Abstract:
This treatise endeavors to examine the discourse of actors in Tahidi High - a Kenyan television drama –
in order to demonstrate how use of language contributes to thematic allusions in the television drama.
Language is a very critical component of fictional forms. Through the deliberate choice, patterning and
arrangement of words, a film maker is able to convey his / her thoughts, feelings, attitude and intentions
explicitly or implicitly. A text’s linguistic format is the sum total of all kinds of linguistic choices which
according to Emmanuel Ngara (1982) are divisible into two subsets: (a) linguistic proper components and
paralinguistic affective devices such as symbolism, myth, allusion and allegory. While, the latter are
obviously not analyzable in terms of normal linguistic description, manipulation of linguistic proper
constituents may also lead to meanings that transcend the denotative plane. In Tahidi High, various
levels of communication are palpable. These rise above sheer choice of words to embrace a broader
exalting and humanizing sense or the opposite – a diminishing and dehumanizing sense. Cognizant of the
fact that to a significant extent teenage language springs from certain socio-cultural influences, this article
attempts to interrogate the language that various students speak in the TV drama and the implications
accruing there from.
