Psychological Response to Negative Paradoxical Metaphors of Terminal Illness in Promise Ogochukwu’s <i>Sorrow’s Joy</i>

Joy Eyisi Jr; Emmanuel Babatunde Omobowale

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11

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Psychological Response to Negative Paradoxical Metaphors of Terminal Illness in Promise Ogochukwu’s Sorrow’s Joy

Joy Eyisi Jr, Emmanuel Babatunde Omobowale

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 9, Issue 6)

Received: 10 April 2021 Accepted: 16 October 2021 Published: 5 November 2021

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Abstract

Creative writers wield literary tropes in exemplifying thoughts in the minds of characters. As literature is given impetus by the thoughts and actions of humans, the utilization of literary tropes in depicting preoccupations in the minds of characters is a reflection of the human mind, which harbours thoughts laden with these tropes, especially metaphors. Hence, textual representations of characters experiencing pain from terminal illnesses often feature paradoxical metaphors (para-metaphors). Existing studies on illnesses/diseases privileged trauma, depraved mental and physical conditions, however, inadequate attention has been given to the effect, which the literary representations of illnesses, through debasing paradoxes and metaphors, have on affected characters. This study, therefore, investigates the impact of para-metaphors on the character, Sefi, who suffers from cancer in Promise Ogochukwu’s Sorrow’s Joy. The primacy of the unconscious and repression, facets of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, are used to account for the psychological state of affected characters. The theory bears relevance to the text, which is purposively selected and critically analysed to highlight the destructive influence of para-metaphors related to the underlying disease in the text. As the major character, Sefi, holds on to the paradoxically metaphoric ideas, her cognitive psychological state continues to diminish. She becomes paranoiac, schizophrenic; depressed, which are additional derailing weights to the underlying disease she suffers from. As a literary endeavour, meanings are implicit in the para-metaphorical expressions distilled from the selected illness-text; this has implications, both on patients’ understanding of their ailments and on the critical reception of the text.

Published in	International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 9, Issue 6) This article belongs to the Special Issue Illnesses, Diseases and Medicalisation in African Literature
DOI	10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11
Page(s)	251-260
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Literature and Medicine, Paradoxical-metaphors, Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasm, Terminal Disease, Mental Preoccupations, Paradoxical Metaphors, Cancer, Terminal, Psyche

References

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Joy Eyisi Jr, Emmanuel Babatunde Omobowale. (2021). Psychological Response to Negative Paradoxical Metaphors of Terminal Illness in Promise Ogochukwu’s Sorrow’s Joy. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 9(6), 251-260. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11

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ACS Style

Joy Eyisi Jr; Emmanuel Babatunde Omobowale. Psychological Response to Negative Paradoxical Metaphors of Terminal Illness in Promise Ogochukwu’s Sorrow’s Joy. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2021, 9(6), 251-260. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11

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AMA Style

Joy Eyisi Jr, Emmanuel Babatunde Omobowale. Psychological Response to Negative Paradoxical Metaphors of Terminal Illness in Promise Ogochukwu’s Sorrow’s Joy. Int J Lit Arts. 2021;9(6):251-260. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11,
  author = {Joy Eyisi Jr and Emmanuel Babatunde Omobowale},
  title = {Psychological Response to Negative Paradoxical Metaphors of Terminal Illness in Promise Ogochukwu’s Sorrow’s Joy},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {9},
  number = {6},
  pages = {251-260},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20210906.11},
  abstract = {Creative writers wield literary tropes in exemplifying thoughts in the minds of characters. As literature is given impetus by the thoughts and actions of humans, the utilization of literary tropes in depicting preoccupations in the minds of characters is a reflection of the human mind, which harbours thoughts laden with these tropes, especially metaphors. Hence, textual representations of characters experiencing pain from terminal illnesses often feature paradoxical metaphors (para-metaphors). Existing studies on illnesses/diseases privileged trauma, depraved mental and physical conditions, however, inadequate attention has been given to the effect, which the literary representations of illnesses, through debasing paradoxes and metaphors, have on affected characters. This study, therefore, investigates the impact of para-metaphors on the character, Sefi, who suffers from cancer in Promise Ogochukwu’s Sorrow’s Joy. The primacy of the unconscious and repression, facets of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, are used to account for the psychological state of affected characters. The theory bears relevance to the text, which is purposively selected and critically analysed to highlight the destructive influence of para-metaphors related to the underlying disease in the text. As the major character, Sefi, holds on to the paradoxically metaphoric ideas, her cognitive psychological state continues to diminish. She becomes paranoiac, schizophrenic; depressed, which are additional derailing weights to the underlying disease she suffers from. As a literary endeavour, meanings are implicit in the para-metaphorical expressions distilled from the selected illness-text; this has implications, both on patients’ understanding of their ailments and on the critical reception of the text.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Psychological Response to Negative Paradoxical Metaphors of Terminal Illness in Promise Ogochukwu’s Sorrow’s Joy
AU  - Joy Eyisi Jr
AU  - Emmanuel Babatunde Omobowale
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PY  - 2021
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DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 251
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PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11
AB  - Creative writers wield literary tropes in exemplifying thoughts in the minds of characters. As literature is given impetus by the thoughts and actions of humans, the utilization of literary tropes in depicting preoccupations in the minds of characters is a reflection of the human mind, which harbours thoughts laden with these tropes, especially metaphors. Hence, textual representations of characters experiencing pain from terminal illnesses often feature paradoxical metaphors (para-metaphors). Existing studies on illnesses/diseases privileged trauma, depraved mental and physical conditions, however, inadequate attention has been given to the effect, which the literary representations of illnesses, through debasing paradoxes and metaphors, have on affected characters. This study, therefore, investigates the impact of para-metaphors on the character, Sefi, who suffers from cancer in Promise Ogochukwu’s Sorrow’s Joy. The primacy of the unconscious and repression, facets of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, are used to account for the psychological state of affected characters. The theory bears relevance to the text, which is purposively selected and critically analysed to highlight the destructive influence of para-metaphors related to the underlying disease in the text. As the major character, Sefi, holds on to the paradoxically metaphoric ideas, her cognitive psychological state continues to diminish. She becomes paranoiac, schizophrenic; depressed, which are additional derailing weights to the underlying disease she suffers from. As a literary endeavour, meanings are implicit in the para-metaphorical expressions distilled from the selected illness-text; this has implications, both on patients’ understanding of their ailments and on the critical reception of the text.
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Author Information

Joy Eyisi Jr

Department of English, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
Emmanuel Babatunde Omobowale

Department of English, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

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Joy Eyisi Jr, Emmanuel Babatunde Omobowale. (2021). Psychological Response to Negative Paradoxical Metaphors of Terminal Illness in Promise Ogochukwu’s Sorrow’s Joy. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 9(6), 251-260. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11

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ACS Style

Joy Eyisi Jr; Emmanuel Babatunde Omobowale. Psychological Response to Negative Paradoxical Metaphors of Terminal Illness in Promise Ogochukwu’s Sorrow’s Joy. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2021, 9(6), 251-260. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11

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AMA Style

Joy Eyisi Jr, Emmanuel Babatunde Omobowale. Psychological Response to Negative Paradoxical Metaphors of Terminal Illness in Promise Ogochukwu’s Sorrow’s Joy. Int J Lit Arts. 2021;9(6):251-260. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11,
  author = {Joy Eyisi Jr and Emmanuel Babatunde Omobowale},
  title = {Psychological Response to Negative Paradoxical Metaphors of Terminal Illness in Promise Ogochukwu’s Sorrow’s Joy},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {9},
  number = {6},
  pages = {251-260},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20210906.11},
  abstract = {Creative writers wield literary tropes in exemplifying thoughts in the minds of characters. As literature is given impetus by the thoughts and actions of humans, the utilization of literary tropes in depicting preoccupations in the minds of characters is a reflection of the human mind, which harbours thoughts laden with these tropes, especially metaphors. Hence, textual representations of characters experiencing pain from terminal illnesses often feature paradoxical metaphors (para-metaphors). Existing studies on illnesses/diseases privileged trauma, depraved mental and physical conditions, however, inadequate attention has been given to the effect, which the literary representations of illnesses, through debasing paradoxes and metaphors, have on affected characters. This study, therefore, investigates the impact of para-metaphors on the character, Sefi, who suffers from cancer in Promise Ogochukwu’s Sorrow’s Joy. The primacy of the unconscious and repression, facets of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, are used to account for the psychological state of affected characters. The theory bears relevance to the text, which is purposively selected and critically analysed to highlight the destructive influence of para-metaphors related to the underlying disease in the text. As the major character, Sefi, holds on to the paradoxically metaphoric ideas, her cognitive psychological state continues to diminish. She becomes paranoiac, schizophrenic; depressed, which are additional derailing weights to the underlying disease she suffers from. As a literary endeavour, meanings are implicit in the para-metaphorical expressions distilled from the selected illness-text; this has implications, both on patients’ understanding of their ailments and on the critical reception of the text.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Psychological Response to Negative Paradoxical Metaphors of Terminal Illness in Promise Ogochukwu’s Sorrow’s Joy
AU  - Joy Eyisi Jr
AU  - Emmanuel Babatunde Omobowale
Y1  - 2021/11/05
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 251
EP  - 260
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.11
AB  - Creative writers wield literary tropes in exemplifying thoughts in the minds of characters. As literature is given impetus by the thoughts and actions of humans, the utilization of literary tropes in depicting preoccupations in the minds of characters is a reflection of the human mind, which harbours thoughts laden with these tropes, especially metaphors. Hence, textual representations of characters experiencing pain from terminal illnesses often feature paradoxical metaphors (para-metaphors). Existing studies on illnesses/diseases privileged trauma, depraved mental and physical conditions, however, inadequate attention has been given to the effect, which the literary representations of illnesses, through debasing paradoxes and metaphors, have on affected characters. This study, therefore, investigates the impact of para-metaphors on the character, Sefi, who suffers from cancer in Promise Ogochukwu’s Sorrow’s Joy. The primacy of the unconscious and repression, facets of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, are used to account for the psychological state of affected characters. The theory bears relevance to the text, which is purposively selected and critically analysed to highlight the destructive influence of para-metaphors related to the underlying disease in the text. As the major character, Sefi, holds on to the paradoxically metaphoric ideas, her cognitive psychological state continues to diminish. She becomes paranoiac, schizophrenic; depressed, which are additional derailing weights to the underlying disease she suffers from. As a literary endeavour, meanings are implicit in the para-metaphorical expressions distilled from the selected illness-text; this has implications, both on patients’ understanding of their ailments and on the critical reception of the text.
VL  - 9
IS  - 6
ER  -

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