Modal Grammar and Point of View: A Stylistic Study of Aliyu Kamal’s The Imam of the Corner Mosque

This study applies Simpson’s (1993) modal grammar of point of view in Aliyu Kamal’s The Imam of the Corner Mosque to investigate the narrative point of view. To this end, it uses qualitative and quantitative methods. Also, a purposive sampling technique is used to select six relevant passages in the novel that contain the modal systems. The study finds that the novel belongs to Simpson’s category B narratorial mode with negative shading that is foregrounded through epistemic and perception modal systems to express the certainty and uncertainty of the narrative through an external narrator. However, the narrative contains a few deontic and boulomaic modal systems that are usually highlighted in the positive mode. These modal systems are used to foreground some religious and moral obligations and also the characters’ desires and wishes. Furthermore, the narrative contains verba sentiendi, evaluative adjectives and adverbs, etc. Epistemic and perception systems are used to allow readers to have access to the characters’ thoughts, feelings, and certainty or uncertainty through the external narrator, while deontic and boulomaic systems are used to foreground some religious and moral obligations and the characters’ desires and wishes through the external narrator.