STYLISTIC AND IDEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES IN THE PORTRAYAL OF TWO MOTHERS IN AMMA DARKOS FACELESS

This paper examines the portrayal of two mothers, Maa Tsuru and Kabria, in Amma Darko’s Faceless (2003). Grounded in stylistics (Fowler, 1967, 1977, 1986; Freeborn, 1996; Leech & Short, 2007; Simpson, 2004; Leech, 2013; Toolan, 2013; Short, 2013) and informed by an eclectic grammatical framework, the study adopts both quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate how the narrator’s or the implied author’s language constructs each mother within her social world. Two purposively selected passages in which Maa Tsuru and Kabria are represented for the first time are subjected to quantitative stylistic analysis based on the eclectic grammatical approach, and the resulting patterns are subsequently interpreted qualitatively. By comparing the linguistic features that characterize the depiction of the two mother figures, the study reveals the stylistic choices through which the narrator or the implied authorencodes contrasting ideological perspectives on motherhood, gender, and social reality in the novel. The findings demonstrate how grammatical and stylistic patterns contribute to the representation of the female characters and illuminate the broader social concerns embedded in Darko’s fiction.