Reference Assignment and Character Identification in Mariama Ba’s So Long a Letter

Abstract

Much scholarly attention has been paid to the works of Mariama Ba, both from the literary and the linguistic perspectives, especially from the literary point of view. This paper contributes to the linguistic study of her works from the pragmatic angle with the adoption of Sperber and Wilson’s Relevance Theory. The aim is simply to explore the role of reference assignment in character identification or indexing in conversation within the text So Long a Letter. The research reveals that the different models of reference serve to aid character presentation toward the achievement of cohesive effects in the advancement of the plot of the novella. The paper shows that a study of reference assignment in the novella of Mariama Ba facilitates good access to a kind of reference and cohesive bond which aids the recovery of meaning in the text.