A Cognitive Stylistic Study of Mind Style in Selected Short Stories in Dul Johnson's Shadows and Ashes

Abstract

This article, from a cognitive stylistic perspective, examines mind style in selected short stories in Dul Johnson’s Shadows and Ashes. The objective is to provide insight into how the narrator's mind style is stylistically built and possibly formed inside the reader's mind. Excerpts from four short stories titled “Living with Shadows”, “Ghosts of War”, “Love Pangs” and “Bond of Love” from the collection were purposively sampled and analysed using the Text World and Schema theories. The data analysis highlights a variety of linguistic qualities into text-building components and connects them to the various ways in which they interact with readers' prior knowledge to arrive at a construal of the narrator's remarkable mind style. It also illustrates semantic distinction between the narrator's external and internal worlds, demonstrating how he achieved inner wealth and liberty despite the different consequences of the Nigeria Civil War events. The portrayal of characters in the collection studied invites readers to connect on a profound level with the characters, their struggles, death and the emotional torture that accompany the characters that emerged from the war, making the stories examined a compelling and evocative work of art. The article not only offers light on the psychological trauma conveyed by the writer's mind style, but it also adds to the prospects of cognitive stylistic perspective to mind style.