Aspects of African Oral Poetry
African Oral Poetry is the root or base for African written poetry. Although African
Oral poetry is a serious art worthy of attention, it was ignored for a long time and
has only recently commanded the attention it deserves from African scholars.
African oral poetry
African oral poetry refers to poems that constitute the verbal art that is not written
down. From time immemorial, Africans have been composing poems verbally and
these songs have been passed on from one generation to another through the word
of mouth. Such poems are included in folktales, epics, myths, legends, riddles,
proverbs, songs, chants, incantations, and dances.
These constitute the very
existence of an African. For instance, these are performed to mark the birth of an
African child and continue to form the basis of his or her existence during initiation
ceremonies, prayers, wedding ceremonies, funeral rituals and installation
ceremonies.
African poetry existed before poems were first written down around the 1930s.
African Oral Poetry has existed as long as Africans have existed. It is the genesis of
what is today called written poetry. One major characteristic of oral poetry is that it
was created and later shared through word of mouth, before being written down.
Hence oral poetry may have originated as songs, tales (epics), prayers or even as
witty sayings. Below are some examples of poets who have used oral tradition to
write poetry:

Okot p’ Bitek’s Song of Lawino (1966)

Steve Chimombo’s Napolo poems
African poetry is closely linked with politics. It portrays how the society’s power
was organized, shared and affected. The different phases of development of African
poetry reflect the different political statuses and changes experienced before, during
and after the colonial influence.
Notice that some traditional African poetry illustrates how Africa was not only
stripped off of the land of their inherent attachment, but also suffered cultural
condemnation. Poets consequently embarked on a series of land, cultural or identity
lamentations. Early traditional African oral poetry had however been negatively
affected. Since it was not written down, it was associated with primitive culture and
some critics argued that something that is oral cannot be called ‘literature’ possibly
because they were associating literature with literacy and the literate.
Activity 1
What could be the two possible basic factors that might have negatively affected the
development of African traditional poetry?
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The Significance and features of Traditional Oral Poetry
Traditional oral poetry is the basis of African life from time immemorial. Any
African born on the soils of Africa listens to the songs from the time he or she is born
to the time he or she dies.
There are a number of distinctive features of traditional Africa oral poetry. For
instance, such poetry deals with a wide range of human experiences like death,
birth, weddings, hunting and war. It brings to mind the images of all that is in the
surrounding human environment and it was mainly composed of praise poetry,
religion, lyrics, dirges, occupational poetry; the poetry of abuse, satires, and
celebratory poetry. Furthermore, it is rich in figurative forms of expression like
imagery, metaphors, similes, personification etc. These forms of expression contain
deep and good reflections about the world. The modern world of African poetry is
indebted to traditional poetry for it draws greatly on tradition, showing variety and
the intrinsic beauty of these traditional forms in terms of themes, techniques, values,
complexity and relevance of simple cultural acts.
Some of the oral works (folklore) have been directly translated into English, French
or Portuguese languages. For examples: Epics of Sundiata from Mali Kingdom,
legends of Shaka Zulu from South Africa and Song of Lawino by Okot p’Bitek from
Uganda have an oral base. Although translations distort a great deal of the original
message and that something of the artistry is lost, good translations are themselves
creative works and often succeed in conveying the essential qualities and meanings
of the original.
Activity 2
What could be the possible distinctive features of traditional Africa oral poetry?
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Functions of Traditional Oral Poetry to Society
Traditionally, oral poetry had been and continues to be a source of inspiration, origin
and background to many aspects of life of people in different societies.
Education
As young members of the society grow, they are expected to assume and perform
different communal roles. As many participate in these roles, they learn skills,
culture etc. The history of the nation is enacted through poetry. Occupations such as
cattle herding, hunting, and domestic chores like pounding, building etc also require
accompaniment of certain songs.
Social Control
Religious or cultural songs are performed to portray a special message to members
of the society and to approve or disapprove of certain behaviour. People who
misbehave are criticised through songs. For example, during wedding ceremony,
elders sing songs that carry messages that the newly wedded are now old and
should behave as expected.
Cultural Continuity
Cultural values, norms and practices are transmitted, perpetuated and consolidated
through oral poetry; participation and listening to certain practices and briefs. Most
activities were and still are performed in accompaniment with singing. This is
common during initiation rituals where elders, for example, sing songs that carry
messages on how to take care of the husband, wife or father-in-law.
Unity
Oral poetry promotes unity and the feeling of solidarity. Epics were and are still
performed for heroes of the nation. People believed and still believe that epics
provide solidarity and promote them to work together as groups. Likewise, during
malipenga dance in Nkhata Bay or Karonga districts in the northern region of
Malawi, people from different parts gather at one place and showcase their dancing
talents. This is also true with other traditional dances in many parts of the country.
Entertainment
Songs are also sung for entertainment during games, dances and parties. Riddles
and jokes performed in the evening after members of the family have taken food
provide a sort of entertainment. Sometimes elders are involved in telling tales as
those found in Tito Banda’s Old Nyaviyuyi in Performance. Enala Mvula (Old
Nyaviyuyi) used to perform her tale-telling in the evening to a group of young
women before Tito Banda collected and transcribed the oral pieces. These tales are
best performed in the afternoon and provides a lot of entertainment as the audience
responds to the narrator’s directions. Traditional dances during initiation
ceremonies, installation of chiefs and wedding ceremonies provide a wide range of
entertainment.
Emotional Release and Recreation
When you are emotionally restricted, you can dance to release, or to amuse and
enjoy yourself. Oral poetry was therefore used for emotional release and recreation.
This function was fulfilled during funeral ceremonies, hunting, games and times of
war to encourage one another and get rid of fear. For example, people sing spiritual
songs throughout the night marking the anniversary of the deceased (during kumeta
ceremony) which provides a lot emotional release. Likewise, the song Ukatopa
ndikubereka sung during football matches is aimed at cheering the players. This gives
the players vigour and enthusiasm to continue playing and not to be afraid of their
opponents.
Escape from reality
By listening to oral poetry with its message, which appeals to the sense of
imagination, enjoyment or sorrow or by getting involved in the singing, one
momentarily runs away or escapes from one’s immediate problem into the world of
utopia. Most pounding songs are meant to help those involved in the strenuous
work not feel the full weight of this tough work. These songs ease the pounding
tasks because the tough work becomes lighter.
How else can oral poetry be used in praise and worship, in healing some ailments, in
political parties, as a means of occupation, in encouraging creativity, in lobbying and
sensitization, as a means of cultural identity?
Activity 3
a) Is it possible for each oral piece to serve two distinctive functions?
b) How can oral poetry be used for education as well as unity?
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Unit Assessment Test
1. What is the genesis of African poetry in English?
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2. What is the major function of proverbs that are orally passed on from
one generation to another?
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3. How does oral poetry enhance the development of African culture?
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Summary
In this unit, we have discussed African oral poetry. We have also provided
significance of the oral traditions to the development of African poetry in English.
We further provided distinctive features and roles of African oral poetry. In the next
unit, we shall discuss the emergence of African poetry in English which starts with
the works of Pioneer poets.
Further Readings
Ashcroft et al. (1989). The Empire Writes Back: Theory & Practice in Postcolonial
Literatures. London & New York: Routledge
Chinweizu et al. (1980). Towards the Decolonization of the African Literature.
Vol.1. Enugu: Fourth Dimensions Publishers
Conrad, Joseph. (1990). Heart of Darkness. New York: Dover Publications
Fanon, Frantz. (1984). The Wretched of the Earth. London: Penguin
Finnegan, Ruth, (1976). Oral Literature in Africa. Nairobi: Oxford University Press
Finnegan, Ruth, (1967). Limba Stories and Story-Telling, London: Oxford
University Press.
Nwoga, D. I. “Modern African Poetry: The Domestication of a Tradition”. In E. D.
Jones (Ed.). (1979). African Literature Today 10: Retrospect & Prospect. London:
Heinemann
Pioneer Poetry
The Development of Poetry in Africa: Introduction
The development of African poetry in English passed through the following phases:
a) Pioneer phase; covers poets that were the first to write in European languages.
b) Transitional phase, covering poets that bridge pioneer and modern phases
c) Modern phase. This phase covers the following regions: West African, East
African, Central African and Southern African poetry.
The Pioneer Phase of Development of African Poetry
The first phase in the development of African poetry is the pioneer phase. It
occurred during the 1930s and 1940s. African pioneer poetry can be classified into
three categories: Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone poetry.
Anglophone Poets
Poets of English expression are called Anglophone poets. Examples of Anglophone
pioneer poets are: Denis Osadebay, Gladys Casely Hayford, Michael Dei-Anang and
Raphael Armattoe. They were in their countries hence growth of their poetry was
slow since they had no one to aspire after. They were also not enthusiastic enough to
explore their own artistic background, but through their reading, were satisfied with
imitating poetry of the English poets such as John Keats and William Wordsworth,
poets of the romantic tradition of late 18th and early 19th century in England. These
English poets were known for their lyric writing style and use of conventional
modes of metre, stanza, standard and hymnal rhymes. This gave their poems an
archaic sound, resulting in diluted poetry as it lacked in imagery and language
richness. At other times Anglophone poets met the requirements for fear of being
labelled rebels and not having their poems published.
Activity 1
Why were Anglophone pioneer poets rigid in their treatment of poetry?
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Francophone Poets
Pioneer poets of French expression are called Francophone poets. Examples of
Francophone poets include Leopold Sedar Senghor, David Diop and Birago Diop.
These are also sometimes called Negritude poets. The common aspect in the poetry
of this phase is that of writers in exile. These poets were keenly aware of being
colonials whose identity was under siege. The situation of Francophone writers
differed from the situation of Anglophone. Francophone poets were in exile under a
different education system. The elite were taken to Paris for academic grooming and
service in the colonial governments. While in exile, the poets’ style and mode of
writing changed due to the influence of different people. They imitated their colonial
masters and in the process realized the pathetic treatment the colonial masters gave
them. As a result, these writers experimented with the new styles while still
maintaining their strong, structured imagery and figurative language.
Activity 2
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow:
The Vultures
by David Diop
In those days
When civilization kicked us in the face
When holy water slapped our cringing brows
The vultures built in the shadow of their talons
The bloodstained monument of tutelage
In those days
There was painful laughter on the metallic hell of the roads
and the monotonous rhythm of the paternoster
Drowning the howling on the plantations.
On the bitter memories of extorted kisses
Of promises broken at the point of a gun
Of foreigners who did not seem human
Who knew all the books but did not know love.
But we whose hands fertilize the womb of the earth
In spite of your songs of pride
In spite of the desolate villagers of torn Africa
Hope was preserved in us as a fortress
And from the mines of Swaziland to the factories of Europe
Spring will be reborn under our bright steps.
Questions
a) Who is the persona in this poem?
b) What is the message in this poem?
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2.1.3 Lusophone Poets
Poets of Portuguese expression are called Lusophone poets. Although their poetry
was written much later than Francophone and Anglophone poets, it is similar in
content or subject matter to poetry of the pioneering phase. These are poets who
either originally wrote in Portuguese or came from the Portuguese-speaking colonies
of Mozambique and Angola. The most prominent ones are Agostinho Neto and
Antonio Jacinto [pronounced Yacinto] from Angola and Noemia de Sousa, a lady
from Mozambique. These poets wrote during the 1940s and 1950s. It is also on the
same basis of themes and content that Angolan and Mozambican pioneer poetry is
closely linked to Negritude.
Characteristics of Lusophone Poetry
Lusophone poetry is included in poetry of the pioneering phase because it has
features that are similar to the pioneer poetry. Countries that were under Portugal
had to engage physical battles with the colonial power (Portugal) in order to set
themselves free.
Lusophone poetry bears some relationships with poetry of the pioneer phase. For
example, their land had been taken away and they lived in slum areas so they
wanted to repossess their land. Therefore repossession of their land was one of their
major themes or messages in their poems. It is poetry centred on ghetto life, urban
life and songs - all talking of repossessing their land. There is an oral element created
by the use of repetitive refrains, lines and verses. The message in the Lusophone
poems is more radical than in the Francophone and Anglophone writing because
they [Lusophone poets] were involved in the guerrilla war.[eg Neto later became the
first president of independent Angola].
Activity 3
What are some of the features of Lusophone poetry?
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South African Pioneer Poets
In the pioneering phase, South Africa had three notable poets. These are: Benedict
Wallet Vilakazi, Peter Abrahams and Herbert Dhlomo. South Africa pioneer poetry
was influenced by Ngoni Zulu praises. These also affected the birth of written Zulu
Literature in the 20th century. South Africa pioneer poetry is poetry of protest and
resistance. The three poets were actually the first to write in vernacular. However at
a later period, South African poets increased in number. Their poems deal with the
plight of people in the slums. Their themes are similar to Lusophone poetry of
protest. Their central theme is related to the themes of oppression, hate,
institutionalized
violence,
detention,
deprivation
and
dispossession,
dehumanization, despair and suffering, pain and starvation in the slums. This poetry
also covers Black consciousness whose themes are closely similar to the Negritude
themes in Lusophone poetry, kinship, love and hope. Through writing, South
Africans are encouraged to be proud of their country, their culture. Oppressed South
Africans are also encouraged to uphold the struggle for freedom and independence.
Activity 4
What is so unique about pioneer poetry from South African scene?
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Dennis Vincent Brutus
Dennis Vincent Brutus (born November 28, 1924, Salisbury, Rhodesia) is a South
African poet. A graduate of the University of Fort Hare and the University of the
Witwatersrand, Brutus was formerly on the faculty of the University of Denver and
Northwestern University.
Dennis Brutus was an activist against
the apartheid government of South
Africa in the 1960s. He worked to get
South Africa suspended from the
Olympics; this eventually led to the
country's expulsion from the games
in 1970. He joined the Anti-Coloured
Affairs
Department
organisation
(Anti-CAD), a group that organised against the Coloured Affairs Department which
was an attempt by the government to institutionalise divisions between blacks and
coloureds. He was arrested in 1963 and jailed for 18 months on Robben Island.
Brutus was forbidden to teach, write and publish in South Africa. Sirens, Knuckles
and Boots, his first collection of poetry, was published in Nigeria while he was in
prison. The book was awarded the Mbari Poetry Prize, awarded to a black poet of
distinction, but Brutus turned it down on the grounds of its racial exclusivity. After
he was released, Brutus fled South Africa. In 1983, Brutus won the right to stay in the
United States as a political refugee, after a protracted legal struggle. He was
"unbanned" in 1990. He is the Professor Emeritus of University of Pittsburgh. He has
now returned to South Africa and is based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal
where he often contributes to the annual Poetry Africa Festival hosted by the
University. He continues to support activism against neo-liberal policies in
contemporary South Africa through working with NGOs. In December 2007, Brutus
was to be inducted into the South African Sports Hall of Fame. At the induction
ceremony, Brutus publicly turned down his nomination, stating, "It is incompatible
to have those who championed racist sports alongside its genuine victims. It’s
time—indeed long past time—for sports truth, apologies and reconciliation."
Mazisi Kunene
Kunene drew on the oral tradition of Zulu literature to create poetry
about Zulu history and thought as well as to celebrate pan-African
values. He once said: "a writer … should avoid the temporary
attractions of cheap popularity and make a contribution to the
community that gave birth to his genius." He translated some of his works into
English, including his most famous work, a translation of the great oral epic
Emperor Shaka the Great (1979). He wrote this still widely taught text, about the
powerful early 19th-century Zulu leader, while living in West Hollywood in the
mid-1970s.
Although most of his work has been neither published nor translated, his most
famous work has been translated into many languages, including English, French,
German, Japanese and Dutch. Kunene started writing in Zulu when he very young
and had published a number of poems in newspapers and magazines before he was
12. He won the Bantu Literary Competition when he was 26.
Kunene’s works were originally written in Zulu before they were translated into
other languages. He believed that true African literature must be written in African
languages. The problem about writing in a foreign language, he said, is that one is
not in control of it and its psychology.
He regarded the affirmation of an African aesthetic, especially with regard to
poetics, as an important dimension of the freedom of African people, on the
continent and in the Diasporas, from the degrading stereotypes and literary
pretensions of the West. Kunene stressed that his literary goal is the re-telling of
African history in a way he believed would make it relevant and authentic to the
non-African.
Writing Style of South African Pioneer Poets
Poetry of Herbert Dhlomo, Dennis Brutus, Mazizi Kunene, Mbuyiseni Oswald
Mtshali, Sipho Sepambla and Mongane Wally Serote was a political tool as such it
has several features that suit its aims and objectives. For instance

It is written is a simple and direct style. It has no decorations or
embellishment.

It is in a clearly articulated language, strengthened by vivid imagery.

South African Poetry has sparse evocative imagery that exposes immediate
experiences and scenes.

This poetry also has an oral quality that is marked by its repetitive refrains,
lines or verses.

Some poets employ a great deal of improvisation in their poems eg Serote’s
poems

Some poems have forceful, vigorous and sometimes jumpy and fast-paced
rhythm. These poems follow traditional African songs and spiritual or other
oral forms.

Some poets deliberately write in vernacular languages. For example, Mazizi
Kunene writes in Zulu then translates some of his poems into English. As
such his poems have a communal and oral quality similar to Zulu oral poetic
forms such as the praise poems and heroic epics. Kunene’s poems
demonstrate strong oratorical and rhetorical eloquence, and carry dramatic
elements’ internal rhythms, concrete imagery and internal symbolism.
Tone of Voice of South African Poets
The tone of these South African Poets is varied. Since it was mainly protest poetry,
its tone ranges from sombre and quiet anger to strident, passionate and defiant
aggression.
Poets favoured the use of irony and wit because of the strict censorship laws. These
poets were also influenced by the Harlem renaissance movement that started in New
York district of Harlem in 1920s. Some of the African American poets whose works
and political activities influenced South African poets include Marcus Garvey and
James Baldwin.
Unit Assessment Test
1. Below is one of the poems by pioneer poets. Read it carefully and answer
questions that follow.
Servant-kings
By R. E. G. Armattoe
Leave them alone,
Leave them to be
Men lost to shame,
To honour lost!
Servant kinglets,
Riding to war
Against their own,
Watched by their foes
Who urge them on,
And laugh at them!
Leave them alone,
Men lost to shame,
To honour lost.
a) Who is the persona?
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b)What is the message in this poem?
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c) What is the tone of the poem?
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2. Why are Lusophone writers also included in pioneering phase of African poetry?
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3. What is the original language in which Noemia de Sousa and Leopold Sedar
Senghor wrote their poetry?
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Summary
In this unit, we have discussed African oral poetry. We have also provided relevance
of the oral traditions to the development of African poetry in English. We further
provided the significance and roles of African oral poetry. In the next unit, we shall
discuss the emergence of African poetry in English which starts with the works of
Pioneer poets.
Further Readings
Ashcroft et al. (1989). The Empire Writes Back: Theory & Practice in Postcolonial
Literatures. London & New York: Routledge
Chinweizu et al. (1980). Towards the Decolonization of the African Literature.
Vol.1. Enugu: Fourth Dimensions Publishers
Nwoga, D. I. “Modern African Poetry: The Domestication of a Tradition”. In E. D.
Jones (Ed.). (1979). African Literature Today 10: Retrospect & Prospect. London:
Heinemann
Nwoga, D. I. (1967). West African Verse: An Anthology. London: Longman
Abodunrin, Femi, 2008). Blackness: Culture, Ideology and Discourse. Ibadan:
Dokun Publishing House.
Negritude Poetry
The Emergence of Negritude Poetry
There is no way African Poetry can be discussed in isolation without Negritude
expression, a reaction against the cultural deprivation and western culture. The
word “Negritude” was invented in 1932 by Aime’ Ce`saire, a coloured poet and
politician from Matinique. It originated from the word Negre, meaning ‘the state of
being Black.’ Aime Cesaire, Leopold Sedar Senghor and other poets had as pioneers,
a bad experience in Europe, which may have led to this Black consciousness
movement. As revolutionary movement, Negritude took root among the Negro and
African intellectuals of French expression. This poetry moved away from the
conventions of English poetry, making them pioneers of this new direction that the
African poetry took.
Activity 1
Why did negritude poets emphasize protest and revolt?
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Negritude Ideology
Negritude, according to Leopold Sedar Senghor, is the whole complex of civilized
values - cultural, economic, social, and political - which characterize the black
peoples or more precisely the Negro African world. First used by Cesaire in his 1939
poem notebook, A Return to My Native Land, Negritude refers to a collective
identity of the African Diaspora born of a common historical and cultural experience
of subjugation. Both the term and subsequent literary and cultural movement that
developed equally emphasized the possible negation of that subjugation via
concerted actions of racial affirmation, specifically of the black race. In succeeding
decades, the term became a focus for ideological disputes among the black
intelligentsia of the Francophone world in the process of decolonization. Writers
such as Leopold Sedar Senghor, Frantz Fanon, and the Anglophone Wole Soyinka
each weighed their own reformations and critiques of Cesaire’s concept.
As a philosophical and cultural movement, Negritude aimed at affirming the value
and virtues of Africa and African civilizations. It laid the foundations for a new and
truly innovative African poetry in a colonial language. The concept of Negritude
represents a historic development in the formulation of African diasporic identity
and culture in this century. The term is a re-assessment of Africa and an affirmation
of an overwhelming pride in black heritage and culture, and, in Marcus Garvey’s
words, an assertion that blacks are “descendants of the greatest and proudest race
who ever peopled the earth.” The concept finds its roots in the thought of Martin
Delany, William Blyden, and W.E.B. Du Bois, each of whom sought to erase the
stigma attached to the black world through their intellectual and political efforts on
behalf of the African Diaspora.
Negritude was partly born out of and supported by the cultural and literary
awakening of the African Americans called Harlem Renaissance. This took place
between 1919 and 1940 in New York City, particularly in the district of Harlem.
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City district of Manhattan, long known
as a major black cultural and business centre. Harlem Renaissance was a brilliant
moment in the history of blacks in America. Likewise, Marcus Garvey, a black
activist in America strongly argued for this physical return to Africa. He started a
shipping company “The Black Star Liner” whose main aim was to carry Black people
in the diaspora back to Africa.
However, the negritude movement was not supported by all African writers. For
instance, the Nigerian novelist, poet and critic, Wole Soyinka, famously argued that
“a tiger does not proclaim its tigritude, it just pounces.” Such critics of negritude
argue that there is no need for the negritudinists to proclaim their blackness, what is
needed is action. Some African critics argue that Negroes are not Africans. As such,
Taban lo Liyong and John Pepper Clark believed that negritude movement was
relevant to the Africans in the Diaspora and not those that were physically present in
Africa. In one of his critical essays, Taban lo Liyong suggests that Negritude poetry
is ‘crying over spilt milk’. He argues that going back to African roots is unrealistic
because the whole world is undergoing change. What Africans need to do is to
concentrate on what is happening at present and about the future. If poets want to
be realistic about their subjects such as Africa, they should look at both sides of the
coin. This means that they should proclaim its beauty as well as its dark side and
violence in countries like The Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC] and Somalia
where Blacks are fighting and killing fellow Blacks.
Activity 2
Why was negritude movement not supported by all African writers?
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Main purposes and aims of Negritude Poetry
From the 1940s, the concept of Negritude was a rallying term for peoples of the
African Diaspora. It affirmed black cultural values against those of white EuroAmericans. It was an identity grounded in shared, if different, experiences of
colonialism and African origins. Its fundamental objective was the need to “define
black aesthetics and consciousness against a background of racial injustice and
discrimination around the world, and this is why its poetry demanded a strong
verbal rhythm, a wealth of African allusions and a general exaltation of the “African
personality.” Negritude was born to seek out richness and originality and
rehabilitate that had been marginalized.
Negritude poetry therefore serves a number of purposes in the development of
African poetry. Generally, it acts as the engine for identity development of African
poets in the Diaspora as such it aims at reasserting and reviving through literature,
cultural values, identity and authenticity of Africans and to extol the ancestral
glories and the beauty of Africa, partly through renunciation of what is Western
[education, law, culture and language] and partly through a re-ordering of imagery.
Negritude poetry is centred on African experiences, answering back and
condemning the White man’s accusations. In view of this, it does not so much put
emphasis on conventions [meter, rhyme] but on rhythmic repetition which makes
the poetry sound lyrical-or more like a song. Lyricism and repetition are very
important in African poetry.
Activity 3
Explain two aims of Negritude poetry in the development of African poetry.
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Common Elements Manifested in Negritude Poetry
Negritude poetry employs the following common elements: traditional images; local
references and symbols; lyrical elements [musical touch] which harness the rhythm
of traditional oral poetry; bold and strong declaration of those qualities that
distinguish African from Europeans [through comparing the two hence demeaning
the European qualities, and upholding African Values]; statements of agony, misery
and hard life under White domination because of the colour of their [Black] skin;
evocation of ancestral spirits which according to African beliefs have a lot to do with
the fate of human being. It was just like in Christianity where we have the Holy
Spirit influencing the fate of human beings. It also involves rejection of Europe
[because the White man is blamed for the destruction of African culture and values,
causing physical pain and humiliation to Africans] while praising Africa through
nostalgic images. It highlights culture and value; calls to Africa to build a better
world for herself by talking of a better yesterday, and fashioning a sense of identity
by calling on Africans to recover their lost pride and confidence.
Major Tenets of Negritude
Negritude‘s major tenets are clearly brought out in Negritude poetry, which has
been variously described as poetry of refusal, rejection or of repudiation. What this
entails is that the Negro poet rejects a certain way of life, and or condition which has
been wittingly imposed on the African, and by extension on the black man in the
Diaspora. Negritude’s tenets naturally derive from the definitions of the term
Negritude. These are the doctrines that governed the negritude movement and its
thematic formulation.
They include identity, beauty as incarnate in the black
women, and universal role
The Doctrine of Identity
The doctrine of identity states that black people have an integrated separated
identity marking them out from other peoples in the world. According to Senghor,
negritude is the awareness, defense and development of Africa cultural values. For
the African to maintain his Africanness, he must keep these values and traditions.
This doctrine came about due to the alienation the black students studying in France
faced as a result of the French policy of assimilation, which attempted to propagate
French civilization, through the discriminatory policies of French education, at the
expense of indigenous culture. These students realized that after abandoning their
culture, they were not recognized as French because of the colour of their skin.
Hence, it is easy to recognize signs of alienation from the native past: nostalgia and
the desire to coincide again, to bring the past back. For example, “In Your presence”
by David Diop is thankful that he has finally rediscovered his identity. Part of the
poem reads:
In your presence I rediscovered my name
My name that was hidden under the pain of separation
I discovered the eyes no longer veiled with fever
In your presence I have rediscovered the memory of my blood.
Negritude aimed at returning to black people a humanity that had been denied to
them by centuries of denigration and brutalization that reached its apex through
colonization. Negritude is an affirmation that black people are humans, contrary to
prejudiced opinion by Europeans who doubted black people’s humanity.
The doctrine of beauty as incarnate in the black women
In extolling the virtues of specific aspects of an African indigenous culture,
Negritude poets praise the Negro physique and physical beauty in an African
woman. The African woman is the living embodiment of the black people’s
relationship with nature, whom Senghor has consistently seen in the light of the
African landscape. In presenting the theme of blackness (black beauty), Senghor
frequently employs a trope, the embodiment of Africa in the figure of a woman. The
poem “ Black woman” provides a good example:
Nude woman, black woman,
Clothed in your colour which is life, your form which is beauty!
I grew in your shadow, the sweetness of your hands bandaged my eyes
And here in the heart of summer and of noon, I discover you, promised land
…. And your beauty strikes my heart, like the lightning of an eagle.
The black woman, who became a goddness in the eyes of the negritude writers,
served as a generic marker in negritude poetry. She is also found in “Night of Sine,”
and functions formally and thematically to glorify and promote African culture.
Through this representation, a negative image of Africa as savage and treacherous is
replaced by a positive one. Africa is shown as warm, sensuous, fruitful and
nurturing. In negritude poetry, a woman operates at the level of an ‘image’. It is a
dominant image in Senghor’s poetry with which Senghor praises African beauty
hence raising black self-esteem and respect. Contemporary writers such as Femi
Abodunrin have taken up the task of extolling blackness. Femi Abodunrin’s
Blackness-Culture, Ideology and Discourse critically looks at the essence of Blackness
and its manifestation in creative writings from the heartland of Africa and from the
Diaspora.
The negritude movement was concerned with the doctrine of originality or
naturalness against the artificiality of Europeans. In the negritude writings, whites
and their civilization are belittled; whites are seen as superficial, vain, insensitive
and inhuman. Through poetry, Negritude poets protested against physical, social
and cultural domination of the colonizing nations and voiced Africans’ collective
being, unity with nature, rhythm and emotion. For example, part of Senghor’s poem
“New York” reads:
New York! I say to you: New York let black blood flow into your blood
That it may rub the trust from your steel joints, like an oil of life
That it may give to your bridges the bend of buttocks and the suppleness of
creepers
There are your rivers murmuring with scented crocodiles and mirage-eyed…
And no need to invent the sirens.
In “New York,” Senghor displays the regenerative power of black humanity against
the background of Western impersonal and artificial way of life. In the West, there is
non-genuineness in the laughter, smile, or the look on their faces.
In Western societies, everything is done at the fixed time, there is no warmth, hearty
laughter or true friendship. Tasks are done by machines, the people are materialistic
and their voices are like the “wailing piano.” The theme of naturalness of Africans is
brought in the words the poet does not say. It lies in all that Europe is not.
The doctrine of universal role
The doctrine of universal role presents the black man as a reservoir of world’s
humanity and assigns to him the role of rejuvenating mankind that has been
impoverished by the abstractness and impersonality of the white world. The essence
of that communal warmth and the use of African symbols and rhythm did not
divide nor sterilize the world but unified and made it fertile. Africa, which had
always been despised and scorned by the luckier races, is presented in David Diop’s
“The Vultures” as giver of life and presents the following attributes:
But we whose hands fertilize the womb of the earth
In spite of your songs of pride
In spite of your desolate villages of torn Africa
Hope was preserved in us as in a fortress
And from the mines of Swaziland to the factories of Europe
Spring will be reborn under our bright steps
It is believed that Africans are a chosen people who would bring forth life to the
whole world.
Criticisms against Negritude Philosophy
Negritude has passed through many phases of change partly in response to
criticisms labelled against it especially due to the charges of romanticism and racism.
The idealist school of negritude, as promoted by Leopold Senghor, has often been
said to consist of romantic philosophizing that bears no direct relation to economic
realities of Africa.
It is also considered racist because it is based on the idea that certain races are
superior to others. On the other hand, the realist school of Negritude, as promoted
by David Diop is more of a humanistic creed which emphasizes the values of
African civilizations such as labour force in form of slaves; natural resources which
aided in the civilization of Europeans. It advocates Africans using the same natural
resources to improve themselves.
Wole Soyinka argued that ‘a tiger does not proclaim its tigritude; it just pounces’.
What he meant was that it was not necessary to waste time over-praising the beauty,
strength or any other superhuman qualities of an African. His philosophy was that
an African should not ‘say’ but ‘show’ that he is capable
Activity 4
How are negritude ideas presented in literature?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Unit Assessment Test
1. Pick out negritude poets from the following list: Pepper Clark, Aime Cesaire,
Birago Diop, and Wole Soyinka.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
2. How important were negritude poets in the development of African poetry?
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3. Why was Soyinka opposed to the idea of negritude poetry?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Summary
In this unit, we have provided an explanation of negritude poetry. In this regard we
have discussed and explained the emergence of Negritude poetry and Negritude
ideology. We have also covered main elements of Negritude poetry, criticism against
Negritude poetry and major objectives and tenets of Negritude poetry.
Further Readings
Abdonrin, Femi, (2008). Blackness: Culture, Ideology and Discourse. Ibadan:
Dakun Publishing House.
Ashcroft, Bill et al. (1989). The Empire Writes Back: Theory & Practice in Postcolonial Literatures. London & New York: Routledge.
Chinweizu et al. (1980). Towards the Decolonization of the African Literature. Vol.1.
Enugu: Fourth Dimensions Publishers
Nwoga, D. I. “Modern African Poetry: The Domestication of a Tradition”. In E. D.
Jones (Ed.). (1979). African Literature Today 10: Retrospect & Prospect. London:
Heinemann
Unit 4
Transitional Phase of Development of African
Poetry
Introduction
This unit provides the link between pioneer poetry and modern poetry. As such it
has features of both pioneering and the modern phase of African poetry.
Key word
transitional
Areas of emphasis

the transitional phase of African poetry

characteristics of transitional poetry

the literary prowess of Gabriel Okara
Prerequisite Knowledge
The development of pioneer poetry starts with exposition of Africans to the Western
education. These pioneer poets are subdivided depending upon the language of the
colonizing nation. For example, those under England were known as Anglophone
poets; those under France and Portugal were known as Francophone novelists and
Lusophone poets, respectively. Do you remember why these Anglophone poets
started writing in English? Make sure that you use such information in the study of
this unit.
Other resources needed
As you study this unit, you may need to refer to the books below. They will help you
clarify some of the contents of this unit.
Chinweizu et al. (1980). Towards the Decolonization of the African Literature.
Vol.1. Enugu: Fourth Dimensions Publishers
Nwoga, D. I. “Modern African Poetry: The Domestication of a Tradition”. In E. D.
Jones (Ed.). (1979). African Literature Today 10: Retrospect & Prospect. London:
Heinemann
Nwoga, Donatus. (1967). West African Verse: An Anthology. London: Longmans
Time required for the unit
You will need at least three hours to study this unit.
Learning objectives
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

describe the transitional phase of African poetry

explain characteristics of transitional poetry

discuss the literary prowess of Gabriel Okara
Transitional Phase of Development of African Poetry
After pioneer poetry came the second phase, the transitional phase. It occurred
during the 1950’s and early 1960’s. The transitional phase of the development of
African poetry is represented by the poetry of writers in West Africa, East Africa,
Central Africa and Southern Africa. These include writings of poets such as Abioseh
Nicol, Gabriel Okara, Kwesi Brew, Dennis Brutus, Lenrie Peters and Joseph Kariuki.
Activity 1
What does the term transitional suggest?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Characteristics of Poetry of the Transitional phase
The poetry of the transitional phase was written by writers who are normally
referred to as modern poets since it was a period of change from oral traditional
poetry to modern poetry. This poetry shares the following characteristics:
a) These poets competently and articulately used the received European
language.
b) Their poetry easily reveals how deeply the poets understood Africa’s
physical, cultural and socio-political environment.
c) Some of the poetry still maintained lyricism.
d) From their quest of ‘wanting to culturally and physically possess a piece of
the earth or land’, the poets now realized that it was a mental and emotional
homecoming within the physical environment which they needed. This quest
is clearly reflected in these poems.
e) Transitional poets were now using simple and clear everyday English.
However, ‘archaic’ language was still being used. Language of expression is
one of the things that stand out so clearly, distinguishing the phase of modern
African poetry from the transitional phase.
Activity 2
How do you compare transitional and pioneer poetry in terms of use of language?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Gabriel Imomotime Obainbaing Okara
He was born in 1921 in the Ijaw area of the Delta region Nigeria. After his secondary
education, at Government Collage in Nigeria, he committed himself to private
reading and deep thinking that transformed him into a remarkable person and poet.
He worked as a principal Information officer in the Eastern Nigeria Government
service. His poems and short stories have been broadcast on radios, published in
various journals particularly in ‘Black Orpheus’, and translated into many
languages.
His novel, The Voice, published in 1964, reveals his deep concern with the problem of
the development of an English language that is capable of fully expressing the
African’s view of life. One of his poems is entitled “The Snow Flakes Sail Gently
Down”.
The snow flakes sail gently
down from the misty eye of the sky
and fall lightly lightly on the
winter-weary elms. And the branches,
winter-stripped and nude, slowly
with the weight of the weightless snow
bow like grieve-stricken mourners
as white funeral cloth is slowly
unrolled over deathless earth.
And dead sleep stealthly from the
heater rose and closed my eyes with
the touch of silk cotton on water falling
Then I dreamed a dream
in my dead sleep. But I dreamed
not of earth dying and elms a virgil
keeping. I dreamed of birds, black
birds flying in my inside, nesting
and hatching on oil palms bearing suns
for fruits and with roots denting the
uprooters’ spades. And I dreamed the
uprooters tired and limp, leaning on my roots –
their abandoned roots –
and the oil palms gave them each a sun.
But on their palms
they balanced the blinding orbs
and frowned with schism on their
brows – for the suns reached not
the brightness of gold!
Then I awoke . I awoke
to the silently falling snow
and bent-backed elms bowing and
swaying to the winter wind like
white-robed, Moslems salaaming at evening
prayer, and the earth lying inscrutable
like the face of a god in a shrine.
Activity 3
Discuss the images in the poem “The Snow Flakes Sail Gently Down”.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Unit Assessment Test
1. What evidence do you have that shows that Transitional phase covered most parts
of Africa?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. Read Lenrie Peters’ poem titled “We Have Come Home” from Nwoga (1967) and
discuss the major issues raised in the poe.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
3. Why do transitional poets cling to archaic expressions?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Summary
In this unit, we have provided the transitional phase. In this regard, we have
explained contributions of some of the major poets of this period which includes
Gabriel Okara and Lenrie Peters. The poetry of this period shows features of
Pioneering phase and modern poetry.
Further Readings
Abdonrin, Femi, (2008). Blackness: Culture, Ideology and Discourse. Ibadan:
Dakun Publishing House.
Ashcroft, Bill et al. (1989). The Empire Writes Back: Theory & Practice in Postcolonial Literatures. London & New York: Routledge.
Chinweizu et al. (1980). Towards the Decolonization of the African Literature.
Vol.1. Enugu: Fourth Dimensions Publishers
Nwoga, D. I. “Modern African Poetry: The Domestication of a Tradition”. In E. D.
Jones (Ed.). (1979). African Literature Today 10: Retrospect & Prospect. London:
Heinemann
Nwoga, Donatus. (1967). West African Verse: An Anthology. London: Longmans
Unit 5
The Ibadan Nsukka School of African Poetry
Introduction
This unit provides the genesis of the Modern West African Verse in English. The
development of modern poetry in English has its roots at the Nigerian universities
and is ascribed to intellectuals. This unit will help in tracing the connection between
Pioneer poetry and contemporary poetry. Activities for self-assessment will also be
included.
Key words
Horn, Hopkinian, jugglery, neologism, prosody
Areas of emphasis

Major poets of Ibadan Nsukka poetry

The Horn

Hopkinian influence (disease)

Major tendencies in African poetry in English from 1950-1975.

Criticism of IbadanNsukka’s poetry
Prerequisite Knowledge
The development of the modern African poetry started among Africans that had
been exposed to Western education. These pioneer artists are subdivided depending
upon the language of the colonizing nation. For example, those under England were
known as Anglophone writers; those under France and Portugal were known as
Francophone writers and Lusophone writers, respectively. Do you remember why
these novelists started writing in English? Make sure that you use such information
in the study of this unit.
Other resources needed
As you study this unit, you may need to refer to the books below. They will help you
clarify some of the contents of this unit.
Chinweizu et al. (1980). Towards the Decolonization of the African Literature.
Vol.1. Enugu: Fourth Dimensions Publishers
Nwoga, D. I. “Modern African Poetry: The Domestication of a Tradition”. In E. D.
Jones (Ed.). (1979). African Literature Today 10: Retrospect & Prospect. London:
Heinemann
Time required for the unit
You will need at least eight hours to study this unit.
Learning objectives
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

Explain biography and works of major poets of Ibadan Nsukka poetry

Discuss the emergence and contributions of The Horn

Describe Hopkinian influence (disease)
5.0 The Ibadan Nsukka School of African Poetry: Introduction
Modern West African Poetry has its roots in Nigeria at its Universities of Ibadan and
Nsukka. These were universities that contributed greatly to the development or
promotion of African tradition in English. Poetry from these colleges was named
Ibadan Nsukka poetry. Some of the notable poets of this school of poetry include
John Pepper Clark, Wole Soyinka, and Christopher Okigbo.
5.1 John Pepper Clark
John Pepper Clark was born in 1935. He is an Ijaw of the Delta
area of Nigeria. He was educated in Nigeria at Ibadan
University where he studied English Literature. He started
and edited a poetry magazine, The Horn, while a student,
and his early poems appeared in that magazine. He has
conducted research into Ijaw traditional legends under the
Institute of African Literature at the University of Lagos. He has also published two
volumes of poetry, plays and a provocative study of America in America, their
America. One of his poems is “Abiku”. ‘Abiku’ is a word for those allegedly spirit
children, born only to die young and then return to be born again repeatedly to the
same mother. An ‘abiku’ is just like an ‘ogbanje’ among the Igbo people. The dead
child, suspected of being an ‘abiku’, is marked in the expectation that, if he comes
again, he will be recognized. The recognition is traditionally one of the ways of
forcing an ‘abiku’ to stay and grow like a normal child.
Activity 1
What is the message in Clark’s “Abiku”?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
5.2.1
Wole Soyinka
Wole Soyinka was born in 1934 at Abeokuta, in Western
Nigeria. He was educated in Nigeria at the University of
Ibadan and then at Leeds University in England. He
graduated in English Language and Literature in 1958. He is a
versatile person. He sings, acts, produces plays and writes
novels and other academic papers. His plays won prizes and
are performed widely in Africa, Europe and America. His poetry has been translated
in many languages. He once worked as a senior lecturer in African Literature in the
University of Lagos in Nigeria.
Activity 2
Read “Abiku” one of the poems that Soyinka wrote. Which features of Soyinka’s
“Abiku” make it different from Clark’s “Abiku”?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
5.2.2 Meanings in Soyinka’s poetry
Soyinka’s poetry is said to be obscure; it is not accessible to non-poets. This is true
with “Abiku” as well. For example, “Abiku” means different things at different
levels. Organised societies, especially traditional societies, like order and uniformity.
People with individual strong personalities are considered plagues to their societies
and various means are used to make them conform to the accepted behaviour. In
this situation most people would take the side of the society. However, there is also a
place for admiration of, and sympathy with the strong personality who is able to
defy the society and live a life according to principles of nature. These are some of
the issues that are explored in Soyinka’s “Abiku”. It is a good example of how a poet
can compress much meaning into few words. One of the difficulties of the poem is
created by our own minds which want to work out logically the meaning of every
group of words. If you read the poem and allow your imagination rather than your
reason to act first you will find that you achieve the deep, emotional meaning of the
poem rapidly. The juxtaposition of significant words creates the feelings at once in
your imagination, that is, if the imagination is not hindered by reason. This is the
case in most of Soyinka’s poetry.
5.3
Christopher Okigbo
Okigbo was born in Ojoto in Eastern Nigeria in 1932. He
obtained a degree in classics at Ibadan University. Then he
worked in various situations including that of Representative
for Cambridge University Press in Nigeria. He was killed
during Biafra war in 1967. He was a lively Conventionalist
and had a capacity to shift quickly from topic to topic. He was also a voracious
reader and his reading had deep influences on his poetry. His publications include
“Heavensgate”, “Limits” and other poems. He combined poetry with culture. This is
why he is eclectic or syncretic. One of his poems is entitled “For he was a shrub
among the poplars”. In this poem the poet uses the imagery of trees to refer to
himself. The poem is a comparison of rising from a lowly state, through experience,
into an important position in this society. This may, in general, be Okigbo’s
statement of the place of the poet in society, a position derived from the poet’s
extraordinary sensitivity to the variety of experiences and his ability to combine
these experiences into a meaning, a philosophy of life which he broadcasts to the rest
of mankind.
5.4
Criticism of Ibadan-Nsukka Poetry
The poets were unsuccessful in their imitations of both European and African
traditions. The influence of Gerard Manley Hopkins, an English poet of the Victorian
era is apparent in Ibadan nsukka poetry. Because poets imitated some of the features
of Gerard Manley Hopkins, some critics accused Ibadan Nsukka Poetry of suffering
from Hopkinian disease. Some of the features of Hopkin influences include atrocious
punctuation, arbitrary breaking of words, deliberate scrambling of word order to
produce ambiguities, and syntactic jugglery and suppression of auxiliary verbs and
articles
Activity 3
Read some poems of the Ibadan Nsukka School of Poetry. What are some of the
features Hopkins poetry?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Ibadan Nsukka poets tried to borrow and implement features from Traditional
African writers who wrote from an African perspective, but in the process, they
mixed it up with European influence. For example, Wole Soyinka’s “Idanre” is a
good example of an epic. It is basically an imitation of traditional African religious
poetry based on the god Idanre. The poem fails to communicate ideas to the reader
because of using words like incense and mystical feelings that evoke strange images.
The imagery in this poem is obscure and lacks evocative power of mysticism. The
problem is that Idanre is an African god and yet incense is associated with sacrifice
offering in, for example a Roman Cutholic Church, which is a Christian gathering.
Most Soyinka’s poems are said to be private as such they are meaningful to no-one
except the poet.
5.5.1 Positive Criticism of the Ibadan-Nsukka Poetry
a) Despite the criticism, the Ibadan–Nsukka School improved talents of African
poets and power of African poetry.
b) Some of its poets have become the giants of African literature. For example,
Wole Soyinka is now an internationally renowned professor. Okigbo is also
well–known although he died young. J.P. Clark began humbly but grew into
a stronger prominent poet.
In short, Ibadan-Nsukka poets have been recognized worldwide despite their
inaccessible poems.
5.5.2 The Horn
The Horn is an important aspect within the Ibadan-Nsukka School. It is another
positive contribution of Ibadan Nsukka School. The main aim of the magazine was
to publish articles from undergraduate creative writing class. All contributors were
undergraduates except Okigbo and Soyinka. The Horn was type written. Its first
edition points out difficulties poets had in expressing their African heritage in a
foreign language [English]. They had neglected their vernacular languages from
childhood. Poems in this magazine used old-fashioned poetic variations and archaic
style; the expressions were borrowed and the poems were influenced by
Romanticism and Modernism.
5.5.3 Themes in The Horn
a) Alienation from the African heritage.

Poets borrowed heavily from English poems of Robert Conquest such as New
Lines [1956]. Alienation is a kind of philosophy. Blacks were mentally in an
alien land and yet, physically they were in Africa. They were in a fix.
b) Negritude

How could they support Negritude philosophy with this type of literature
written in foreign languages? However many Blacks supported Negritude
ideology.

In his attempt to cling to the Western style of writing, Soyinka did not
support Negritude poetry. Instead he attacked it, saying: ‘A tiger does not go
proclaiming it tigritude, it just pounces.’

Soyinka was appealing to an undefined universalism [globalisation].

His critics countered his argument. For example, Nicol observed that if a tiger
lives in a society dominated by lions, it would be understandable if it
occasionally emitted a roar in defence or proclamation of its tigritudity. At
that stage it would be glocalisation. This shows that any one created by God is
the citizen of the world only that there is a certain locality that need’s one’s
attention.
c) Self Awareness

In spite of Soyinka’s attack on negritude poetry, many African poets and
critics acknowledged Negritude as an invaluable asset for checking intrusion
of Western cultures.

As such students contributing to The Horn engaged in rediscovering
themselves as such the rejection of Negritude was merely superficial. They
were involved in Negritude without the tag of negritude.

Most of these poets discovered that the metropolis [Britain] was not the only
source of art since great art can also reside in peasants’ homes.
5.5.4 The Decline of The Horn
In 1960s, the development of literary talents declined since the later students did not
appreciate what their predecessors did. Many critics of African poetry identify several
inadequacies with the Ibadan Nsukka poets who contributed to The Horn. Three major critics
[the troika] of the African Poetry include Chinweizu, Onwuchekwa Jemie, and
Ihechukwu Madubuike.
Activity 4
Read Chapter 3 (pp. 163-178) of Towards the Decolonization of African Literature
and answer the questions that follow. What are the major characteristics of Ibadan
Nsukka Poetry (according to the troika)?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
It is unfortunate that from this yardstick of the failure of African budding poets
Eurocentric critics had the idea that Africa had no poetry of its own. At this school
there was no attempt to seek African equivalent poetry to the European. There was a
marked contrast between European and African poetry and Negritude poetry
reflected traditional poetry. Furthermore the troika critic of the Ibadan school
showed an imperfect knowledge of Traditional African poetry and criticism and
where they tried to copy traditional issues they only came up with botched material.
For example, in Soyinka’s “Idanre”, a religious significance is not noticed or
successfully conveyed. Soyinka hits back arguing that although
negritudes are
trying to get Africans back to the imaginary past, it is not really possible to do so.
Unit Assessment Test
1. According to the troika, what are three major tendencies in African poetry in
English from 1950-1975?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
2. What are features of euromodernist poetry according to the troika?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Summary
In this unit, we have provided the emergence of Ibadan Nsukka Poetry. In this
regard, we have explained contributions of major poets of Ibadan Nsukka poetry,
Soyinka, Clark and Okigbo; we have also discussed how The Horn came into being.
We have also covered the following: Hopkinian influence (disease), and positive and
negative criticism of IbadanNsukka’s poetry.
Further Readings
Abdonrin, Femi, (2008). Blackness: Culture, Ideology and Discourse. Ibadan:
Dakun Publishing House.
Ashcroft, Bill et al. (1989). The Empire Writes Back: Theory & Practice in Postcolonial Literatures. London & New York: Routledge.
Chinweizu et al. (1980). Towards the Decolonization of the African Literature.
Vol.1. Enugu: Fourth Dimensions Publishers
Nwoga, D. I. “Modern African Poetry: The Domestication of a Tradition”. In E. D.
Jones (Ed.). (1979). African Literature Today 10: Retrospect & Prospect. London:
Heinemann
Nwoga, Donatus. (1967). West African Verse: An Anthology. London: Longmans
Unit 6
Modern Poetry in East Africa
Introduction
This unit provides the development of poetry in East Africa, especially Kenya and
Uganda. As such major features of East African poetry shall be analysed. We shall
also discuss the connection between African traditional poetry that was orally based
and the written forms of African poetry in English. Activities for self-assessment will
also be included.
Key words
Song, de-culturalisation
Areas of emphasis

Traditional African poetry

major Ugandan and Kenyan poets

Major features of East African poetry
Prerequisite Knowledge
The development of the African Novel starts with Africans that had been exposed to
the Western education. These pioneer novelists are subdivided depending upon the
language of the colonising nation. For example, those under England were known as
Anglophone novelists; those under France and Portugal were known as
Francophone novelists and Lusophone novelists, respectively. Do you remember
why these novelists started writing in English? Do you remember the importance of
oral traditions in the development of African literature? Make sure that you use
such information in the study of this unit.
Other resources needed
As you study this unit, you may need to refer to the books below. They will help you
clarify some of the contents of this unit.
Amateshe, A.D.(ed). (1988). An Athology of East African Poetry. Burnt Hill:
Longman
p’Bitek, Okot. (1966). Song of Lawino. Nairobi: EAPH
p’Bitek, Okot. (1970). Song of Ocol. Nairobi: EAPH
Nwoga, D. I. “Modern African Poetry: The Domestication of a Tradition”. In E. D.
Jones (Ed.). (1979). African Literature Today 10: Retrospect & Prospect. London:
Heinemann
Time required for the unit
You will need at least six hours to study this unit.
Learning objectives
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

explain the development of poetry in East Africa

discuss poetry of different personalities from East Africa

describe the major features of poetry in East Africa.
6.0 Modern East African Poetry
Modern East African Poetry covers works of poets from Uganda Kenya and
Tanzania. In this unit we shall discuss poetry from Uganda and Kenya.
6.1 Modern East African Poetry in Uganda.
By 1966, East African poetry in English was still slight and scattered. Most of it was
found in student magazines. It only gained ground and became popular after Okot
p’Bitek released his most famous long poem “Song of Lawino.” Because David
Rubadiri studied and worked in the Universities of Makerere in Uganda and Kenya
he is sometimes considered as an East African poet. While in East Africa he wrote a
lot of literary texts such as novels and collection of poetry. By the end of 1971,
Uganda had at least six known poets who published at least one long poem or a
book of poems. However, the number of poets has increased with time. Poetry of
Uganda falls into two categories:
6.1.0

Songs [long poems]

Short poems
Songs [long poems] of Uganda
East African poets who are recognized for ‘songs’ are: Okot p’ Bitek, Joseph Buruga
and Ocello Oculi.
6.1.1
Okot p’ Bitek
Okot p'Bitek (1931 – July 20, 1982) was a Ugandan poet, who
achieved wide international recognition for Song of Lawino, a
long poem dealing with the tribulations of a rural African wife
whose husband has taken up urban life and wishes everything
to be westernised. Song of Lawino was originally written in Acholi language, and
self-translated to English, and published in 1966. It was a breakthrough work,
creating an audience amongst anglophone Africans for direct, topical poetry in
English; and incorporating traditional attitudes and thinking in an accessible yet
faithful literary vehicle. It was followed by the pendant Song of Ocol (1970), the
husband's reply. In his earliest work Okot p’ Bitek presents not only the first long
East African poem in English, but he is also an acclaimed pioneer in this new poem
[song] - no wonder these poems fall under the modern phase.
6.1.2 Characteristics of Okot p’ Bitek’s songs:
Song of Lawino is in a unique class of its own. This long poem was written in Acholi
and translated into English. The Acholi version draws directly on many Acholi
songs, and could be sung.
Activity 1
Read Song of Lawino and answer question that follows. What are the major features
of the poem?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
6.1.3
Diction and Imagery of Okot p’ Bitek’s “Song of Ocol”
“Song of Ocol”, which appeared four years after “Song of Lawino” advocates
freedom from Europe as regards to culture. “Song of Ocol” is often characterized as
an ironic lament for what has been lost. It is not a self-confident assertion of values,
as Lawino’s song is; on the contrary it mourns the passing of Lawino’s values and
their replacement by a dubious and already collapsing set of values.
Activity 2
What are the major issues raised in “Song of Ocol”?
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Okot’s latest works have moved from portrayals of culture-conflict to social
commentary and criticism. These are the two songs,”” Song of Prisoner” and “Song
of Malaya”. These songs [poems] are also monologues. All other characters
mentioned are seen through the eyes of the main protagonist. The songs have
recurrent elements of refrain and repetition of a phrase with variation that makes it
truly become a song. For example, in ‘Song of the Prisoner”, the judge’s voice over
and over again is heard asking the prisoner whether he pleads guilty or not.
6.2.0
Joseph Buruga
Buruga is a poet greatly indebted to Okot. Buruga was able to write “The
Abandoned Hut” [1969] after being influenced by Okot. In most aspects, Buruga’s
song is similar to Okot’s “Song of Lawino”
Activity 3
Study poetry by both Okot and Buruga. How are Okot’s and Buruga’s poems
similar?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
6.2 Differences between Buruga and Okot’s Songs
The major difference between “The Abandoned Hut” and “Song of Lawino” is the
existing relationship between the characters. In “The abandoned Hut”, Madiye, the
jilted boy and Basia are juveniles while Lawino and Ocol had a marriage
relationship.
Apart from the first and concluding chapters, the remaining chapters in “The
Abandoned Hut” alternatingly contrasts an aspect of life or mode of conduct in one
culture with its counterpart in a monotonous meticulous tone of voice. Buruga has
also used too many vernacular words without justification. Otherwise local words
are allowed for use when an equivalent in English cannot be found. Akakwa local
word can be used for sheer auditory or onomatopoeic effect.
6.3
Okello Oculi
Oculi wrote ‘The Orphan Boy”. In subject matter, design and intellectual range, this
poem is not much different from Okot’s and Buruga’s poems. Oculi has also
effectively depicted a conflict between Western and African values. His orphan is
literal as well as metaphorical. The orphan is the product of the unholy wedlock
between Europe and Africa.
The orphan boy is presented to us from ten viewpoints. Each viewpoint represents
the ten characters with whom he is involved, and they all make a comment on his
life. This device is advantageous as it is offering a variety of tone and expression as
well as complexity of the situation.
The central image is capable of more than one interpretation. For example, the wild
cat, ‘Ngunydeng,’ is not only death but also Europe. Among Oculi’s shortcomings is
his excessive use of abstractions, his lame constructions and his uneasy collocations
[an unnatural arrangement of words to enable them sound natural]. For example,
“song-boasting” is a delightful success perhaps because we can attach some physical
expression to the otherwise abstract boasting”. Double abstractions such as
‘Earliness and helpless’ not only sound ugly, but also are too misty for good poetry
6.4 Short Poems of Uganda
Taban lo Liyong and Richard Ntiru are two Ugandans who modified the long poem
of Uganda tradition to short poems. Liyong has so far published books of short
poetry titled English Chiefs and Franc Fanon’s Uneven Ribs.
6.4. 1 Taban lo Liyong
Liyong is often characterized as a philosophical poet. In his poetry, he uses mythical
oral poetry of the local people. His oral poetry is revised. He also often incorporates
his own imaginings. For subject matter, images, and references, Taban draws them
from all over the world, for example from classical and modern Europe, America
and Africa.
6.4.2 Richard Ntiru
Both Taban and Ntiru are aware of other literatures. On the other hand, Ntiru is a
socially conscious poet. He is always exploring and exposing something in the
human situation in terms of attitudes and assertions and wishes and performance.
Ntiru exhibits the feeling that he is much more in control of his material and
expression in the shorter poem than in the longer poem where he has normally
disappeared. Ntiru does not hide the fact that he borrows from other poets like T. S.
Eliot, and William Blake.
6.5.0 Modern East African Poetry in Kenya
Whereas Ugandan Poets may appear to be establishing themselves with long bitter
poems, Kenyans seem to enjoy writing short lyrical poem. One well-known Kenyan
poet is John Mbiti. He is famous for the short lyrical poems.
6.5.1 John Mbiti
Mbiti’s poetry includes the following characteristics:

He writes religious poems or poems alluding to God, eternity of death.

God is always there hence the makes the point of acknowledging Him in
everything.

Through his poetry, Mbiti reveals that he is engaged in the task of finding
suitable English words for African experiences like ‘the living dead’ in the
poem “The Rainbow” to denote the dead in so far as they are still around. He
has shown an ability to find English words for non-English concepts and to
circulate and popularize them.
6.5.2 Jared Angira
Angira is also an African poet from Kenya. His poetry is mostly concerned with
social and political developments in Kenya. He yearns for social order which does
not exist. Instead there is prostitution, economic discrepancies, politicians’ lies and
incidentally, de-culturalisation. To prove his stand, he uses military vocabulary and
imagery. For example in “Life is a Battle”, he illustrates the prominence of disorder;
he uses the military vocabulary of ‘battle’. Angira is also known for his use of
classical allusion. For example, he extends his experiences beyond himself as an
individual and makes those experiences timeless cues.
Activity 4
What is the major difference between Ugandan and Kenyan poetry?
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Unit Assessment Test
1. What is the major theme in Song of Lawino?
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________2.
Okot p’Bitek’s poem, Song of Lawino, was not readily accepted by other critics until
very late. Why was it so?
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________3.
Why is David Rubadiri included in East African poets though he a Malawian?
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Summary
In this unit, we have discussed the development of poetry in East Africa. This
includes poetry from Uganda and Kenya. Okot p’Bitek was the first to write in a
unique way and some East African poets have taken after him.
Further Readings
Chinweizu et al. (1980). Towards the Decolonization of the African Literature.
Vol.1. Enugu: Fourth Dimensions Publishers
Nwoga, D. I. “Modern African Poetry: The Domestication of a Tradition”. In E. D.
Jones (Ed.). (1979). African Literature Today 10: Retrospect & Prospect. London:
Heinemann
p’Bitek, Okot. (1966). Song of Lawino. Nairobi: EAPH
p’Bitek, Okot. (1970). Song of Ocol. Nairobi: EAPH
.
Unit 7
Development of Modern Central African Poetry
Introduction
This unit provides the emergence of poetry in Central Africa. This region is
comprised of Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Apart from the general trend of
poetry in this region, this unit will also cover Malawian poets and their works.
Activities for self-assessment will also be included.
Key words
Censorship, claustrophobic
Areas of emphasis

Major recurrent Central African themes

Characteristics of poetry in Malawi

Poetry by Malawian major poets
Prerequisite Knowledge
The development of the African Novel starts with Africans that had been exposed to
the Western education. These pioneer novelists are subdivided depending upon the
language of the colonizing nation. For example, those under England were known as
Anglophone novelists; those under France and Portugal were known as
Francophone novelists and Lusophone novelists, respectively. Do you remember
why these novelists started writing in English? Make sure that you use such
information in the study of this unit.
Other resources needed
As you study this unit, you may need to refer to the books below. They will help you
clarify some of the contents of this unit.
Chimombo, Steve. (1987). Napolo Poems. Zomba: Manchici Publishers
Chirambo, Reuben et al (eds). (2001). The Unsung Song: An Anthology of
Malawian Writing in English. Zomba: Chancellor College Publications
Chinweizu et al. (1980). Towards the Decolonization of the African Literature.
Vol.1. Enugu: Fourth Dimensions Publishers
Mapanje, Jack. (1983). Of Chameleons and Gods. London: Heinemann
Mapanje, Jack. (1993) Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison. London: Heinemann
Nwoga, D. I. “Modern African Poetry: The Domestication of a Tradition”. In E. D.
Jones (Ed.). (1979). African Literature Today 10: Retrospect & Prospect. London:
Heinemann
Time required for the unit
You will need at least eight hours to study this unit.
Learning objectives
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

explain the major recurrent themes in Central African Poetry

describe characteristics of poetry in Malawi

discuss some poems by major Malawian poets
7.0
Development of Modern Central African Poetry
Like their counterparts in West and East African regions, Central African poets have
also adopted metropolitan language [English] for some of their writing basically due
to the ethnic selfishness of the colonial masters. These colonialists distorted and
undermined the development of an authentic African literature in many ways. For
instance:
a) These colonialists denied use of African language in poetry.
b) They equated civilization with acquisition of a European language and culture.
c) They encouraged use of poor versions of the English languages that were called
metropolitan versions.
This resulted in poor versions of the languages. This realization guided the poets
from Central Africa to write in simple straightforward English. Languages were
pervaded by a lexicon of violence, insult, command, and order, making them into
appropriate vehicles for their literature which modern African Poetry in English
wishes to correct. Central and Southern African Poetry share similarities in theme,
style and tone. Major recurrent Central African themes are

Negritude

protest against colonial domination

anger and bitterness over oppression

alienation and conflict

return to cultural roots

national pride

community and kinship transcending ethnic and racial lines

love

hope

beauty of the land, and the language of the human condition

Central African Poetry also shows the strong relationship which exists
between poetry and politics.
Activity 1
Literary boundaries follow political boundaries. What could be the countries to be
included in Central African region of African poetry?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
7.1.0 Malawian Poetry
Most Malawian poetry is that of protest against post-colonial oppression, Hence it
differs greatly from the poetry of Mozambique, South Africa and Angola. Publishing
in Malawi during one part rule was restricted. The government instituted
Censorship Board of Malawi in 1972 to regulate publishing. To publish anything in
Malawi, during the period of one-party government one required prior approval of
the Censorship Board and in the early seventies there was fear of Censorship and
detention which hindered the literary growth. By the late 80’s only three writers Steve Chimombo, Felix Mnthali and Jack Mapanje had published volumes of poetry.
7.1.1 Characteristics of Malawian Poetry

It demonstrates awareness of the social and political contradictions in a
country ruled single-handedly by a Black dictator and life-time president.

The poets mostly write about the harsh realities of contemporary Malawi such
as detention without trial, arrests and politically motivated deaths as opposed
to writing about colonial oppression.

For fear of reprisals, censorship and possible detention most poets resort to
cryptic writing; most poets use animal imagery to hide their underlying
meanings.

Poets could not adopt a public stance and voice in exposing these experiences.
As such their poetry styles and form are varied.
Activity 2
You should be aware of the fact that poets write based on the prevailing sociopolitical, economic and cultural environment. Based on the brief explanation about
the political climate of the then Malawi, what could be the possible themes in
Malawian poetry?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
7.1.2 Style of Malawian Poetry
The poems are pre-occupied with technique in the service of conceding the protest
element. The poets have also employed more metaphorical statements and imagery
than most other poets from other countries and in Central and Southern Africa. The
poets have at some level successfully used irony, ambiguity, understatement,
subtlety, euphemism and myth though these have sometimes resulted in absurdities
and obscurity, for example, Of Chameleons and Gods by Jack Mapanje and Napolo
Poems by Steve Chimombo.
7.2.0 Malawian Authors
For more detailed study of Malawian poetry, we will look at poems by Jack
Mapanje, Steve Chimombo, David Rubadiri and Frank Mkalawile Chipasula.
7.2.1 Jack Mapanje
Jack Mapanje (born 1944 in Kadango) is a Malawian writer and
poet. He taught in Malawi Secondary Schools before he joined
the Department of English at Chancellor College, University of
Malawi, in 1975, first as a lecturer, then as Head of the
Department of English. He has a BA and Diploma in Education
from the University of Malawi, Master of Philosophy in English and Education from
The Institute of Education London, and he obtained a Ph.D. in linguistics from
London University College in 1983. His first collection of poems, Of Chameleons
and Gods, was published in the UK in 1981 and withdrawn from bookshops,
libraries and all institutions of learning in Malawi in June 1985.
He was imprisoned without trial or charge by the Malawian government in 1987. He
was there for nearly four years and without knowing what he had done, he was not
even allowed to attend his mother’s funeral. He was forced to skip without a rope
and was taunted and teased but he did not give up. He occasionally slipped notes
out to guards to get to his family.
Although many writers, linguists and human rights activists, including Harold
Pinter and Wole Soyinka, Susan Sontag, Noam Chomsky and others campaigned for
his release, he was not freed until 1991. The poems in The Chattering Wagtails of
Mikuyu Prison (1993) were composed while he was imprisoned, as well as most of
his third collection of poetry, Skipping without Ropes (1998).
He has edited
Gathering Seaweed: African Prison Writing
(2002), based on a degree
course he taught at the University of Leeds, 1993-96, and has also selected and edited
with introduction, the poetry of David Rabadiri,
Poems
(2004).
An African Thunderstorm and Other
Jack Mapanje lives in York, and is currently teaching Creative Writing and
Literatures of Incarceration at the School of English, University of Newcastle-uponTyne. His book,
The Last of the Sweet Bananas: New and Selected Poems
was published
in 2004, and his latest poetry collection is Beasts of Nalunga (2007).
Activity 3
Jack Mapanje wrote Of Chameleons and Gods while in Malawi. Mention three
features of Malawian poetry one is likely to find in Jack Mapanje’s poetry as a means
of survival strategy.
__________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
However, Jack Mapanje can sometimes be cynical, sardonic and threatening. He is
careful to keep his voice low to puzzle out his county’s contradictions from a quiet
distance. Like Steve Chimombo, he attempts to connect folktale, and myths to poetry
by elevating animal characters into symbols such as chameleon and frog. He also
transforms folk histories of tyrants and despots in a way that enables him to
comment on present realities with great subtlety. Although familiar with English
literature, Mapanje is not concerned with British traditions but with his own local
traditions. This is unlike Soyinka and Okigbo, etc. He is deeply influenced by local
tradition. He repeatedly addresses the modern response to tradition and the
demoralizing effects of urban life on natives.
Mapanje was among those who dared to speak out against the brutal rule of the
dictator Hastings Kamuzu Banda in Malawi. The message was metaphoric though
unmistakable: the monster-for-life had 'persistently blatantly wrung / And squelched
nimble necks of sparrows /… dangled them in the sun / Until the last drop of truth
has / Fallen' ('Where Dissent is Meat for Crocodiles'). Before his arrest, on 25
September 1987, Mapanje's work was necessarily oblique, conjuring up images of
'turbid top cockroaches', as well as chameleons, elephants, hyenas, crows, and
vultures. In fact his offending first collection,
Of Chameleons and Gods,
was published in
1981 and was withdrawn from Malawian libraries and bookstores (by a directive
from the Banda regime's Censorship Board) in June 1985. In 'April 1978, the
Prisoners Quietly Back', about the release of political prisoners, the speaker, in a
poetic spirit of 'gather ye rosebuds while ye may', urges enjoyment of 'the fruits of
the evergreen landscape of / Zomba plateau', with its 'Luscious granadilla and
gorgeous strawberries'. 'The Cheerful Girls at Smiller's Bar, 1971' describes a police
raid on a bar where prostitutes are 'cheerfully swigging Carlsbergs and bouncing to /
Rusty simanje-manje and rumba booming in the juke box'. 'When this Carnival Finally
Closes' menacingly observes: 'When your drumming veins dry, these very officers /
Will burn the scripts of the praises we sang to you / And shatter the calabashes you
drank from. Your / Charms, these drums, and the effigies blazing will / Become the
accomplices to your lie-achieved world! /…. as the undertakers jest'.
His collection, Skipping Without Ropes (1998), is again haunted by the memory of
imprisonment. Mapanje explains its title in a note as 'the most harmless form of
exercise tolerated' at Mikuyu, further observing that the 'notion of travel and exile
[is] central to this volume'. Three sections of poems deal successively with the
aftermath of his release, his family's adjustment to life in England, then his feelings
on returning to Malawi in 1994 with a television film crew.
The Bible being the only reading material allowed in prison, some poems
significantly invoke its language or characters to parallel his own life, as in 'When
Release Began Like a Biblical Parable' and 'The Risen Lazarus at Very Tedious Last!'
There is a strong sense in the book of Mapanje finally coming to terms with the
profundity of his experience. He includes elegies for his fellow inmates and friends,
notably his 'warm thoughts' for Ken Saro-Wiwa, the executed Nigerian author: 'let
the rapture / Of gracious laughter shared, the memory of justice, / Succour you like a
prayer …' Mapanje's mixed feelings on revisiting Malawi conclude with a powerful
final poem. 'When the Watery Monsters Argued' returns to the Milimbo Lagoon of
his childhood, finding only ghosts who tell him to 'think positive, think future',
because 'people are now riding on the dreams / We denied them decades ago'. To
which he replies: 'how / Could poetry forget the past when Africa still / Bleeds from
forgetting its past; empower others / To forget your past - my struggle continues!'
7.2.2 Steve Chimombo
Steve Chimombo was born in 1945 in Zomba, the colonial capital of Malawi.
He attended the Zomba Catholic Secondary School and took his Bachelor of Arts
Degree at the University of Malawi, and then gained postgraduate degrees at the
University of Wales and Columbia University in the USA where his exposure to
modernist writers such as T.S. Eliot influenced his poetic voice, which was already
steeped in Malawian oral culture.
Professor Steve Chimombo (L) with a colleague.
His
early
poetry
is
characterised
by
irony,
suggestiveness and compression, suited to the
claustrophobic climate of writing under the
suspicious censorship of Hastings Kamuzu Banda's
regime, as in this example from his Napolo Poems:
In the aftermath of Napolo,
I emerge from the chaosis
and march down rainbathed pavements
singing on the fingernails of the rainbow
Figures from Malawian mythology metamorphose into a variety of metaphors,
including “Kalilombe”, the lizard and “Mbona”, the rainmaker, who feature in a
number of his poems and plays. One of Chimombo's favourite figures is “Napolo”,
an ambiguously destructive and creative subterranean creature, which he uses to
figure anything from a landslide, a political regime, to the repressed unconscious
and disease. It first features in his Napolo Poems (Zomba: Manchichi
Publications,1987), and resurfaces in his recent novel concerning democratisation in
Malawi and the retrieval of suppressed history in The Wrath of Napolo. Chimombo
has also worked to make creative writing a popular and accessible activity in
Malawi, launching the WASI magazine for the arts, and contributing topical, satiric
poems such as “The Politics of Potholes” to literary pages in Malawian newspapers.
Steve Chimombo is another prominent poet in Malawi who incorporated local oral
tradition to obtain ‘camouflage’ that enabled him to elude the ever-vigilant censors
while simultaneously converging his message of life the people. He illustrates this in
the poem “The Four Ways of Dying”.
The poem counsels indirection as a viable stylistics. Hence he metaphorically used
the crab’s movements, the meandering of a river, the chameleon’s camouflage and
the mole’s underground movement as alternatives to liberation or ways action,
confrontation and commitment in a country where to hide from anything is
considered subversion.
Activity 4
What was the motivation behind Napolo Poems?
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
7.2.3 Steve Chimombo's Napolo Poems
Deep tensions in social and political life crept into the artistic output of this period.
Steve Chimombo's Napolo Poems, first published in Malawi in 1987, is one such
manifestation of artistic effort during a time of repression. Nurtured as a writer in
Malawi, England, Canada and America, Chimombo formed part of a Malawian
creative writing movement which used literary methods that frequently outwitted
Banda and his ever vigilant formal and informal censors (Kerr 1987). Jack Mapanje,
James Gibbs, David Kerr, Leroy Vail and Landeg White all give accounts of how
writers managed to beat censorship.
Activity 5
How did Chimombo manage to elude the mighty arm of the law?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
But, perhaps the first question to ask is: what narrative is behind Napolo Poems?
”Napolo” is not as innocent as it sounds. Up to the present day, Napolo is commonly
known in Malawi as an underground mountain snake that causes landslides
whenever it changes abode from a mountain to lower lands. Napolo's ability to
cause landslides and avalanches is known by most Malawians, whether through
experience or as a narrative. Nobody really knows what this snake is. It is simply a
myth through which Malawians try to understand the landslides that usually start in
hills and mountains after heavy rains and then sweep everything away on the path
to lower lands: an incident which traditional wisdom connects to the ancestors and
the gods.
The Napolo myth's link to rain, mountains, and flooding valleys, and the spirit
world reveals a number of things. Landslide disasters pre-suppose a combination of
higher and lower lands, and heavy rains. This type of landscape and water, apart
from any good that it might offer, presages danger for the living during rainy
seasons. The heavy rains saturate mountain soil, some parts of the mountain give
way, uprooting trees and rolling stones down to the valley. Napolo as a myth
encompasses a combination of the destructive landslide-floods, mountains and hills,
and heavy rain. A scan through Napolo Poems reveals the complex usage of myths
that reflect the flora and fauna, together with geographical features of the land in
which the poems are set. Highlighting the theme of apocalypse, Chimombo prods
victims of Napolo to question the gods about the justice system they - the victims —
are made to live under. The poet's insistence in the opening remarks that the poem
should be looked at as an oral myth makes an interesting point about the dangerous
times in which he writes.
Chimombo structures the poem by sub-dividing it into clusters to direct the reader
to his poetic narrative and theme. In the first part, 'Napolo', the poem shows that
Napolo has been there from time immemorial, and that even ancestors like M'bona
and John Chilembwe knew about it. This was the time Mlauli the prophet was able
to give a ' full' apocalyptic forewarning:
Mlauli's tomb roared:
'Mphirimo! Mphirimo! Mphirimo!
Kudzabwera Napolo...
(Up there in the hills!/Up there in the hills!/Up there in the hills!/ Beware! Napolo is
coming soon.) (Chimombo 1994:2)
After the warning, the main characters are both scared and angry. Mulanje and
Zomba mountains, Nyika plateau, Shire, Lilongwe, Songwe Rivers, and Lake
Malawi, M'bona and Chilembwe, the anti-colonial rebel religious leader, react to the
impending danger, knowing what Napolo is capable of. The rain comes
accompanied by disastrous landslides that devastate the land. Noteworthy in this
combination of names for geographical features and legendary heroes is how man
and nature are seen as being equally important. After the landslide, the narrator
explores the ruins by walking up the gullies through which Napolo had passed,
starting at Mulungusi river going through the Kaphirintiwa hills, central to Chewa
myths of origin (Roscoe and Schofeleers 1985:17-25). In seeing dead bodies all along
the gaping gullies, the narrator comments on the irony that the gods created man,
yet made sure that man dies. By sending a message of life with slow-walking
chameleon, and that of death with fast-scuttling lizard, who arrives earlier than the
chameleon, the gods ensure that man is doomed to die. The narrator then concludes
that it is the gods' wish for Napolo to devastate the land.
The implication this kind of beginning has for the poem is that, apart from giving a
historical context to the Napolo landslides and the effect it has had on the living, the
poet means to rob the present Napolo of some of the unnecessary reverence it is
given. The deaths, and the narrator's inspiration to go to Kaphirintiwa is a revolt
against the gods who, traditionally, should not be questioned. Likewise, the
historical journey that brings up names like M'bona and Chilembwe states not only
that martyrdom by Napolo started long ago but also that the people's ancestors like
M'bona and Chilembwe, though killed, still managed to challenge Napolo in their
respective times. This exploration makes the present nation's fear of the Napolo
phenomenon appear mere cowardice. Following this cluster is a piece called
'Napologia' in which a debate on how to confront Napolo ensues between the youth
and the old. Through the proverbs used, the old propose moderation and
diplomacy, and the youth suggest direct confrontation: The man advised:
to see the teeth of Napolo is patience;
wait until Napolo has gone and ululate I am blessed.
The youth answered:
The goat that delayed
Got the lash on its behind; (1994:7)
But in the section, 'Sons of Napolo', the narrator realises that the people, in
ritualistically asking for rain from the gods, received the rain accompanied by
Napolo. Thus while the poet blames the mythical Napolo for the disasters, he also
recognises the nation's agency in bringing about the disaster. In wanting to resolve
the famine caused by no rain, the people consult the gods. Yet gods might have sent
famine to the nation because of their anger. So in response to the nation's request for
rain, the gods ironically send excessive rain to punish the people further with
Napolo. This view partially balances responsibility for the evastation between
Napolo and its victims. It suggests that even if Napolo is seen as monstrous, its
coming was partly due to the insistent requests of the common people for rain.
The second major part of the poem is called 'Beggar woman'. In her tattered clothes,
infested with lice, it is clear that she is a metaphor for the nation in a fight with
Napolo and its sons:
Single handed I have fought titanic battles in my rags, nightly unleashed
imprecations,
fingers,
and
fingernails,...
Lean-bellied
militants
and
revolutionaries, the riot squad and iron-jawed warriors, reading the
Declaration of Lice rights:… Surely they can find juicier conquests out there?...
the Toyotas, the Benzes, the Royces... (1994:13)
The nation, in spite of poverty, becomes a battle space between the militants or
revolutionaries and the iron-jawed warriors. The mention of the 'Benzes' and
'Royces' raises firstly, the contrast in class between the rulers and the ruled who are
ragged and poor like their mother, Beggar woman. Secondly, it-refers to the
underlying European semantics of modern revolutions coming from places where
the abovementioned cars originate and that sometimes these kinds of revolution fall
outside the comprehension of common people. Added to that, with the mention of
Rolls Royces, the poet talks tongue in cheek, as the only ones present in Malawi
belonged to Dr Banda. Life under the rule of Napolo is explored in an 'obituary' in a
poem of the same name that follows: 'He was a blessing one never prays for lightning coming uninvited' (1994:17).
Despite the hardship that Napolo brings, the populace praise him in song, and he
sings his own breast-beating refrains as the only leader allowed; only his voice leads,
orchestrated by the chorus of the whole nation in fear:
.. .We sang praise songs
He alone fought the chidangwaleza
that haunted the ancestral shrine.
He alone drank the chilope from its veins.
He alone shaved Changula's scales.
He sang his own refrains:
I know what broke the elephant's tusks
at the foot of the dzaye fruit tree.
I know what shriveled the feathers
from the old pheasant's head. (1994:18)
The nation's part in its suppression by Napolo is hereby clearly indicated. Through
'Four ways of dying', the poet, apart from showing how fear has engulfed the nation,
also points to how different personalities survive Napolo's harsh rule.
Activity 6
Discuss the poem “Four Ways of Dying”.
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While Chimombo seems to acknowledge how different personalities survive under
oppression in 'Four ways of dying', he also gives a clear picture of the people who
surrounded Kamuzu Banda during his rule. The crab refers to many who had given
up on public political matters, and in their speech, the songs they sang, and the life
they lived, they avoided confrontation with the system. But worse than these, the
mole completely surrendered and minded his own business, concentrating on
apolitical issues just to survive the repression.
The chameleon differs from the other two. Camouflaging itself to suit every
situation that comes, the core of its beliefs remained intact as it changed coats to
readjust to the new. The mother Kalilombe character is however the most daring.
Finally deciding to give voice to impatient voices that bother her from inside, she
takes the suicidal journey, dying in the process, as she creates a niche for criticism.'
'In delirium’ is a satirical section, in which the narrator decides to travel to the top of
the mountain, the gods' abode, to find out why Napolo causes 'a blockage' for the
nation, is followed by 'Three songs'. In the first song, 'The wandering spirit', ghosts
wander in darkness as they listen to old people's advice to their children about
dangers that lurk in the night. The second song, "The dead', has dead people coming
back to visit the living who chase them back to their graves. The dead in question are
ancestral legends, like M'bona and his mother Mangadzi. Hypnotising themselves in
frenzied dances with the once-sacred drum, m'biriwiri which is on the verge of
bursting, common people try momentarily to forget themselves and Napolo in the
third song called 'The living' (1994:29-32). In the section 'Of promises and prophecy',
the poet sees 'the ruling class' living in happiness, accompanied by hushed rumours
of deaths and suppression of outspokenness, leading the narrator, like Jesus Christ,
to desire their 'destruction' in order to 'rebuild': 'Shall I destroy the citadel/and
rebuild it in three days...' (1994:35).
As the narrator thinks of 'destroying' and 'rebuilding', the whole nation congregates
as suppliants by 'Napolo's hole', to pray to the gods. Seeing his people begging the
gods that Napolo should not be roused so that they can at least see the rise of the sun
the following day for more prayers, the narrator takes it upon himself to return
together with exiled spirits. But finally, with no Mlauli or any daring soul to issue a
warning to the living, Napolo makes a life-destructive journey down to the lake yet
again.
Undoubtedly, Chimombo's collection Napolo Poems is nationalistic in perspective.
He tries to consolidate a sense of national identity amongst all people victimised by
Napolo. He does not simplify the issue, however. Thus his narrator, who questions
Napolo and has the courage to inspect its shelter, is killed in the end. It is interesting
to note, furthermore, that in the poem Dr Banda himself initially authors the
nationalism, and Chimombo then uses it to criticise him. The strength of Chimombo'
s poem then, lies not only in its relevance as regards the challenge to the status quo
under Banda when very little, other than grumbling behind closed doors, took place,
but also in his subversion of Banda's brand of nationalism to fight its original author.
In the poem, Chimombo mentions names such as Mphambe, Chiuta, Chauta, Leza,
Nsinja, Kaphirintiwa, Kalilombe, Lizard, all of which are associated with the
creation, life and death amongst the Chewa/Maravi people. The names of these gods
and supernatural powers in the creation myths, loosely translated, have strong
references to landscape in the form of mountains, rain, wood, and cave. For example,
Uta is a bow, and Chiuta translates as 'big' bow. The goddess Chauta translates as
'that which is possessed by the bow'. This big bow refers to both survival strategies
in which the bow, accompanied by arrows becomes pertinent for food (hunting), and
survival (defence). Implicit in this is a reference to forests, wild game, and enemies.
But the big bow can also be a rainbow; and the rainbow comes with the rain, or can
be seen at a waterfall of a big river when the sun shines. Rain helps the survival of
the people on the land with its produce. Hence these gods are mostly associated with
rain-making, and the food offered to the gods at rituals are maize flour, and beer
from maize and sorghum or millet (Schofeleers,1992:58,61).
Mphambe is thunder. The gods' wrath, expressed through thunder is connected to
rain, which is at the centre of the social narrative of these people's survival.
Changula is the big cave-snake associated with whirlwinds (Chimombo 1994:177). It
has a strong reference to rocks and wind. So, by bringing in the creation myths,
Chimombo mixes cognitive features of landscape, and the suffering of the people
who occupy it, to challenge the blood-sucking gods who punish them with Napolo.
Besides specific points in the landscape, Chimombo also introduces geographical
features of the country. Malawi is mostly mountainous, with many rivers and lakes.
The spatial connection of Nyika plateau, Zomba and Mulanje mountains, Songwe,
Shire, and Lilongwe rivers with Lake Malawi conveys important connective features
of the landscape to underline narrative memories of 'one nation' for Napolo's
victims, as they all react in unison: Mulanje, Zomba, and Nyika fled their places,
whimpered and hid their faces. Shire curled its course and bit its tail. Lilongwe
reared its head but it was too frail. Songwe exploded and threw its seed into the lake
where it caught typhoid. (1994:3)
The poet uses geographical features in the poem firstly to piece together the
victimised nation as one entity. The whole nation suffers from the tendency to heroworship Napolo. The ruling Napolo himself sings his own praises, as 'messiah' of
the nation, and out of fear, the nation encourages this, as in ‘Orbituary’.
The poet satirically laughs at the behaviour of the singers: both the victimised and
the victimising praised leader, implicitly appealing for a revision of that type of
behaviour because of what it breeds: tyranny. However, seeing that no satisfactory
action is taken by the populace, the narrator, together with other exiled spirits,
returns to the land; and disaster strikes.
The narrator's audacious inspection of the space in which Napolo resides leads to his
death at the hands of zombies Napolo had created for its own protection. So, by
using memories of national landscape of this water-saturated land, Chimombo dares
the nation to deal with the martyrdom it is experiencing because martyrdom by its
nature is caused by the victims' agency, therefore avoidable. He pushes the
Malawian nation to stand against Napolo, and be ready for anything, including
death. While the poet's memories about creation are those of the Chewa, he goes to
the North, inhabited by the Tumbuka, Nkhonde, Senga people among others, and
then goes way down to the Sena people in the southern tip, in an effort to bring
about national consciousness for all victims of Napolo.
The poet urges people, despite their ethnic differences, to question the gods (and
Banda) for allowing deaths which are caused by passivity and their own cowardly
praise singing. By mentioning the names of features spread across the nation, the
poet paints a national landscape, going beyond the ethnic boundaries to embrace all
groups within the boundaries of the land. While his main effort seems to bring
victims of Napolo together as a nation to deal with the Napolo problem at hand, he
most importantly, alongside creation myths, uses landscape and geographical
features to summon national memory that paints a picture of a land in torment.
Chimombo uses myths and geographical features in the Napolo Poems to paint a
landscape violated by the Napolo landslide. Napolo, the mythical snake, has been
equated to Banda's dictatorial rule used to hold the country hostage during his long
tenure. The narrative in the poem reveals Chimombo's subversion of Banda's
nationalism, while the analysis of myths and geographical features discloses how
landscape is brought into the poem as a rallying point for consciousness to revolt
against Banda's tyrannical authority. Yet while Napolo Poems succeeds as a portrait
of a national landscape in distress, it fails to go beyond Malawian nationalist politics.
It does not tease out some pragmatic tribal tensions and power-mongering by those
close to Banda, the combination of which resulted in many cases of death, exile,
banishment and imprisonment without trial.
7.3
David Rubadiri
David Rubadiri was born in Liuli, Malawi, on July 19,
1930. Poet, novelist, playwright, university professor
and diplomat, Rubadiri is permanent ambassador of his
country to the United Nations. He studied in Makerere
University College, Kampala, Uganda, between 1952
and 1956 and later he studied Literature at King’s
Collage, Cambridge. He received a Diploma in
Education from Bristol University, England. He was a
lecturer at the University of Botswana and dean of the
Language and Social Sciences Education Department at the same university. He was
a member of the Executive Committee of the National Theatre of Kenya, between
1975 and 1980. Publications: Growing Up With Poetry: An Anthology for Secondary
Schools, 1989; Poems from East Africa, 1971; No Bride Price (novel, 1967) in which he
shows his disillusion with the post-independent style of Kamuzu Banda, that guided
Malawi toward its independence from the British Empire, but whose actions as
president were very controversial because of his relations with the pro-white
movement of South Africa. He also wrote the play, Come to Tea, in 1965. His work
has appeared in international publications such as Transition, Black Orpheus,
Présence Africaine, as well as in the first anthology Modern Poetry of Africa, in 1963.
During multiparty era he served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Malawi.
His poems show a fruitful combination of African influences and European poetical
forms. Although there is a certain melancholy in his poems, which is a common
characteristic of black poets from Africa and other regions of the world, it is maybe
the black humour that better describes the poetry of Rubadiri. In his creations, that
melancholy is accompanied with irony and sarcasm that painfully touch the vital
experience of his race. He gathers some elements that make his poetry one of the
richest of contemporary Africa. Always particular, when he approaches the issue of
love he makes it differently, without romanticism but with the sufficient evocative
force for drawing us near to the subject.
He is good at creating vivid, suitable visual images, with the aid of alliteration and
onomatopoeia. David Rubadiri was the first Malawian poet to be published
internationally in [1961]. He is also the earliest Malawian poet to write in English. He
also uses strong local colour and flavour.
One of the poems that David Rubadiri wrote is “An African Thunderstorm” .In this
poem, Rubadiri presents a vivid description of disorder and havoc caused by an
African thunderstorm. The poem presents a logical progression of thunderstorm
from the moment it starts to gather with fury from the west to the time it inevitably
bursts which the poet calls “the pelting march of the storm”.
In the first stanza, the following points are explained:
a) The storm comes from the west
b) Clouds accompany the wind that turns sharply here and there.
c) Clouds are likened to a plague of locust because of their manner of movement
(no distinct pattern) and the number (numerous).
d) The whirling wind toss up things on its tail.
e) The whirling wind seems to be chasing nothing just like what a mad person
does.
f) Pregnant clouds (because they are full of rain) ride stately (majestically)
gather to perch on hills.
g) These clouds develop dark sinister wings (sinister: because these wings are
capable of developing into a thunderstorm which is dangerous).
h) As the wind blows, trees bend to let it pass.
In stanza 2, the thunderstorm now nears the village, and the persona observes the
following things:
a) He hears screams of delighted children. Children are happy because they
anticipate the coming of the rain
b) Children toss and turn in the din of the whirling wind.
c) Women with their babies clinging on their backs dart about in and out.
d) The wind continues to madly whirl as trees bend to let the wind pass.
e) People’s clothes wave like tattered flags off that expose dangling breasts.
f) Jagged blinding flashes rumble tremble and crack amidst the smell of fired
smoke and the pelting march of the storm.
Which word in the poem shows that
a) A long and unpleasant sound that last for a long time? – din
b) To move suddenly and quickly in a particular direction – dart
c) Hanging or swinging freely – dangling
d) Throw lightly/carelessly – toss
e) Make a long deep sound – rumble
f) Shake violently – tremble
g) With a rough, pointed, often sharp edges – jagged
What is the tone of voice?

Frantic tone that calls for an emergency or quick action

This shown by short lines interspaced with long lines
The words in “An African Thunderstorm” affect the meaning of the poem because
they give the reader a visual image. For example, the storm is recreated by the use
of alliteration and onomatopoeia.
E.g. a) the wind whirls – alliteration
b) rumble, tremble, and crack – onomatopoeia
The figurative meaning of the poem is that the persona is talking about confusion
and destruction caused by the onset of Western Civilization and values. Censorship
and the leadership’s intolerance toward criticism may also have been responsible for
silencing older poets like David Rubadiri, the country’s best-known poet who lived
in exile for many years.
Activity 7
Read the poem "Stanley Meets Mutesa" and to answer the question that follow. What
is the message in the poem?
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7.4
Frank Mkalawile Chipasula
Frank Chipasula is another notable Malawian poet. He has
written quite a number of poems. Chipasula is interested in
didactic poetry (that is poetry with an education or
instructional function). He wanted his poetry to inspire
moral action and the renewal of Malawian society. He
sticks to the same common themes Malawian poets have
written about, but probably his outstanding theme is
‘postcolonial oppression’.
Features of Chipasula’s poetry

Chipasula’s poems are marked by a simplicity bordering on song.

He draws on elements of Malawian folklore which makes his poems
articulate and forceful.

His poetry deals with the themes of colonial and post-colonial oppression,
exile, and the nature of good and evil.
Activity 8
Read the poem “A Love Poem for My Country” and answer the following questions.
a) What accusation is the person throwing before his or her country?
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b) How is the last verse different from the rest?
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c) What is the tone of the poem?
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Unit Assessment Test
1. According to Steve Chimombo, what are the four ways of dying?
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2. Discuss dying in terms of its literal and metaphorical meanings.
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3.What is the tone and theme in Jack Mapanje’s “Song of a Chickens”?
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4. Identify multiple voices Mapanje employs in the poem titled “When this Carnival
Finally Closes”.
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Summary
This unit has provided the emergence of poetry in Central Africa. This region is
comprised of Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Apart from the general trend of
poetry in this region, this unit has also covered Malawian poets and their works.
Most of the works from Malawi are cryptic because poets wanted to voice their
concerns but did not want to be discovered lest they face the long arm of the law.
Further Readings
Chimombo, Steve (1987). Napolo Poems, Zomba: Manchichi Publications
Mapanje, Jack. (1998). Skipping Without Ropes. Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe
Books.
……………….. (1993). The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison. Oxford:
Heinemann.
………………… (1981). Of Chameleons and Gods. Oxford: Heinemann.
McFarlene, Alison. (2002). “Changing metaphorical constructs in the writing of Jack
Mapanje” in Journal of Humanities, 16. pp 1-23
Roscoe, Adrian (1977). Uhuru’s Fire: African Literature East to South. Cambridge:
CUP
Roscoe. A and M. H. Msiska. (1992). The Quiet Chameleon: Mdern Poetry from
Africa. London: Hans Zell.
Schoffeleers, J. M. and A. A. Roscoe (1985). Land of Fire: Oral Literature from
Malawi, Limbe: Montfort Press.
Answers to activities
Unit 1 Aspects of African Oral Poetry
Activity 1
Two basic factors that might have negatively affected the development of African
traditional poetry include the following:
a) It has been seriously ignored or neglected for a long time. No African scholar
had regarded it as serious art and given it the attention it is worth until only
recently. This attitude was fostered by early colonial interpreters of African
culture since they did not see any importance in the tribal songs.
b) There was less recognition that poetry in one form or another is part of a
cultural heritage and hence all people should have rational conceptions of
what it is. Originally, poetry was meant to be recited or sung orally but this
has given way to modern, written poetry.
Activity 2
Distinctive features of traditional Africa oral poetry include the following:
a) it deals with a wide range of human experiences like death , birth, weddings,
hunting and war.
b) It brings to mind the images of all that is in the surrounding human
environment and it was mainly composed of praise poetry, religion, lyrics,
dirges, occupational poetry; the poetry of abuse, satires, and celebratory
poetry.
c) It is rich in figurative forms of expression like imagery, metaphors, similes,
personification etc. These forms of expression contain deep and good
reflections about the world.
d) The modern world of African poetry is indebted to traditional poetry for it
draws greatly on tradition, showing variety and the intrinsic beauty of these
traditional forms in terms of themes, techniques, values, complexity and
relevance of simple cultural acts.
e) Some of the oral works (folklore) have been directly translated into English,
French or Portuguese languages. For examples: Epics of Sundiata from Mali
Kingdom, legends of Shaka Zulu from South Africa and Song of Lawino by
Okot p’Bitek from Uganda have an oral base. Although translations distort a
great deal of the original message and that something of the artistry is lost,
good translations are themselves creative works and often succeed in
conveying the essential qualities and meanings of the original.
Activity 3
a) Yes
b) Oral poetry may either be a piece of song or dance that is performed orally.
Ideally such oral pieces may be performed in order to educate youths on
certain aspects of life, and deliberate efforts are made to bring several youths
together so that they listen to the oral piece. For example, during initiation
ceremonies such as jando and msindo, youths from different villages are
brought together in order to be instructed on their future roles. This shows
that initiation ceremonies unite as well as educate the youths.
Unit Assessment Test
1. The root of African literature, irrespective of genre, is oral poetry. Both content
and form of the African oral traditions help in moulding literary pieces.
2. Proverbs help in the development African philosophy. This means that proverbs
are mostly important because they assist in educating the masses on how to handle
issues relating to human development. For example a proverb like ‘kuyenda
nkuvina’ (travelling is dancing) provides serious awareness among the people that
you should be nice to whoever you meet because you may unexpectedly meet and
need that particular person at unspecified place in the future.
3. The content of the oral piece is nothing but the African culture so if oral traditions
are presented in different genres of oral poetry, it is obvious that several cultural
aspects shall be included in such pieces.
Unit 2
The Pioneer Poets
Activity 1
They were just imitating Victorian poets who emphasized metre and rhymes. As a
result of this imitation, some African poets came up with prosaic pieces. They could
not explore other ways of coming up with poems.
Activity 2
a) The persona is an African (or Africans).
b) The poem is about the colonial intrusion in Africa. Vultures represent colonialists,
missionaries or slave owners who came to Africa and cleverly enticed Africans to
follow their religion or culture. The persona acknowledges that in spite of the
oppression Blacks will progress and enjoy the values that they uphold. The poem
ends at a very positive or hopeful note. Africans are positive that one day they will
overcome the oppression; such feelings refuse to die in an African. They keep on
living because of such hopes.
Activity 3
This bears some relationships with poetry of the pioneer phase in the following
ways:

Their land had been taken away and they lived in slum areas so they wanted
to repossess their land. Therefore repossession of their land was one of their
major themes or messages in their poems.

It is poetry centred on ghetto life, urban life and songs - all talking of
repossessing their land.

There is an oral element created by the use of repetitive refrains, lines and
verses.

The message in the Lusophone poems is more radical than in the
Francophone and Anglophone writing because they [Lusophone poets] were
involved in the guerrilla war.[eg Neto later became the first president of
independent Angola].
Activity 4
Just like Lusophone poetry, poets in the pioneering phase in South Africa were
involved in radical protest against the colonialists. The only unique feature about the
South African scene is that poets were waging a literary verbal war against apartheid
policy, a system of government peculiar to South Africa. Some poets joined politics
and became members of opposition parties after they had tried to use their pens but
to no avail. For example, Alex La Guma and Dennis Brutus were arrested by the
South African government for opposing apartheid.
Unit Assessment Test
1. a) African who is against Africans that have joined the colonialists.
b) The persona is angry that some Africans shamelessly join hands with the
colonizer to divide the kingdoms. These stooges go to war to fight their own
brothers because they are being encouraged by the colonialists.
c) This poem presents an angry tone. It is shown by the length of lines; each line
is very short.
2. Although Lusophone writers came some time later, they were the first to react
against colonial intrusion in their respective countries as such their aims and themes
resemble those of the Pioneering phase.
3. Noemia de Sousa - Portuguese; Leopold Sedar Senghor – French
Unit 3 Negritude Poetry
Activity 1
Negritude poetry was poetry of protest and revolt for the following reasons:

Africans found themselves under White domination in their own countries.
Instead of doing things in their own way, they were living under prescriptive
rule of the colonialists. Negritude poetry therefore had a message urging,
Africans to return to their cultural roots.

The Black mans’ culture was regarded as evil and was not respected.
Examples of this are dances, initiation ceremonies, use of local language etc

The laws governing the colonies were also that of the colonialists. To Africans,
this was a kind of slavery and exile in their own country.

Poets in exile experienced a lot of segregation and dehumanizing conditions
because of their skin colour.
Activity 2
The Nigeria novelist, poet and critic, Wole Soyinka, famously argued that “a tiger
does not proclaim its tigritude, it just pounces.” Such critics of negritude argue that
there is no need for the negritudinists to proclaim their blackness, what is needed is
action. Some African critics argue that Negroes are not Africans. As such, Taban lo
Liyong and John Pepper Clark believed that negritude movement was relevant to
the Africans in the Diaspora and not those that were physically present in Africa. In
one of his critical essays, Taban lo Liyong suggests that Negritude poetry is ‘crying
over spilt milk’. He argues that going back to African roots is unrealistic because the
whole world is undergoing change. What Africans need to do is to concentrate on
what is happening at present and about the future. If poets want to be realistic about
their subjects such as Africa, they should look at both sides of the coin. This means
that they should proclaim its beauty as well as its dark side and violence in countries
like The Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC] and Somalia where Blacks are
fighting and killing fellow Blacks.
Activity 3
a) It aims to reassert and revive through literature, cultural values, identity and
authenticity of Africans and to extol the ancestral glories and the beauty of Africa,
partly through renunciation of what is Western [education, law, culture and
language] and partly through a re-ordering of imagery.
b) Negritude poetry is centred on African experiences, answering back and
condemning the White man’s accusations. In view of this, it does not so much put
emphasis on conventions [meter, rhyme] but on rhythmic repetition which makes
the poetry sound lyrical-or more like a song. Lyricism and repetition are very
important in African poetry.
Activity 4
In literature, Negritude ideas are manifested in the use of traditional images, local
references and symbols, lyrical rhythms of traditional oral poetry and a bold
declaration o those intuitive and rhythmic qualities that distinguish the African from
the European no other poet’s work except Senghor’s exhibit these points. His work
has, however, been a success for possessing lyrical beauty [as it was recited to the
accompaniment of local musical instruments] and some of his work are full of
emotions and excessive sentiment.
Unit Assessment Test
1. Aime Cesaire and Birago Diop
2. Negritude poets set the African agenda for the development of literature,
especially poetry. Later poets owe a lot of literary artistry from the pioneer poets of
Francophone expression because their poems were very rich in African images.
3. He did not encourage the idea of over-praising the beauty, strength or any other
superhuman qualities of an African. To him that was a waste of time. His philosophy
was that an African should not ‘say’ but ‘show’ that he is capable.
Unit 4
Transitional Phase of Development of African Poetry
Activity 1
It suggests that this phase is a bridge between two major phases, so it is likely to
have features of both phases.
Activity 2
In the transitional phase of the development of poetry, there is a marked desire to
write in an independent way. Poets choose simple vocabulary but depict strong
images of traditional oral aspects. The use of the English language by African poets
of the transitional phase shows that Africans understand the learnt medium of
communication. However, there are still some flashes of archaism in the expressions
of different poets.
Activity 3
This is one of the most effective and beautiful poems by Okara. He wrote this poem
out of his experience of being in America during the winter. The poem itself aims at
the presentation of one of the problems of the contact between black and white races
and cultures. For example, there was lack of understanding of Europeans in matters
related to African way of life. Therefore, the theme of the poem is public. The poet
uses very strong images that unlock the intended meanings to the poem. For
example, the poet confirms the impressions of a dream by making images and
meanings fade into one another. However, a logical meaning can be deduced. Birds,
for example, represent active life. The term ‘uprooters ’represents colonial masters
trying to move Africans from their way of life, their values. The sun represents
national light and warmth, an essential for life and growth. “My inside” (line 17) is
an expression that Okara has translated from the native Ijaw. It does not mean
stomach; it refers to what we have inside us which makes us what we are. “Orbs”
refers to special objects, sometimes associated with the worlds and standing here for
the suns and the stanza (lines 24-28) contains the root of the theme. Gold symbolises
cold, bright, expensive materialism.
“Misty eye of sky” (in line number 2) is a beautiful description of the snow falling
from the sky as if one were talking of tears falling from a man’s musty or wet and
cloudy eye. “Winter-stripped and nude” (line 5) shows that the elms have lost all
their leaves. The poet awakes our sympathy about the situation by using words
related to the human conditions in connection with his objects. “Heater” mentioned
in line 11 shows that in the cold season in Europe and America one needs to heat
one’s room in order to be comfortable, and the source of heat is called a heater.
When you have it on for a long time it tends to make you sleepy. “Schisms” (line 26)
refers to breaches between religious organizations and their present bodies. By using
this word to refer to natural phenomenon the poet indicates a depth of
misunderstanding beyond ordinary confusion.
Unit Assessment Test
1. Major poets of this phase come from different countries. For example, some of the
notable poets of this phase include Lenrie Peters from Gambia, Dennis Brutus from
South Africa, Joseph Kariuki from East Africa and Gabriel Okara from Nigeria.
2. This is a song of a returning warrior or a student. The poet examines uncertainty,
anxiety, and high expectations of a student that is returning to his country from
studies overseas. In this poem studies are referred to as “the bloodless wars”. The
first four lines set the mood; the students return with “sunken hearts, possibly
because they do not know what awaits them. They come “with boots full of pride” in
their victories in the bloodless wars. The mixture of “yesterday’s crimes” and the
faltering dawn of an unknown tomorrow sets up or precipitates tension of the poem.
3. Because this time around poets have not detached themselves from the literary
prowess of the seasoned poets of great English tradition.
Unit 5
The Ibadan Nsukka School of African Poetry
Activity 1
In Clark’s “Abiku”, an ‘abiku’ is being addressed. The tone of pity for the mother at
the end suggests that the speaker is a relation of the family. In the first four lines, the
speaker asks the ‘abiku’ to stay permanently out, if he is not satisfied with the
household. The speaker then admits that the house is poor (lines 5-11). However, he
says, it has brought up other healthy children. Now that the child has been
recognized, he is begged to cast off his wandering spirit and stay. Lines 23 to the end
form of an appeal to the ‘abiku’ to consider the suffering of the mother and stay.
Activity 2
In contrast to Clark’s poem in which the ‘abiku’ is being coaxed to stay, here we
have the ‘abiku’ impudently and mischievously boasting of his power to overcome
all attempts to hold him. Bangles, sacrifices of goats, cowries, palm oil and sprinkled
ash, markings with snail-shells etc all these are in vain. Normally, one would expect
to pity mothers who have abiku, but here we are called upon to admire the
elusiveness of the ‘abiku’. This is understandable when we realise that, though the
poem is talking about ‘abiku’, it carries a feeling and theme beyond the traditional
‘abiku’ myth.
Activity 3
Features of Hopkins influence which is popularly known known as Hopkins disease
incliude:
a) atrocious punctuations
b) arbitrary breaking of words
c) deliberate scrambling of word order to produce ambiguities
d) syntactic jugglery and suppression of auxiliary verbs and articles
e) double consonant and alliterative words used together within a line, which
negatively affected meaning.
Activity 4
The troika argues that the characteristics of Ibadan Nsukka school poetry include:
a) Obscurity and privatising aspects or individualism. For example, Okigbo is on
record to have advocated that one is free to write what he thinks he can write
and that he writes for his fellow poets.
b) Most of contributions to the Anglo-modernist poetry were made by students of
Ibadan and Nsukka Universities.
c) Poetry is not seen as a tool that teaches but is looked at as a puzzle to be
worked out. These poets suggested in their own way that they were
subscribing to universal standards.
d) Most poetry reflected the college milieu or atmosphere or environment which
had a notation that poetry is something written with metre, rhyme and in
stanzaic form.
Unit Assessment Test
1. According to the troika, three major tendencies in African poetry in English from
1950-1975 are as follows:
a) Euro- Modernism who were imitators of 20th century European poetry. Some of
the notable poets of this period include Soyinka, Clark, and Okigbo.
b) Traditionalists who modelled English language poetry from African model poetry
ie Mazizi Kunene, Kofi Awonoor, Okot p’Bitek, Taban lo Liyong, and the later
Christopher Okigbo.
c) A Miscellany of individual voices who occupied the middle ground. Miscellany of
individual voices includes individualistic voices. These do fit in both Traditionalists
and Euro-Modernism. Such poets include Gabriel Okara, Lenri Peters, Denis Brutus.
The Troika claim that Euro–modernist tendency was promoted by Martin Barnham
[1957-1967] as a way of British cultural coup de tat [Nigerian critics such as
Chinweinzu and Madubuike argue that the colonialist through Martin Banham were
making Nigerian write in the manner of Europeans.]
2. Features of euromodernist poetry according to the troika include the followiung:
a) Conflict between language and surface meaning [puzzle to be worked out].
Language of Ibadan Nsukka Poetry was archaic pattern that copies 19th century or
British writers such as Shakespeare resulting largely into obscurity.
b) Use of imported imagery and attitudes, especially allusions to Greek mythology
and the use of Catholic impedimenta [Latin which means ritual package]. Okigbo and
Echeruo use Greek mythology and Latin expressions.
c) Unsuccessful or Botched mimesis [imitation, copying].
Unit 6
Modern East African Poetry
Activity 1

It runs into 13 movements which we call extended dramatic monologue
uttered in public.

It’s internal structure is that of a dialogue, or a debate between 2 sets of
values; Western culture values [symbolized in the person of Lawino, the wife]
and African [in the person of Ocol the husband]

It is free in structure such that re-shuffling of certain middle sections could
not cause disturbance.
Activity 2

It is a sequel and a reply to “Song of Lawino”.

It is a restatement and an elaboration in the first person of Ocol’s point of
view.

Ocol does not offer a parallel or comparable argument.

Ocol assumes a superior posture, ruling that the new, glorious Africa cannot
be built on the misery, ignorance, Blackness, and inferiority of the past,
therefore, Africa’s past must be destroyed.

Ocol does not rise to the stature of Lawino either because he does not believe
in his own bombast or, because his author does not agree with him.
Activity 3
Okot’s and Buruga’s poems are similar in the following ways:

It is also divided into 13 chapters or movements.

Its theme is affirming African [kakwa] values against the encroachment of
Europe.

“The Abandoned Hut” also has a single accusing, lamenting and protesting
voice. The accuser is the traditionalist African and the accused is the
westernized African. It has one reversal, that it is the woman who has gone
European and the man who has remained faithful to African ways. The
ground of the lament in both poems is the same, namely love that has been
sinned against.
Activity 4
Most of the poems by Ugandan authors are longer than those written by their
Kenyan counterparts. Generally, Ugandan poets present bitter poems while Kenyans
seem to enjoy writing short lyrical poems.
Unit Assessment Test
1. Song of Lawino presents the clash of cultures between African culture and
European culture. Lawino represents an African who strongly adheres to the ideals
of the African culture while Ocol, Lawino’s husband, despises his culture and
praises a foreign culture.
2. The main reason is that Song of Lawino is written in an absolutely unique way.
When this text was published, many scholars and critics were skeptical about the
acceptability of the form and structure of the text because each and every poet was
supposed to follow certain conventions. Okot p’Bitek did not follow these
conventions.
3. Because Professor David Rubadiri studied and worked in the Universities of
Makerere in Uganda and Kenya. While in East Africa he wrote a lot of literary texts
such as novels and collection of poetry.
Unit 7
Development of Modern Central African Poetry
Activity 1
As we look at Central African Poetry, we will look at poetry in the following
countries:

Malawi

Zambia

Zimbabwe
Activity 2
Themes of Malawian Poetry:

arbitrary detention

mass murder

tyranny

nepotism

hero-worship of dictatorship

humiliation

despair

exile
Activity 3

His poetry is likely to be obscure and absurd as a result of his persistent use of
irony, ambiguity, understatement, subtlety, euphemism and myth.

Jack Mapanje writes using multiple voices which he blends harmoniously.

He also assumes various roles like a chameleon in his poems from his own
volume of poems titled “Of Chameleons and God “. His poems often question
such pretentious terms as development, modernity and progress.

He combines somber tones with metaphorical language.

Jack Mapanje also shows careful balance and controlled forms in his poetry.

The sound patterns in his poems are achieved through repetition of a line or
word which results in a condensed line. He also derives his creative power
from the use of direct rhetorical questions and cumulative statements.
Activity 4
Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda's harsh leadership, littered with the dead bodies of
some of his critics, and with others in prison and exile, created survival methods that
apparently maintained law and order. Since people were living under perpetual fear
due to censorship laws, the use of traditional courts to deal with complex cases such
as treason, and the use of a notorious British-styled Special Branch security system to
crush any criticism of his government, of close relatives or of himself, this repression
deeply affected the free creation of literature and the arts. Napolo Poems sought to
give an explanation behind suffering of many Malawians. It was a survival kit for
the ‘sane’ that were mistakenly regarded as the ‘insane’ [for criticizing the
government].
Activity 5
Using oral forms, new metaphors from Malawi's indigenous languages, suggestive
words, puns, and certain popular phrases, they managed to camouflage some of the
critical literature for circulation without reprisal. Chimombo, working in the same
vein of resistance, utilises a myth of a landslide snake called Napolo to write the long
Napolo Poems. The collection of poems stands as an analogue for suffering by
Malawians under Banda. Consciously contemporarising the myth by fusing it with
modern subject matter, Chimombo brings in geographical features that help him to
paint literary images of a national landscape that is victimised by those with
destructive capacity and seeming invincibility like Napolo.
Activity 6
We see three different ways of survival: firstly, the crab personality crawls
'sideways/backwards, forwards, and avoid direct action on public matters'; secondly,
the chameleon uses its ability to match colours with surroundings, and snakes out its
tongue to scare off potential danger; and thirdly the mole digs deep into the earth to
live in underground 'Utopias' and 'Edens', dying there unnoticed. Fourthly, the
Kalilombe's decision to confront issues is suicidal because she decides to face the
problematic issues head on. Pregnant with impatient foetuses, she goes to the top of
Nsolo tree, flings herself on to the granite rock of Kaphirintiwa and explodes to
release various forms of life. Chimombo's usage of Kalilombe as a mother-figure is
used as a device of social criticism: this image allows him to refer to the ability of this
particular personality to give birth to ways of challenging the problematic status
quo. The historical Kalilombe's death, as a martyr, suicidal as it looks, becomes a
rallying call for the discontented to rise up. The Kalilombe may represent fearless
freedom fighters who confronted the regime. For example, Matchipitsa Mnthali,
Yatuta Chisiza, Masauko Chipembere, and Chakufwa Chihana openly challenged Dr
Banda’s leadership.
Activity 7
In his poem, "Stanley Meets Mutesa", the poet dramatizes how a British man,
perhaps Stanley, and his party walk for a long time in both harsh and hopeful
conditions. When they reach King Mutesa's kingdom, they are not welcomed
warmly because the villagers do not trust the British men. Finally, the British men
are allowed into the village without a fight. Throughout the poem the mood is
different. In the first two stanzas the mood is harsh and melancholy because the men
are walking under the "fierce and scorching" sun. Also the men were malnourished
and physically exhausted because "each afternoon a human skeleton collapsed".
Activity 8
a) i. Sending its children into exile
ii. imprisonment of many men in the name of law and order.
b) The last verse is full of hope for the future.
c) Anger and hope
Unit Assessment Test
1. Four ways of dying are:

avoid direct action, confrontation and commitment on political and public
matters

confuse direction of purpose, meaning and sense

balance the issues, weigh and consider

match one’s colour to the party’s colour

choose not to see what is happening
2. a) Literal meaning: “dying” means stop to exist; stop being alive
b) Metaphorical meaning: “dying” means loss of identity
3. The poet presents an angry poem. The theme of the poem is oppression and
hypocrisy. The leader is accused of hypocrisy because at first he seems to be
protecting his subjects but later he kills the same people he used to protect. This
poem could be a reference to late Dr Banda who claimed to be protecting his people
but later accidentalised some citizens and threw some in the Shire River to become
crocodile’s food.
4. Mapanje’s multiple voice

leader for revolution

people who wished the party a downfall
Module Test
Mzuzu University
Faculty of Education
Department of Languages and Literature
African Poetry in English
Time allowed: 2 hours
Instruction

Answer all questions

Marks are indicated against each question
1. With clear examples, discuss five functions of traditional oral poetry.
(10 Marks)
2. Discuss tone and any two themes in the poem below.
(10 Marks)
“The Vultures”
by David Diop
In those days
When civilization kicked us in the face
When holy water slapped our cringing brows
The vultures built in the shadow of their talons
The bloodstained monument of tutelage
In those days
There was painful laughter on the metallic hell of the roads
and the monotonous rhythm of the paternoster
Drowning the howling on the plantations.
On the bitter memories of extorted kisses
Of promises broken at the point of a gun
Of foreigners who did not seem human
Who knew all the books but did not know love.
But we whose hands fertilize the womb of the earth
In spite of your songs of pride
In spite of the desolate villagers of torn Africa
Hope was preserved in us as a fortress
And from the mines of Swaziland to the factories of Europe
Spring will be reborn under our bright steps.
3. Jack Mapanje is known for his use of hidden images. What do you think is the
message behind “Song of Chickens” by Jack Mapanje?
(10 Marks)
4. Identify five features of pioneer poetry in the poem below.
(10 Marks)
“Rejoice”
by Gladys Casely-Hayford
Rejoice and shout with laughter
Throw all your burdens down,
If God has been so gracious
As to make you black or brown.
For you are a great nation,
A people of great birth
For where would spring the flowers
If God took away the earth?
Rejoice and shout with laughter
Throw all your burdens down
Yours is a glorious heritage
If you are black, or brown.
5. Explain five features of Negritude poetry?
(10 Marks)
6. a) Mention five features of Malawian Poetry?
(10 Marks)
b) Identify the features mentioned in 6. a) above in the poem that follows and
explain how it has been used.
“Four Ways of Dying”
By Steve Chimombo
The celebrants chanted
To the reluctant martyrs-to-be
We could have a blood sacrifice!
The crab’s response:
5
I crawl
in my shell sideways
backwards
forwards
Avoid
10
direct action on public matters
confrontation
commitment
Meander
15
to confuse direction or purpose
meaning
sense
Squat
to balance the issues
weigh
20
consider
The Chameleon’s answer:
Until I have exhausted my wardrobe
Lost my dye to a transparent nothingness
Free of reflection, true to my image
25
I’ll match my colours with yours
Snake my tongue out to your fears
Bare my teeth to puncture your hopes
Tread warily past your nightmares
Curl my tail round your sanctuaries
30
Clasp my pincer on your veins
To listen to your veins
To listen to your heartbeat.
The Mole’s descent:
Wormlike I build in the entrails of the earth
Fashion intricate passages and halls
35
Tunnel utopias and underground edens
Substitute surface with subterranean vision
Level upon level of meaning of existence
As I ask downward in my labyrinth
To die in the catacomb of my own making.
40
The Kalilombe’s ascent:
The gestation and questionings are over
I’m restless with impatient fetuses
Bellyful with a profusion of conundrums
My pilgrimage takes me too the cradle
45
The njave tree, the lie in of the man’s hopes
I grit my teeth, grab the slippery surface
And host myself up the nation’s trunk
On the topmost branch I have momentary
Possession of eternity whirling in the chaos
50
With the death song floating from my lips
I fling myself down on Kaphiri-Ntiwa rock
As multivarious forms of art and life
Issue out from the convulsions
Of the ruptured womb
55
And thus I die.
(20 Marks)
7. Compare and contrast the following poems in terms of themes, tone, persona
and addressee.
“Abiku”
J.P. Clark
Coming and going these several seasons,
Do stay out of the boabab tree,
Follow where you please your kindred spirits
If indoors is enough for you.
5
True, it leaks through the thatch
When floods brim the banks,
And the bats and the owls
Often tear in at night through the eaves,
And at harmattan, the bamboo walls
10
Are ready tinder for the fire
That dries up on the rack.
Still, it’s been the healthy stock
To several fingers, to many more will be
Who reach to the sun.
15
No longer then bestride the threshold
But step in and stay
For good. We know the knife scars
Serrating down your back and front
Like beak of the sword-fish,
20
And both your ears, notched
As a bondman to this house,
All relics of your first comings.
Then step in, step in and stay
For her body is tired,
25
Tired, her milk going sour
Where many more mouths gladden the heart.
“Abiku”
By Wole Soyinka
In vain your bangles cast
Charmed circles at my feet;
I am Abiku, calling for the first
And the repeated time.
5
Must I weep for goats and cowries
For palm oil and the sprinkled ash?
Yams do not sprout in amulets
To earth Abiku’s limbs.
So when the snail is burnt in his shell
10
Whet the heated fragment, brand me
Deeply on the breast. You must know him
When Abiku calls again
I am the squirrel teeth, cracked
The riddle of the palm. Remember
15
This, and dig me deeper still into
The god’s swollen foot.
Once and the repeated time, ageless
Though I puke. And when you pour
Libations, each finger points me near
20
The way I came, where
The ground is wet with mourning
White dew suckles flesh-birds
Evening befriends the spider, trapping
Flies in wind-froth;
25
Night, and Abiku sucks the oil
From lamps. Mothers! I’ll be the
Suppliant snake coiledon the doorstep
Yours the killing cry.
The ripest fruit was saddest;
30
Where I crept, the warmth was cloying.
In the silence of webs, Abiku moans, shaping
Mounds from yolk.
(20 marks)
End of Question Paper