A Cognitive Stylistic Study of Selected Skits on African Social Media/ Un Estudio Cognitivo Estilistico De Skits Seleccionados en Las Redes Sociales Africanas

Abstract

This research aims at examining how the cognitive stylistic model of analysis can be useful in the interpretation of African skits. The analytical process reveals how viewers make interpretive connections between the text-world and the real world, by bringing their experience and background knowledge to interact with the text. Two skits – one Nigerian and one Ghanaian – were purposively retrieved from YouTube for the analysis, using a qualitative approach within the cognitive stylistic framework of Text World Theory. We discovered a congruence of the cognitive faculty, experience, and epistemic perceptions leading to the construction of the discourse worlds of the skits.