FESCHRIFT ON AKIN ODEBUNMI

THE PRAGMATICS OF MEDICAL DISCOURSES IN AFRICA AND


  • Call For Paper Type: Regular
  • H2 Index: 0
  • Submission Date: 2020-09-30

Health & Medical Sciences (General) Medical Informatics Language & Linguistics





CALL FOR PAPERS:



THE PRAGMATICS OF MEDICAL DISCOURSES IN AFRICA AND BEYOND



Medical discourse in Africa is similar in many ways to medical discourse in the West, particularly in respect of the asymmetrical power between care givers and care receivers. However, the distinct socio-cultural realities in language use in Africa, which  manifest as a result of the common ground that participants share, constrain a peculiar way of constructing and negotiating meaning in medical communication in Africa. Existing studies on medical pragmatics in the African context have largely focused on the linguistic pragmatic dynamics of medical communication. However, many of the socio-cultural factors influencing the pragmatics of communication in African medical practice are yet to be accounted for, significant as these features are in the understanding and practice of medical care in Africa. While it cannot be denied that a number of studies in some parts of Africa have addressed several aspects of these concerns, none, to the best of our knowledge, has published a collection of articles on these important issues, and more, as a reflection of the interventions of one of the African leading scholars in this specialisation. This book, which explores the interface between pragmatics and medical discourses in Africa and beyond is committed to plugging in this vacuum by focusing on articles written around the academic interests of Akin Odebunmi.



Akin Odebunmi is a seasoned professor of Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis at the Department of English, University of Ibadan, Nigeria who has devoted much of his scholarship and research to medical communication in Nigeria. He is no doubt a trailblazer in medical pragmatics and medical linguistics in Nigeria and Africa. His research efforts and expertise in the field have yielded for him international awards (including the fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany), acceptance and collaborations. Akin Odebunmi is the pioneer (and incumbent) President of the Pragmatics Association of Nigeria (PrAN), the Interim Secretary of the African Pragmatics Association (APrA), an Associate Editor of the online Bibliography of Pragmatics Series by the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA) and the Director of the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in the University of Ibadan. In 2019, he conveyed a Humboldt Kolleg (conference), sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, in Linguistics and Humanistic Medicine where experts in pragmatics, other aspects of the humanities and medical professions provided and negotiated knowledge on patient-centred care in  Nigeria, Cameroon and Germany. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Jacob Mey edited journal, Pragmatics and Society, and has more than 90 publications to his credit in local and international journals.



We are, therefore, pleased to invite scholarly papers for a collection of essays in recognition of the scholarly contributions of this erudite professor to medical discourse.



 



Submissions are expected to cover the following areas:




  • Communication in the hospital (between patients and all categories of health workers: involving doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, psycho therapists, etc.)

  • Pragmatics, medicine and Covid-19

  • Pragmatics,  gender and medical discourse

  • Pragmatics,  advertising and medicine

  • The pragmatics of medical posters

  • The sociopragmatics of medical memes

  • The discourse of  telemedicine

  • Alternative medicine discourses

  • Medical tourism discourses

  • Health hazard discourses

  • Pragmatics and health literacy

  • Medical communication and the concept of Omoluabi

  • The gentleman concept in hospital meetings

  • Religion and medical communication

  • Politics and medical practice

  • Pragmatics,  medical discourse and the media

  • Online consultative discourses

  • Pharmaceutical discourses

  • The pragmatics of network marketing of medical products

  • Communication in doctor-centred and patient-centred clinics



 



Contributions which should not be more than 7000 words, in 12-point Times New Roman font and typed double-spaced, must conform to the 6th edition of APA reference style.



The article, with an abstract of about 250 words and 5 key words, accompanied by a short biography of the author, should be sent electronically to:



pragmedisa@gmail.com



 



The deadline for submission of articles is 31st September, 2020.



For further enquiries, kindly contact:



 



Dr. Chuka Fred ONONYE



(Managing Editor)



Department of English & Literary Studies,



University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.



chukafredononye@gmail.com, chuka.ononye@unn.edu.ng



+2348033430659



Dr. ’Wale ONI



(Managing Editor)



Associate (PGR), University of Salford,



M5 4WT, Salford, Manchester United Kingdom.



o.oni1@edu.salford.ac.uk



+447388326155



Dr. Samuel Alaba AKINWOTU



(Editor-in-Chief)



Department of English Studies,



Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Nigeria.



samuelakinwotu@gmail.com, samuel.akinwotu@aaua.edu.ng



+2348033612528