Emotive language as construction of situational aggression among drivers at gridlock scenes in Nigeria
Vol 9, Issue 2, 2024, Article identifier:
VIEWS - 198 (Abstract) 95 (PDF)
Abstract
This paper investigates the use of emotive language in the construction of situational aggression among drivers in gridlock scenes along the failed Calabar-Uyo highway, in Southern Nigeria. Data were derived through participants’ observations, informal interactions and semi-structured interviews in an eight-month fieldwork involving 36 drivers who formed the representative sample. Insights from Frustration-Aggression and Conceptual Act Theories were utilised to account for how emotive language instantiate displaced aggression. Findings show that the emotive cues used by drivers were principally informed by the bad road which occurred as a result of failed leadership and endemic corruption, and other cues used to exemplify inferiorisation of women, driving incompetence, superiority complex and economic hardship. The exchanges are combined to situate the collective excruciating experience of drivers and a protest against Nigerian political establishment. The emotive language impliedly re-enacts participants’ patriarchal beliefs, driving attitudes, multilingual identities and myriad of challenges that describe the Nigerian sociocultural context.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
1. Orasan C. Aggressive language identification using world embeddings and sentiment features. In: Proceedings of the First Workshop on Trothing, Aggression and Cyberbullying; August 2018; Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. pp. 113–119.
2. Kadhim HA, Mohammed WS. Aggressive language in literature: A pragmatic approach. Arab World English Journal 2021; 12(4): 224–242. doi: 10.24093/awej/vol12no4.16.
3. Hemavatthy V, Devi SS. Assertive communication. International Journal of Humanities, Arts, Medicine and Sciences 2016; 4(1): 119–126.
4. Bocar AC. Aggressive, passive, and assertive: Which communication style is commonly used by college students? SSRN Electronic Journal 2017; 2(3): 1–17. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2956807
5. Hamilton MA. Verbal aggression: Understanding the psychological antecedents and social consequences. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 2012; 31(1): 5–12. doi: 10.1177/0261927x11425032
6. O’Connor PE. Discourse of violence. Discourse and Society 1995; 6(3): 309–318. doi: 10.1177/0957926595006003002
7. Bou-Franch P. An introduction to language aggression against women. Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict 2014; 2(2): 177–181. doi: 10.1075/jlac.2.2.00int
8. Gee JP. An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method. Routledge; 1999.
9. Trinch S. Deconstructing the ‘Stakes’ in high stake gatekeeping interviews: Battered women and narration. Journal of Pragmatics 2007; 39(11): 1895–1918. doi: 10.1016/j.pragma.2007.07.006
10. Livine TR, Beaty MJ, Limon S. The dimensionality of verbal aggressiveness scale. Communication Monograph 2004; 71(3): 245–265. doi: 10.1080/0363452042000299911
11. Uwen GO, Ekpenyong BA, Onah GA, Akpanika EN. Emotional women and promiscuous men: Language use as discursive stances of wives on cheating husbands. Environment and Social Psychology 2023; 8(3): 1848. doi: 10.54517/esp.v8i3.1848
12. Krupansky J. Violence in language. Available online: https://jackkrupansky.medium.com/violence-in-language-586e14c4b826 (accessed on 30 April 2023).
13. Bayer CL, Cegala DJ. Trait verbal aggressiveness and argumentativeness: Relations with parenting style. Western Journal of Communication 1992; 56(3): 301–310. doi: 10.1080/10570319209374418
14. Malkin, J. Verbal Violence in Contemporary Drama. Cambridge University Press; 1992.
15. Lozovska J, Gudaitė G. The understanding of aggression motivation and the psychotherapy process. Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences 2013; 82: 360–365. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.275
16. Dollard J, Ford CS. Frustration and Aggression. Yale University Press; 1939.
17. Miller NEI. The frustration-aggression hypothesis. Psychological Review 1941; 48(1): 337–342. doi: 10.1037/h0055861
18. Berkowitz L. Aggressive cues in aggressive behavior and hostility catharsis. Psychological Review 1964; 71(2): 104–122. doi: 10.1037/h0043520
19. Berkowitz L. Frustration-aggression hypothesis: Examination and reformulation. Psychological Bulletin 1989; 106(1): 59–73. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.106.1.59
20. Huesmann LR, Miller LS. Long-term effects of repeated exposure to media violence in childhood. In: Huesmann LR. (editor). Aggressive Behavior: Current Perspectives. Plenum Press; 1994. pp. 153–186.
21. Bandura A. Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology 2001; 52(1): 1–26. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.1
22. Barrett LE. Solving the emotion paradox: Categorization and the experience of emotion. Perspectives on Social Psychology Review 2006; 10(1): 20–46. doi: 10.1207/s15327957pspr1001_2
23. Barrett LF. Psychological construction: The Darwinian approach to the science of emotion. Emotion Review 2013; 5(4): 379–389. doi: 10.1177/1754073913489753
24. Clore GL, Ortony A. Appraisal theories: How cognition shapes affect into creation. In: Lewis M, Haviland-Jones JM, Barrett LF (editors). Handbook of Emotions. Guilford Press; 2008. pp. 628–642.
25. Clore GL, Ortony A. Psychological construction in the OCC model of emotion. Emotion Review 2013; 5(4): 335–343. doi: 10.1177/1754073913489751
26. Lindquist KA, MacCormack JK, Shablack H. The role of language in emotions: Predictions from psychological constructionism. Frontiers in Psychology 2015; 12(1): 123–132.
27. Boroditsky L. How language shapes thought. Scientific American 2011; 304(2): 62–65. doi: 10.1038/scientificamerican0211-62
28. Lindquist KA. Emotions emerge from more basic psychological ingredients: A modern constructionist model. Emotion Review 2013; 5(4): 356–368. doi: 10.1177/1754073913489750
29. Zhu L. Language, emotion and metapragmatics: A theory based on typological evidence. International Journal of Society, Culture and Language 2016; 4(2): 119–134.
30. Uwen GO. Every corona is not a virus. The European Journal of Humour Research 2023; 11(1): 117–142. doi: 10.7592/ejhr.2023.11.1.678
31. Uwen GO, Ukaegbu EK. God is life: A sociolinguistic and ethnopragmatic conceptualisation of Chi in Igbo naming practices. Journal of Black Studies 2023. doi: 10.1177/00219347231207066
32. Ochulor CL. Failure of leadership in Nigeria. Sophia: An African Journal of Philosophy 2010; 12(2): 1–7.
33. Anekwe RI. Leadership challenges and Nigeria development: The issues and imperatives. International Journal of Academic Accounting, Finance and Management Research 2020; 4(1): 1–5.
34. Ijaseun, D. Nigeria corruption index ranking in charts. Available online: https://businessday.ng/news/article/nigeria-corruption-index-ranking-in-charts/ (accessed on 17 March 2023).
35. Adeyemo AA, Amade B. Corruption and construction projects in Nigeria: Manifestations and solutions. PM World Journal 2016; 5(10): 1–14.
36. Corbett GG. Systems of gender assignment. In: Dryer MS, Haspelmath M (editors). The World Atlas of Language Structures Online. Max Planck Institute; 2013. pp. 23–37.
37. Adebayo AI, Oyebanji TO. Patterns of violence against women as perceived by working-class females in A Nigerian city. European Journal of Educational Sciences 2014; 1(2): 349–359.
38. Ghevolor AJ, Bassey VO, Ekpang JN. Rhetorical strategies in selected Nigerian print media advertisements. English Linguistics Research 2023; 12(2): 34-57. doi: 10.5430/elr.vl2n3p34
39. Bou-FrancH P. Introduction to language aggression against women. Journal of Language of Aggression 2014; 2(2): 23-34. doi: 10.1075/jlac.2.200int
40. Uwen GO, Ekpe SI. Sociolinguistic configuration of a regimented workforce: A study of the Nigerian army’s workout songs. International Journal of Multilingualism 2023; 1–18. doi: 10.1080/14790718.2023.2200254
41. Federal Road Safety Commission. Road Mirror. Siphat Limited; 2010.
42. Federal Road Safety Commission. Nigeria Highway Code. Detalworks; 2016.
43. Uwen GO, Ebam PO. Road traffic signs’ literacy and the implications on road users in Calabar. Journal of the Reading Association of Nigeria 2019; 18(2): 163–171.
44. Kernis MH. Optimal self-esteem and authenticity: Separating fantasy from reality. Psychological Inquiry 2003; 14(1): 83–89. doi: 10.1207/S15327965PLI1401_03
45. Pal D. Of ego. Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 2022; 5(4): 467–470. doi: 10.33140/jhss.05.04.21
46. Uwen GO, Eyang AE. Officers and men, and fallen heroes: The discursive construction of regimented masculinity in the Nigerian Army. Forum for Linguistics Studies 2023; 5(3): 1761. doi: 10.59400/fls.v5i3.1761
47. Akpomuvie O. Poverty, access to health care services and human capital development in Nigeria. African Research Review 2010; 4(3): 41–58. doi: 10.4314/afrrev.v4i3.60149
48. Uwen GO, Ugot MI. Reverse back the car: Reduplication as language variation in Nigerian English usage. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature 2022; 11(4): 1-9. doi: 10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.11n.4p.1
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54517/esp.v9i2.1850
(198 Abstract Views, 95 PDF Downloads)
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2023 God’sgift Ogban Uwen, Asa John Ghevolor, Victor Offiong Bassey
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/