CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1       INTRODUCTION
Stylistics, a branch of linguistics which developed from the ancient Greek rhetoric through the Swiss linguist, Charles Bally during the 20th century, is an aspect of language study that has attracted a great deal of attention from scholars. Young as this discipline is, it is open to so many fields of study most especially to related disciplines such as theory of literature, poetics and aesthetics, among others.
However, over the years, there have been various arguments among scholars about the application of linguistics to the analysis and interpretation of literary texts. This is because, “they operate at different levels that are hardly reconcilable”. Literary criticism on the one hand operates on terms of value, purpose and aesthetics while linguistic analysis focuses on phonetics, stress, syntax, and lexico-semantics (Kolawole, 2003, p.1)
In the words of Short (1996, p.1), stylistics is “an approach to the analysis of ‘literary texts using linguistic description”. Stylistics, from his submission deals with how literary and non-literary texts are analyzed through linguistic tools. As observed by Short, stylistics is both relevant in studying literary and non-literary texts. One of the prominent areas in literature in which stylistic theory could be of great benefit is in the study of a novel. This is so because the language employed by an author in a novel should help in contributing to the overall development of the text.
Trafficked, by Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo is a literary text that was written in 2008. The novel in 2009 received Honourable mention as Runner-up for the ANA/NDDC Flora Nwapa  prize for women and also that same year, Chris Anyoku wrote an article which he titled “Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Trafficked: Re- defining the ‘New’ Nigeria Novel.
Therefore, this research attempts to analyse Trafficked using stylistics as the theoretical basis. The stylistic tools that will be used as mode of analysis include Graphology, Morphology, Syntax, Lexico-semantics and Cohesion.
1.2       STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
            This study “A stylistic analysis of Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Trafficked” attempts to analyse the text using some stylistic tools. The problem this study hope to provide answers to is how these stylistic tools are used in the novel. By so doing, this study will show whether Adimora-Ezeigbo’s work is simply an exhibition of stylistic effects or these stylistic tools contribute to the overall development of the text.