Preface

TABLE OF CONTENTS

           After reading The Poetics of the New American Poetry, 1945-60, edited by Donald M. Allen and Warren Tallman (New York: Grove Press, 1973), I became fascinated or inspired--if not enamored -- by the resonance of that book’s title. I found myself formulating the title of my current study, The Poetics of Modern African Poetry. Herein lies the similarity (and no more) between that book and my current critical effort.

        Just exactly what constitutes “modern African poetry” is a matter for debate or conjucture, but there is no doubt that the concept of modern African poetry recurs again and again in the minds of people -- particularly among scholars, teachers, students -- who are interested in studying or trying to gain an insight into the nature of modern African poetry. In trying to understand modern African poetry, the student, for example, may want to find out where modern African poetry begins or where it differs from the verse that precedes it.

        However, in his anthology, West African Verse (1967), D.I. Nwoga distinguishes between what he describes as the “pioneer poets” and the “modern poets” in African poetry. According to him, the “pioneer poets” are the African poets who wrote poetry before the 1930s, while the “modern” African poets are those who wrote after that date. The poets he categorizes as the “pioneer poets” are Gladys Casely-Hayford, Raphael Ernest Gail Amattoe, Dennis Chukude Osadebay, and Michael Dei-Annang; while those he classifies as the “modern poets” are Abioseh Nicol, Gabriel Okara, Kwesi Brew, Frank Parkes, Christopher Okigbo, John Pepper Clark, Wole Soyinka, Lenrie Peters, George Awoonor Williams (Kofi Awoonor), Mbella Sonne Dipoko, Michael J.C. Echeruo, and Okogbuli Wonodi. Although Nwoga’s study applies to the West African poets specifically, I stand however to support his critical position, especially as he goes on to discuss the stylistic and thematic differences between the two categories of the African poets against a backdrop of the times in which they write.

        The aim of this book is to encourage people, especially those who are interested in poetry, to read, understand, and appreciate the range and scope of modern African poetry. The term, “the poetics,” is employed to designate the provenance, the dialectics, and the internal and external structures of modern African poetry. The authors discussed in the respective chapters are, in my critical judgment, not only the most interesting, but the most vibrant and representative of their kind in any meaningful study of modern African verse.

Chapter 1

“The Theme of Beauty in Leopold Sedar Senghor’s Poetry,” avers that, in his long and immensely successful career, Senghor celebrates three major themes, that is, the beauty of the African geographical landscape, the beauty of African womanhood, and the beauty of the ethos of the dead ancestors. Organized into three parts, each of them highlights how Senghor’s verse is enriched by the peculiar theme of beauty which defines it. Part 1 focuses on the African topological landscape; part two addresses the beauty of womanhood; while part three discusses the beauty of the dead ancestors. Furthermore, this chapter is of critical importance not only because of its contribution to Negritude literature but because it advances the theme of reconciliation against a backdrop of the discrimination and injustice which permeates interracial relationships.

Chapter 2

“David Diop and Africa,” discusses Diop’s fanatical love for Africa against a backdrop of Western colonialism which did not only denigrate Africa, but exploited its people economically, culturally, and politically. Diop exploits his poetic and rhetorical skills to ventilate his anger and disappointment, tapping on such devices as repetition, irony and satire in order to address his themes.

Chapter 3 

“Africanness in Birago Diop’s Poetry,” views the subject of Africa, its people and culture as central to the poet’s aesthetic endeavor. Birago Diop’s affection for Africa and its people is unparalled, and he pursues this theme-- as  well as the French assimilationist policy -- with restraint, grace, and decorum.

Chapter 4

“Remembering Apartheid: The Poetry of Dennis Brutus,” discusses the life and work of Dennis Brutus against a backdrop of the Apartheid policy. Born in 1924 in Salisbury, Rhodesia, he migrated with his parents to South Africa at an early age, receiving his tertiary education at the Fort Hare University where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree. A close study of his verse reveals that the three issues which dominate his poetic consciousness are: the menace of the Apartheid policy, the theme of love, and the role of poetic art in human life.

Chapter 5

“Gabriel Okara as a Poet,” examines Okara’s vast array of poetic subject matter despite the fact that his overall poetic output, while distinguished, is far from being voluminous or prodigious. Despite Okara’s relatively small lyrical corpus, he is able to address diverse poetic subjects encompassing the celebration of the indigenous African culture, Western colonialism, war, and death. Okara -- perhaps more than any other African poet -- explores such a wide diversity of poetic subjects against a backdrop of a relatively slim lyrical base.

Chapter 6, “Structure and Meaning in J.P. Clark-Bekederemo’s State of the Union,” discusses the predicament of the Nigerian nation. A major poetic work, the sequence has not received adequate criticism despite the fact that it compares with -- perhaps even surpasses in scope and intensity -- Chinua Achebe’s The Trouble With Nigeria and Peter Enahoro’s How to Be a Nigeria, both works which satirize the ills of the Nigerian society. State of the Union is a literary expose which accurately and completely satirizes with sensitivity and decorum the corruption and the other ills that afflict the Nigerian state in a vitriolic tone perhaps unequaled anywhere in the African literary canon.

Chapter 7, “The Dialectics of Okot p’Biteks’s Poetry,” examines the structure and the interrelationships between Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol, Okot p’Bitek’s two major poetic works. The conclusions drawn from the lyrics illuminate and elucidate the poet’s artistic corpus. The essay is organized into three parts: the first part discusses Song of Lawino; the second part focuses on Song of Ocol; while the third and final section not only draws a comparison and contrast between the two works, but arrives at significant conclusions based on the study.

Chapter 8

“Myth and Symbol in Awoonor’s Poetic Art,” focuses on how Awoonor employs myth and symbol to develop his themes of death, religion, and the conflict of cultures. Awoonor is a remarkable poet whose work, unfortunately, has not received the critical attention that it deserves. The chapter provides this missing link in order to expand not only the frontiers of his work, but to shed significant light on the parameters of his respective poetic themes. By myth, I mean the employment of images and metaphors and traditional African beliefs which are not immediately apparent or identifiable to the ordinary reader of a work of art. My discussion takes into consideration what Levi-Straus characterizes as “the myths within each culture as signifying systems whose true meanings are unknown to their true proponents.” By symbol, I mean the employment of images and metaphors which, by and large, take on a larger poetic meaning than is ordinarily imagined or contemplated by the audience or the reader of the poetic artifact.

Chapter 9

Discusses Wole Soyinka’s lyricism along the axis of language, style, and meaning, and arrives at the conclusion that, through his exploitation of various linguistic, rhetorical, and poetic devices and strategies, he gives voice, scope, and meaning to his poetic art. Much as Soyinka’s themes are eclectic and diverse -- encompassing the themes of racial discrimination, man’s inhumanity to man, political corruption, social injustice and death -- so also are his stylistic and linguistic modes which include the employment of elaborate imagery, satire, antithesis, dramatic dialogue, and Biblical allusions. Soyinka is a major poet who employs his lyricism to enlighten, entertain, and celebrate topical issues which are profoundly of interest to his reader or audience.

Chapter 10

Discusses Kwesl Brew’s lyricism. Although Brew has published major poetic works, including Shadows and Laughter (1968), African Panorama and Other Poems (1981), and Return of No Return (1995), not much critical attention has been paid to his work. The issues which Brew discusses in his verse are varied and universal, and they embody the loss of position or status, a celebration of innocence and the dead ancestors, and a world view dominated by the beautiful and the ugly. It is the hope that, with a more serious attention paid to these issues which this chapter addresses, the importance of Brew, both as man and poet, will be increasingly recognized.

Chapter 11

Discusses Solomon Unoh’s contribution to the development of modern African poetry through a consideration of his only published poetic volume, War Against Indiscipline and Other Poems (1986). Although Unoh was a distinguished academic who moved from the cursus honorum of professor to other ranks, including department head, dean, director, and consultant at the University of Ibadan (in fact, he was the foundation Head of the Department of Language Arts), where he moved on to become Deputy Vice Chancellor and ultimately Vice Chancellor at the University of Calabar (and later Deputy-Governor of the Cross River State of  Nigeria), it is his contribution to poetry that he will perhaps best be remembered for as his enduring legacy. Unoh’s poetry addresses public issues related to Western colonialism, moral indiscipline and lawlessness in contemporary Nigerian society.

Chapter 12

Explores Christopher Okigbo’s verse from the point of view of love, religion, art, and traditionalism, not only because this author believes that these four areas constitute the bedrock of his aesthic consideration, but because, through them, he sheds significant light on the provenance of his work. By love, I refer to Okigbo’s affectionate love lyrics. By religion, I discuss Okigbo’s treatment of the theme of faith and spirituality. By art I consider his celebration of poetry and poetic art; and by traditionalism, I discuss his celebration of the theme of the beliefs, customs, and traditions of his indigenous African background.

Oswald Mtshali, unlike his contemporaries on the South African poetic landscape -- especially Dennis Brutus and Mazisi Kunene -- has not received much international critical acclaim. Born in Vryheid in the Northern part of Kwa Zulu, Natal, his poetic work includes Sounds of a Cowhide Drum (1971), which was widely praised for its craftsmanship, and Fire Flames (1980), which is a more strident criticism of the South African Apartheid government. Mtshali’s poetic theme is two-pronged: a careful celebration of the indigenous African culture, and a deft denunciation of Western colonialism. All this is the focus of chapter 13.

Chapter 14

“Theme and Style in Lenrie Peters’ Poetry,” considers Peters’ handling of the dynamics of content and form in his verse. Born in 1932 in Bathurst in the Gambia, Peters was educated at Cambridge University, where he qualified as a medical doctor. He has practiced medicine in many countries, including Britain, Sierra Leone and the Gambia. Although a medical doctor he is also a poet, novelist, and playwright; his varied interests cover music, dancing, and broadcasting. As a poet, Lenrie Peters’ poetic themes encompass Africa’s socio-political values, and the negative effect of Western colonialism on the indigenous African culture. Unfortunately, however, neither these themes nor the style with which he articulates them, have been given serious critical attention. This chapter provides the missing perspective not only to expand the frontiers of his criticism, but to draw attention to the series of Africa’s economic and socio-cultural problems which need to be given priority consideration

Chapter 15

Discusses Agostinho Neto who used the power of his poetry and his activism to fight for the political freedom and emancipation of his country Angola. However, Neto is essentially concerned with social justice and how the Black man can redeem his battered image in a world dominated by injustice, iniquity, and the oppression of the weak and the poor by the powerful minority. After being imprisoned for several years by the Portuguese authorities, he came to witness first-hand the nature of man’s inhumanity to man. It is this theme of oppression and injustice that permeates most of Neto’s poetry.

        Born in Antananarivo in Madagascar in 1903, Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo was an illegitimate child who, through self-study and rigorous discipline, acquired the French language with which he received his formal education. He was highly associated with several literary circles and translated widely in both French and his native Malagasy oral corpus. Against this background, he produced verse that addresses universal themes, including art, nature, and death. These are some of the issues which chapter 16 addresses.

Chapter 17

“Taban lo Liyong’s Lyricism,” examines Taban’s poetic art against a backdrop of the socio-political milieu in which he writes. Although Taban’s works embody several literary pieces, including the short          n              story and the oral literary corpus, he is primarily a poet. This chapter discusses his poetic themes -- especially art, religion, science and technology -- and arrives at the significant conclusion that, despite his unique aesthetic style and his idiosyncrasies, his poetry will continue to appeal to contemporary audiences as well as future generation of readers.

Chapter 18

“Mazisi Kunene and the South African Experience,” discusses the work of Mazisi Kunene alongside the other issues that attract his attention, especially the apartheid policy, the beauty of the African topographical landscape, a celebration of the virtues of the dead ancestors, and the havoc which European colonialism has wrought on the indigenous African civilization.

Chapter 19

Examines Tchicaya U Tam’si’s lyricism. U Tam’si, who hails from Mpili in the People’s Republic of the Congo, was born in 1931 and died in 1988. Educated in both the People’s Republic of the Congo and in France under Negritude and Surrealist influences, he is a poet, novelist, and journalist. Many of his poetic works, including Bad Blood (1955), Epitome (1962), The Belly (1964), Selected Poems (1970), and The Inner Failure (1977) confirm his status as a major francophone poet. Unfortunately, however, his poetry has not received much critical attention, either because he writes mostly in French which is not easily understood by many of his readers, or because his writings are not readily accessible to his prospective audience. This chapter, therefore, discusses the thematic and stylistic aspects of his verse, not only to expand the corpus of his criticism, but to bring a better understanding and appreciation to his life and work.

Chapters 20 and 21

Focus on Gladys Caseley-Hayford and Phillis Wheatley respectively. African femine verse has not yet taken root profoundly. However, out of my respect and difference to womanhood, and in perhaps what F.R. Leavis would call a case of “irresistible rightness,” I have decided to treat the poetry of Phillis Wheatley and Gladys Casely-Hayford who are “pioneer” poets in their own rights. Both blazed the trail of poetry-writing at a time when the genre was not a popular art form -- especially among female writers during their respective eras. Wheatley wrote in the eighteenth century in the United States while Casely-Hayford wrote in Africa during the early part of the twentieth century. The theme of racial identity and pride of race predominates in their verse.

        Another justification for the space accorded Casely-Hayford in this book centers on the fact that, she is not only a “pioneer poet” who blazed the trail in the African poetic genre, but the issues which she addresses in her poetry -- especially nature, Christianity, and injustice --- are today still pertinent. In African poetry, she represents a watershed that can neither be dismissed nor ignored.

        As for Wheatley, she is one of the most interesting poets in African American letters. In 1773, for example, that is, at the young age of nineteen, she published her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. During her brief literary career, Wheatley had three principal interests or affinities, namely, humanity or the human cause; Christianity; and poetry. This chapter posits that her life and work are far more expansive and interesting than are generally recognized. By discussing her work along these three trajectories, the full measure of her stature and her contribution to African poetic art will be fully realized.

Chapter 22

“Langston Hughes’s Aesthetic Debt to Africa,” can be said to be a corollary to the above, especially in theme. But Langston Hughes’s subject matter covers more than racial issues; it encompasses the strength and durability of the African phenomenon, the theme of justice and injustice, and man’s perennial obligation to himself and to society.

Chapter 23

The final chapter of this book, focuses on the theme of corruption which is increasingly receiving the attention of most African poets. Now that colonialism and neo-colonialism have become issues of the past, most contemporary African poets are finding the corruption issue as one of the principal areas of their literary discourse. This chapter is important not only because it offers this author the opportunity to discuss the contribution of some lesser-known poets -- including Dennis Osadebay, Syl Cheney-Coker, Benji Egede, Mbella Sonne Dipoko and others -- whose lyrics though less distinguished in their thematic and stylistic characteristics, and who therefore could not have separate chapters each to themselves, are nonetheless important in understanding the form and nature of modern African verse.

        The heading under which each author is discussed suggests the predominant characteristics in that author’s work. For example, in discussing Okigbo under the subjects of love, religion, art, and traditionalism, it underscores my belief that these respective themes are the dominant elements that distinguish his verse.

        The Poetics of Modern African Poetry will be found useful for a variety of reasons. First, it discusses the genesis or provenance of African poetics from its orality stage to its current state of the post-independence period: it highlights the fact that the modern African poets, perhaps realizing the fact that the European colonization theme of exploitation and injustice is no longer pertinent or relevant to contemporary poetic realities, are increasingly focusing their attention on the theme of corruption which is being perpetrated today by the African elites themselves.

        Secondly, the field of African poetry, diverse as it is, has  hitherto not been explored as much as it should be prior to the  current study, a situation made more complex by the fact that, poetry or poetic study, is often viewed with skepticism and trepidation by most teachers, scholars, and students. For the first time, modern African poetry is discussed not only with understanding and sensitivity, but with a great deal of simplicity, clarity and insight.

        To be sure, poetry or poetic study has influenced the fortunes of contemporary Africa in various spheres of life -- political, economic, religious, and social, especially since the postcolonial period. Furthermore, other than the fact that the achievement of political independence by most African countries was possible mostly through the writings of the African poets, the teacher and the student of modern African poetry will find this book most invaluable for several other reasons: for example, the teacher who is involved in curricular and syllabi development; and the student who must of necessity take tests and examinations throughout the course of his academic career.

        Other areas in which the text will be of inestimable value to the teacher include his topic selection, theme analysis, and architectonic development; while for the student his exposure to the various areas of modern African poetry will not only enrich his poetic imagination but will spur him to study -- with profit and delight -- the poetry from other cultures and backgrounds.

        Finally, the various poets covered in this work (numbering more than twenty) are remarkable; so also are the various themes and prosodic devices explored. Furthermore, the various subjects and topics discussed in the study -- including “pioneer” poetry, “negritude” poetry, the themes of culture-conflict, the pernicious effect of Western colonialism, “lusophone” poetry, “francophone” poetry, the “apartheid policy,” etc. -- are not only interesting, but they will surely enhance the frontiers of modern African poetry and its criticism. 

        The writing of this book is not without the challenges often associated with a study of this magnitude. For example, the task involved in teaching graduate and undergraduate courses, as well as in administration as chair of a large department of English, cannot be over-emphasized.

        There is also the onerous task of finding relevant or appropriate texts that can address the extant and evolving body of the African poetic sensibility. Consequently, several anthologies were consulted, including Gerald Moore’s and Ulli Beier’s Modern Poetry from Africa (Penguin Books, 1976), Gerald Moore’s and Ulli Beier’s The Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry (Fourth edition, 1998), K.E. Senanu’s and T. Vincent’s A Selection of African Poetry (Longman Group ltd, 1976), Isidore Okpewho’s The Heritage of African Poetry: An Anthology of Oral and Written Poetry (Longman Group Ltd., 1992), and Ulli Beier’s Introduction to African Literature: An Anthology of Critical Writing (Longman Group Ltd, 1979). I am immensely grateful to these authors and publishers.

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