AN ANALYSIS OF DEIXIS IN LOLA SHONEYIN'S THE SECRET LIVES OF BABA SEGI'S WIVES

ABSTRACT

This study has identified and analyzed Lola Shoneyin’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives and Akwaeke Emezi’s Freshwater using Levinson’s theory of deixis. This research shows that people, place, time, discourse, and social deixes help in building themes of identity, mental health, queerness, polygamy, personal growth, and survival. In Lola Shoneyin’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives, person deixis shows that the novel is written in the third-person limited point of view and from the first-person point of view of the characters. Person deixis helps in building the theme of identity; we are given insight about their experiences and how they see other characters. Place deixis relates to the physical setting and helps in the theme of polygamy and infertility as the home of Baba Segi is described, and he also visits the hospital. Time deixis helps in building the theme of personal growth as we see how characters grow in the novel, e.g., Iya Tope goes from being intimidated to becoming a bold woman. Discourse deixis helps in the understanding of the novel, and social deixis is used to show relationships between participants.