A Poetics of Climate Change: Apocalyptic Rhetoric in Selected Poems from East Africa (original) (raw)
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An Ecocritical Reading of Selected African Poems
KENTE - Cape Coast Journal of Literature and the Arts, 2019
This paper discusses some ecocritical ideas in selected poems by Kofi Awoonor, Kofi Anyidoho and the Negritude poets David Diop and Birago Diop. Drawing on postcolonial ecocriticism theory the paper focuses on ecocritical symbolisms and their ramifications in order to show how African poets attend to the environment, community and modernity’s many flaws. The consideration of the Negritude poems in this study stems from the fact that Negritude Literature in general and the selected poems in particular have been examined mainly within the context of Black African identity and the antiracist effort in general. The paper demonstrates that ecological motifs or symbols are deployed by some African poets to express life, survival, and nostalgia.
2015
A lot of controversy has arisen concerning the handling of environment by African writers. While the debate continues on what paradigm is acceptable to African writers and critics of so-called environment, land or nature writings, and whether or not to adopt western originated ecocriticism as a model for African environment conscious literature, since such literature is accused of being too anthropocentric by Eurocentric critics, this essay aims to analyze the image of environment so as to determine the African understanding of environment and demonstrate the appropriateness of the treatment of environment in African literature using selected poems of a renowned Nigerian eco-poet Tanure Ojaide. The essay investigates Ojaide's representation of the African environment as Mother, Deity and Friend. The essay will take an Afrocentric approach to its analysis and conclusion. It will adopt and apply the aspects of ecocriticism that is suitable to the African perception of environment ...
International Journal of Language and Culture, 2021
One critical area that the poetry of Niyi Osundare and Tanure Ojaide addresses is nature— the physical environment. Hence, their poetry is classified as eco-poetry. Although studies on the poetry of Niyi Osundare and Tanure Ojaide have focused on traditional aesthetics, political power, exile and African experience (Ojaruega, 2015; Tsaaior, 2011; Nwagbara 2008, 2010; Okunoye, 2011) sufficient studies have not been done on their defense of natural environment. This study examines how their poetry celebrates nature and how they are used to caution the imminent danger of mismanagement of the physical environment. Thus, Niyi Osundare’s The Eyes of the Earth and Tanure Ojaide’s Delta Blues & Home Songs are studied to provide insights into the forms, patterns and concerns of their ecopoetry. The study leverages eco-criticism—the study of the relationship between literature and the natural environment—as its theoretical insight. The paper contends that though these poets celebrate nature’s beauty and potentials, their poems chastise exploitative activities of man and urge moral and social change in favor of the natural environment. It equally argues that the poets’ particular environments influence the form and style of their poetry, maintaining that there are more environmental challenges in the contemporary world of Tanure Ojaide which his poetry reflects in contrast to Niyi Osundare’s. Keywords: Environment, Nature, Eco-criticism, Nature-poetry/Eco-poetry
Face to Face with the Natural Environment: A Look at African Literature
Kervan. International Journal of Afro-Asiatic Studies, 2019
Human impact on natural environment has seriously increased over the last few centuries. However, it is only from the mid-twentieth century that a greater sensitivity has developed around environmental problems. With an eye on the development of the African environmentalism, the paper considers the reaction of some African writers and their efforts towards the conservation of physical environment and climate change through their literary works as narrative and poetry genres.
A lot of controversy has arisen concerning the handling of environment by African writers. While the debate continues on what paradigm is acceptable to African writers and critics of so-called environment, land or nature writings, and whether or not to adopt western originated ecocriticism as a model for African environment conscious literature, since such literature is accused of being too anthropocentric by Eurocentric critics, this essay aims to analyze the image of environment so as to determine the African understanding of environment and demonstrate the appropriateness of the treatment of environment in African literature using selected poems of a renowned Nigerian eco-poet Tanure Ojaide. The essay investigates Ojaide’s representation of the African environment as Mother, Deity and Friend. The essay will take an Afrocentric approach to its analysis and conclusion. It will adopt and apply the aspects of ecocriticism that is suitable to the African perception of environment however, discarding the elements of the theory that may not sit well with African literature. This paper perceives “environment” to mean nature, natural environment, non-human environment or land. Keywords: Ecocriticism, Afrocentric, Eurocentric, Anthropocentric, Environment
ECOLOGICAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND HYBRIDITY AS NEW POETICS IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN POETRY
Social Science Research Network (SSRN), 2023
Over the years, modern African poets have consciously or subconsciously come up with poetics in response to the multidimensional realities of their immediate world and the globe at large. Through the thematic and stylistic thrusts of their poetic compositions and productions, they have been able to not only delve into the social, political, and economic occurrences that permeate their world, but also into deeply personal issues emanating from what obtains in the local and global environment. In view of this, this essay investigates the new poetics that have emerged in response to recent global and local realities. An attempt is made to define what ‘new’ means in the context of this study, and how it is related to ‘contemporary’ poets who wrote in the last two to three decades. While this study recognizes the existence of emerging and enriching poetics like Individualism/individuality—a tendency towards increased preoccupation with self, almost in the tradition of the confessional poets; Queerness—interrogations around sexuality and body; Eroticism—preoccupation with erotic experiences and sensuous worship of the body; this study preoccupies itself with the examination of the poetics of Ecological consciousness and Hybridity. The choice of these two poetics is informed by how ‘matured’ they are in contemporary African poetry compared to the earlier mentioned ones still in the maturity phase. Also, the two selected poetics are explored from the angle of their thematic foci and stylistic thrusts, drawing illustrations from poetry collections across the African continent.
Human Ecology Review
This article explores the link between literature and the environment by examining the ingenious application of poetry by two Nigerian poets to draw people's attention to the debilitating effects of their actions on the human ecosystem. Based on Niyi Osundare's poetry collection The Eye of the Earth and Nnimmo Bassey's We Thought it was Oil but it was Blood, the paper shows how issues relating to human ecology can be masterfully interwoven in the art of poetry to project a perspective it terms environmental poetics. Thus, utilizing the instrument of poetry, the poets demonstrate the usefulness of art in portraying the ways in which human activities greatly impact on the human environment. Drawing theoretical precepts from ecopoetics, the paper argues that the two poets sensitized people to care for their environment while mobilizing them to confront those whose style of living, business, and governance utterly degrade the Earth and the people inhabiting it.
jpanafrican.com
This paper critically investigated how contemporary Nigerian poets employ nature as a metaphor to signify the dissonant relationship between the people of the Niger-Delta and the Nigerian government on one hand, and the African women and their men on the other hand. The discussion relied on the templates provided in select poems of Ebi Yeibo and Molara Ogundipe-Leslie. The paper employ Critical Discourse Analysis in combination with ecocritical disposition as a launch-pad to query the power balance that exists within the political arena of Nigeria, especially among the economically exploited people of the Niger-Delta. It explores the poets' presentation of the people's sense of disillusionment and disenchantment with the existing sociopolitical order which is unfair to the less privileged group(s), and it actually threatens their survival. The images of barren rivers and imprisoned selves portray the African women, the Niger Deltans and their environment as being under grave danger. After years of hoping and long-suffering, the personae now find themselves as paupers and impoverished by agents of the exploitative dominant paradigm. The deference to superior authority that is typically African thus comes under fatal threat. This paper finally posits that respect for nature and its benevolent resources is the surest way to meaningful and sustainable development on the earth for the benefit of all and sundry. Moreover, it insists on a dialogue of reason instead of self-annihilating violence presently prevalently on both sides while not giving up the possible position of power attainable with psychological liberation of the self from the damning hopelessness that each group's situation portends.
This study explores how two poems respond to Lake Haramaya's demise. Employing affective ecocriticism as a framework and using close reading as a method, it examines how Ekeraa Haramaya and Deg Ayberekitim depict the loss, criticise anthropocentrism, and envision ecological responsibility. The analysis reveals that the poems do not simply mourn the loss; they envision the lake's return and urge action. While Ekeraa Haramaya criticises human apathy and proposes restoration through collective commitment, Deg Ayberekitm offers a harsher critique, demanding vigilance, and collective action. Vivid imagery and the lake's personified suffering evoke emotions of grief, guilt, and shame, promoting environmental responsibility. Both poems highlight the fragility of ecosystems. Despite the lament, the poems offer hope for a restored future. They act as catalysts for change, asserting that our choices shape the planet's fate. This analysis highlights the power of Ethiopian ecopoetry and calls for further exploration of this genre.