The Relevance of Literary Language in Addressing Societal Ills: A Comparative Overview of the Narrative Technique of Ifeoma Okoye’s Men without Ears and Ayi Kwei Armah’s the Beautyful Ones are not Yet Born

This work is a study of how societal ills can be addressed through literary works. It examines the experience of corruption in Ghana and Nigeria through the narratives of Ifeoma Okoye and Ayi Kwei Armah. Through their stories, these two people have criticised the ills in their nations from different backgrounds. The paper reveals that corruption is a common menace bordering the African society, and that the fight against corruption is not left to only men. It is an encouragement that every member of the society should be interested in helping to improve the larger society. The writers have employed some literary language techniques to achieve their purpose of addressing the ills of the society and the way out of them. The researchers examined the language choice of the writers, examined the stylistic usage of language in the novels, compared the language choices as used in the two novels, and comparatively establish how the authors have applied literary language in addressing societal ills.