Layered Language in Ayi Kwei Armah’s the Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born

Abstract

Language is used by writers in multiple ways to effectively convey the writer’s vision. This paper explores the Ghanian novelist Ayi Kwei Armah’s novel The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Bornand its layered use of language. How effectively can the realist mode portray a sense of deep despair? What are the layered levels at which language and narration must function to achieve the wrenching impact the author seeks to impart? What visual imagery or symbolic language can a writer use to convey the unconveyable? How can such elements be woven seamlessly into a realistic narrative? This paper examines some of these questions, and attempts to unravel the multiple ways in which descriptive language, revolting metaphors and nauseating scatological imagery are employed in the text.