Browsing by Author "Okere, Chidi Eustace"

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    Rhetoric in religious discourse: Elicitation and dialogue as dramatic pause in Nigerian pentecostal sermons
    (U. P., 2024-07) Ajileye, Michael Olugbenga; Okere, Chidi Eustace; Dozie, Chinomso Patricia
    This study examines the use of elicitation, as well as dialogic interrogation and dialogic repetition, as devices for dramatic pause in Nigerian Pentecostal sermons. Sermons are by their nature, usually monologic, in which the preacher monopolizes the conversation space from commencement to conclusion. The congregation usually is expected to sit through it all, listen and imbibe the message. This trend, noted mainly in orthodox Christianity circles, has been observed to often lead to boredom and attention fatigue in the audience. This study notes that Nigerian Pentecostal preachers, while still wholly in control of the sermon, appear to have effectively reversed its monologic nature by employing elicitation and dialogue as audience-engaging and attention-arresting devices to introduce unique pause effects in their sermons, thereby creating that general impression of vitality and activity often associated with the Nigerian Pentecostal brand of Christianity. This study identified these devices as discursive practices embedded in the social practice of Pentecostal preaching, which are among the principal ways in which its ideology is circulated and reproduced. This present study constitutes a part of a general intellectual investigation, which involves the identification of specific discursive patterns that characterize Nigerian Pentecostal Christian sermons and to determine how they are intertwined with the general ideology of persuasion as a goal.