ICONS, INDEXES AND SYMBOLS IN CHIMAMANDAADICHIE’S PURPLE HIBISCUS: A SEMIOTIC APPROACH

Abstract

Signs abound in literary works and their interpretation form part of the message from the author to reader(s). Unfortunately, most scholars do not regard them as researchable enough to demand scholarly attention. This paper is a re-reading of Adichie’sPurple Hibiscus, deploying the engine of semiotics to create meaning. The data for the study shall be comments and material objects, randomly sampled from various sections of the select text and analyzed within the lens of visual and social semiotics. Findings are that the Igbos have a rich cultural heritage which, if caution is not exercised, may die a natural death because of lack of interest in upholding our identity; our legacies. The study concludes that the whole human experience, without exception, is an interpretive structure mediated and sustained by signs, and that readers miss the fundamental message of a fictional work when there is no integration/interpretation of the verbal and non-verbal clues, which are signs in themselves. The study recommends that the dearth of scholarship in literary semiotics should be discouraged, by all means, for the sole purpose of preserving our cultural heritage/moral and social values that are fast disappearing.