Verbal Hygiene and Relational Work in Chimamanda Adichie’s Americanah and Chika Unigwe’s on Black Sisters’ Street

Abstract

The work investigates verbal hygiene in Chimamanda Adichie's Americanah and Chika Unigwe’s On Black Sisters’ Street. It evaluates how the practice of verbal hygiene or the lack thereof, shaped the identity of the characters in the novels. Data were purposively selected from relevant conversations and interactions in the two novels and subjected to qualitative textual analysis. The analysis reveals that verbal hygiene functions as an important interpersonal resource through which characters demonstrate respect, solidarity, consideration, affection, and sensitivity towards others. The study further shows that verbally hygienic expressions contribute to the development and maintenance of harmonious relationships and face-enhancing identity, while the absence or inadequate use of verbal hygiene may create interpersonal tension and damage a person’s identity. It was found that verbal hygiene is very much present in Chimamanda Adichie's Americanah and Chika Unigwe’s On Black Sisters’ Street, and that the practice of verbal hygiene helped the characters to build relationships that are peaceful and harmonious and helped form their identities in the two novels. This work also discovered that the words of some characters analyzed in this work are verbally hygienic and aimed at enhancing the positive face of other characters. This contributes immensely to some of the characters having a strong positive face. The researcher recommends that verbal hygiene be taught as early as literature is introduced to pupils in schools to enable people who do not have the privilege of acquiring higher education to learn the importance of being verbally hygienic, as this will help them become better parents, teachers, and citizens.