the lives of the characters in the drama text and by extension to Nigeria. Ten textual data were purposively drawn and analyzed using the conceptual metaphor theory proposed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) and Lakoff (1993). The study discovers that the dominant conceptual metaphors used in the drama text are: TIME IS A MOVEMENT IN SPACE, MORALITY IS LIGHT OR DARKNESS, COLOURS ARE HUMAN DISPOSITION AND EMOTIONS ARE FORCES. The findings show that the quality of people’s thoughts determines how they talk and express themselves metaphorically. It was also found that conventional words used in the text are cognitively loaded with conceptual metaphors that may escape the uncritical reader. The work recommends the critical reading of texts in order to unravel and deconstruct the hidden meanings of these metaphors.