When Tricycles Speak: Language Practices and Ideology in Tricycle Texts in Nigeria

Abstract

This article investigates the sociocultural aspects of street-related linguistic practices on commercial tricycles in Uyo metropolis, south-eastern Nigeria. Marginal urban texts on tricycles reveal a process of identity construction and the quest for ideological distinctiveness of the grassroots in articulating their spatial street wisdom. The study offers contextual analyses of tricycle texts to unpack how they reflect riders’ social conditions, and problematise how riders relate their subjectivities to the audience in the mobile urban space. We conclude that tricycle texts bring to light creative aspects of a local subculture that lends a voice to a marginalised segment of the society.

Description

Research Article

Keywords

Tricycle, automobile texts, linguistic ideology, ecosocial semiotics, public transport

Citation