Nation, power and dissidence in third generation Nigerian poetry in English

Sule E. Egya

Description

Nation, Power and Dissidence in Third Generation Nigerian Poetry in English is a theoretical and analytical survey of the poetry that emerged in Nigeria in the 1980s. Hurt into poetry, the poets collectively raise aesthetics of resistance that dramatises the nationalist imagination bridging the gap between poetry and politics in Nigeria. The emerging generation of poetic voices raises an outcry against the repressive military regimes of the 1980s and 1990s. Ingrained in the tradition of protest literature in Africa, the third-generation poetry is presented here as part of the cultural struggles that unseat military despotism and envisage a democratic society.

Informations

• Publié par: NISC (Pty) Ltd
• Date de parution: 12 avril 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781920033453
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

Dedication

Fondly for: Anyalewa Emmanuella, Oyigwu Desmond and Egya Nelson. Love, love, and more love.

About the Series he Arîcan Humanîtîes Serîes îs a partnersîp between te Arîcan Humanîtîes Program (AHP) o te Amerîcan Councîl o Learned Socîetîes and academîc publîsers NISC (Pty) Ltd*. he Serîes covers topîcs în Arîcan îstorîes, languages, lîteratures, pîlosopîes, polîtîcs and cultures. Submîssîons are solîcîted rom Fellows o te AHP, wîc îs admînîstered by te Amerîcan Councîl o Learned Socîetîes and inancîally supported by te Carnegîe Corporatîon o New York. he purpose o te AHP îs to encourage and enable te productîon o new knowledge by Arîcans în te ive countrîes desîgnated by te Carnegîe Corporatîon: Gana, Nîgerîa, Sout Arîca, Tanzanîa, and Uganda. AHP ellowsîps support one year’s work ree rom teacîng and oter responsîbîlîtîes to allow te Fellow to complete te project proposed. Elîgîbîlîty or te ellowsîp în te ive countrîes îs by domîcîle, not natîonalîty. Book proposals are submîtted to te AHP edîtorîal board wîc manages te peer revîew process and selects manuscrîpts or publîcatîon by NISC. In some cases, te AHP board wîll commîssîon a manuscrîpt mentor to undertake substantîve edîtîng and to work wît te autor on reinîng te inal manuscrîpt. he Arîcan Humanîtîes Serîes aîms to publîs works o te îgest qualîty tat wîll oreground te best researc beîng done by emergîng scolars în te ive Carnegîe desîgnated countrîes. he rîgorous selectîon process beore te ellowsîp award, as well as AHP edîtorîal vettîng o manuscrîpts, assures attentîon to qualîty. Books în te serîes are întended to speak to scolars în Arîca as well as în oter areas o te world. he AHP îs also commîtted to provîdîng a copy o eac publîcatîon în te serîes to unîversîty lîbrarîes în Arîca.

*early tîtles în te serîes was publîsed by Unîsa Press, but te publîsîng rîgts to te entîre serîes are now vested în NISC

AHP Editorial Board Members as at January 2019 AHP Series Editors: Proessor Adîgun Agbaje*, Unîversîty o Ibadan, Nîgerîa Proessor Emerîtus Fred Hendrîcks, Rodes Unîversîty, Sout Arîca Consultant: Proessor Emerîtus Sandra Barnes, Unîversîty o Pennsylvanîa, USA (Antropology) Board Members: 1 Proessor Akosua Adomako Ampoo, Instîtute o Arîcan Studîes, Gana (Gender Studîes & Advocacy) (Vîce Presîdent, Arîcan Studîes Assocîatîon o Arîca) 2 Proessor Koi Anyîdoo, Unîversîty o Gana, Gana (Arîcan Studîes & Lîterature) (Dîrector, Codesrîa Arîcan Humanîtîes Instîtute Program) 3 Proessor Ibraîm Bello-Kano, Bayero Unîversîty, Nîgerîa (Dept o Englîs and Frenc Studîes) 4 Proessor Satî Fwatsak, Unîversîty o Jos, Nîgerîa (Dept o Hîstory & Internatîonal Studîes) 5 Proessor Patrîcîa Hayes, Unîversîty o te Western Cape, Sout Arîca (Arîcan Hîstory, Gender Studîes and Vîsualîty) (SARCI Caîr în Vîsual Hîstory and heory) 6 Assocîate Proessor Wîlred Lajul, College o Humanîtîes & Socîal Scîences, Makerere Unîversîty, Uganda (Dept o Pîlosopy) 7 Proessor Yusuu Lawî, Unîversîty o Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzanîa (Dept o Hîstory) 8 Proessor Bertram Mapunda, Unîversîty o Dar es Salaam, Tanzanîa (Dept o Arcaeology & Herîtage Studîes) 9 Proessor Innocent Pîkîrayî, Unîversîty o Pretorîa, Sout Arîca (Caîr & Head, Dept o Antropology & Arcaeology) 10 Proessor Josepat Rugemalîra, Unîversîty o Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzanîa (Dept o Foreîgn Languages & Lînguîstîcs) 11 Proessor Idayat Bola Udegbe, Unîversîty o Ibadan, Nîgerîa (Dept o Psycology)

*replaced Proessor Kwesî Yanka, Cental Unîverîty College, Gana, co-edîtor rom 2013–2016

Published in this series

Domînîca Dîpîo,Gender terrains in African cinema, 2014 Ayo Adeduntan,WHat tHe forest told me: Yoruba Hunter, culture and narrative performance,2014 Sule E. Egya,Nation, power and dissidence in tHird-generation Nigerian poetry in EnglisH, 2014 Irîkîdzayî Manase,WHite narratives: he depiction of post-2000 land invasions in Zimbabwe, 2016 Pasca Mungwînî, Indigenous SHona PHilosopHy: Reconstructive insigHts, 2017 Sylvîa Bruînders,Parading Respectability: he Cultural and Moral AestHetics of tHe CHristmas Bands Movement in tHe Western Cape, SoutH Africa, 2017 Mîcael Andîndîlîle,he AnglopHone literary-linguistic continuum: EnglisH and indigenous languages in African literary discourse, 2018 Jeremîa Arowosegbe,Claude E Ake: tHe making of an organic intellectual, 2018 Romanus Abo,Language and tHe construction of multiple identities in tHe Nigerian novel, 2018 Bernard Matolîno,Consensus as Democracy in Africa,2018 Babajîde Ololajulo,UnsHared Identity:PostHumous paternity in a contemporary Yoruba community,2018

Nation, Power and Dissidence in Third-Generation Nigerian Poetry

in English

Sule E. Egya

Orîgînally publîsed în 2014 by Unîsa Press, Sout Arîca under ISBN: 978-1-86888-759-0

hîs edîtîon publîsed în Sout Arîca on beal o te Arîcan Humanîtîes Program by NISC (Pty) Ltd, PO Box 377, Graamstown, 6140, Sout Arîca www.nîsc.co.za

NISC irst edîtîon, irst împressîon 2019

Publîcatîon © Arîcan Humanîtîes Program 2014, 2019 Text ©Sele E. Egya2014, 2019 All rîgts reserved. No part o tîs publîcatîon may be reproduced or transmîtted în any orm or by any means, electronîc or mecanîcal, încludîng potocopyîng, recordîng, or any înormatîon storage or retrîeval system, wîtout prîor permîssîon în wrîtîng rom te publîser.

ISBN: 978-1-920033-44-6 (prînt) ISBN: 978-1-920033-45-3 (PDF) ISBN: 978-1-920033-46-0 (ePub)

Project Edîtor: Tsegoatso Selodîmela Book Desîgner: Monîca Martîns-Sculd Copy Edîtor: Sakîra Hoosaîn Typesettîng: Monîca Martîns-Sculd Indexer: Tanya Barben

he autor and te publîser ave made every efort to obtaîn permîssîon or and acknowledge te use o copyrîgt materîal. Sould an înadvertent înrîngement o copyrîgt ave occurred, please contact te publîser and we wîll rectîy omîssîons or errors în any subsequent reprînt or edîtîon.

Acknowledgements

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CHàptér Oé Introduction CHàptér TWô The Question of Generation Literary Tradition, Inuence, Anxiety CHàptér THréé Poetics and Subjectivity: Making Poetry Serve Humanity Afam Akeh: This is Poetry as She Breathes Abubakar Othman: Wordsworth Lied CHàptér Fôûr Dissident Dirge: Elegy Against the Oppressor Olu Oguibe:I am Bound to this Land by Blood Chiedu Ezeanah:I Saw Generals Hack the Tracks with Convulsive Steel CHàptér FîVé Myth and Materialism: Deploying Myth against  the Myth of Power Maik Nwosu:I am Taunted by Covenants of Misery Onookome Okome:Everything Smells of the Death of Dawn CHàptér Sîx Feminist Act: Feminising the Struggle Against the  Oppressor Toyin Adewale:In this Land we Love with Pain Unoma Azuah:I will Defy the Rage of the Rain and Erode No More

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CHàptér SéVé Eco-Human Engagement: Facing the Oppressor  over the Niger Delta Nnimmo Bassey:Of Burst Bellies and Pipes Ogaga Ifowodo:Oil is My Curse CHàptér EîGHt Conclusion: Exile and the Trope of Dispersal

WorksCited Index

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The manuscript for this publication was prepared with the support of the African Humanities Program fellowship, established by the American Council of Learned Societies and supported înancially by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. I remain grateful. I am also grateful to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany, which gave me funding which enabled me to stay at the Institute of Asian and African Studies in the period between 2009 and 2011, where I developed most of the ideas contained in this book.

Parts of this research have appeared as articles in the following journals with these titles: ‘Historicity, Power, Dissidence: The Third-Generation Poetry and Military Oppression in Nigeria’ inAfrican Affairs, 111.444 (2012): 424–441; ‘Eco-Human Engagement in Recent Nigerian Poetry in English’ inJournal of Postcolonial Writing, 48 (2012): 1–12; ‘Poetry as Dialogue: A Reading of Recent Anglophone Nigerian Poetry’ inE-Cerdernos CES, 12 (2011): 75–92; ‘The Aesthetic of Rage in Recent Nigerian Poetry in English: Olu Oguibe and Ifowodo Ogaga’ inMatatu: Journal of African Culture and Society, 39.2 (2011): 99–114; ‘Imagining Beast: A Critique of the Images of Oppressor in Recent Nigerian Poetry in English’ inJournal of CommonwealthLiterature, 46.2 (June 2011): 345–358; ‘Art and Outrage: A Critical Survey of Recent Nigerian Poetry in English’ inResearch in African Literatures, 42.1 (Spring 2011): 49–67.

During the course of this research, I have interacted productively with the following scholars: Prof. Flora Veit-Wild, Prof. Susanne Gerhmann, Prof. Ineke Phaf-Rheinberger, Prof. Ibrahim Bello-Kano, Prof. Babatunde Ayeleru, and Prof. Kolawole Gyoyega. I am grateful to them for their contributions.

My sincere thanks to the AHP team, especially Barbara for her prompt response and encouragement; and to my editors at the Unisa Press for their patience and understanding.

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