ABSTRACT
In the corpus of Sierra Leone literature, Pat Amadu Maddy (later Yulisa Amadu Maddy) is a writer who employs linguistic and rhetorical constructs as discursive praxis of resistance to Western hegemony. This chapter postulates that Maddy’s scrutiny of the practice of Western religion in traditional society indicates one of the foremost tasks of minority discourse. It analyzes Maddy's re-appropriation of the English language by infusing it with Krio words and phrases, wise sayings and proverbs, and skillfully configuring it to obey the nuances and rhythms of the vernacular as strategy of re-empowerment of the minority culture. From this premise, the chapter develops a set of critical formations to analyze Maddy's plays. It argues that Maddy uses elements of language to condemn the stereotypes with which indigenous practices, languages, customs have been characterized by the dominant culture and to celebrate traditional values such as the “awujor” and divination ceremonies in Obasai and Other Plays.
