Titles as Conceptual Metaphors of Coloniality in Selected African Novels

Titles often provide condensed representations of the thematic and ideological concerns of literary works. In postcolonial fiction, ordinary words, objects, colours and structures can acquire metaphorical meanings that illuminate colonial legacies, cultural conflict, social hierarchy and struggles over identity. This study examines the titles of Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Wizard of the Crow, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus, Zakes Mda’s The Heart of Redness and Alaa Al Aswany’s The Yacoubian Building as conceptual metaphors of coloniality. The study adopts George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory as its principal analytical framework, while Quijano’s concept of coloniality of power and Mignolo’s decolonial perspective provide supporting conceptual context. Using qualitative close textual analysis, the study examines the metaphorical structures of the selected titles and relates them to the colonial, social, cultural and ideological concerns represented in the novels. The study concludes that the titles function not merely as identifiers but as conceptual metaphors that provide interpretive entry points into the novels’ representations of coloniality, identity and social relations.