ABSTRACT
Niyi Osundare is one of Nigeria’s most prolific poets whose works have
contributed significantly to the growth of a Nigerian poetic tradition. His appearance on
the literary scene has brought a new direction to the development of poetic activity. This
is seen in his radical approach to social, political and economic themes and in his indepth
exploration of oral tradition with the aim of stamping an indigenous identity on African
poetry by deliberately writing poetry that carries less western influences. It is of note that
Osundare is able to make his contribution to Nigerian poetry because the tradition of
poetry existed before he wrote.
The tradition of Nigerian poetry owes its evolution to certain significant factors,
these are the historical events of Africa’s contact with colonialism and the neo-colonial
apparatus, the culture of criticism that literary output depends on to thrive and the African
tradition, that rich reservoir of verbal and non-verbal art forms in the form of tales,
proverbs, images, myths, legends, music, mime and gestures.
The research explores significant manifestations of Osundare’s poetry and how
these have contributed to the growth of modern Nigerian poetry. The first chapter
undertakes a survey of Nigerian poetry by establishing the pioneering voices of Osadebey
and Okara. It highlights the poetic voices of Soyinka, Okigbo and Clark whose works
have built up the tradition of Nigerian poetry and also influenced the direction of
Osundare’s poetry.
The second chapter analyses Osundare’s concept of commitment as closely linked
to his radical ideological leaning that views literary activity as serving a political purpose.
The third chapter analyses Osundare’s use of the oral artistic technique. It
highlights his celebration of the traditional ethos and his use of traditional idioms as
framework upon which the poems are built.
The fourth chapter analyses the poet’s distinctive use of nature in poetry. The
chapter brings out the various ways Osundare has used nature imagery in his poetry.
The findings of the research presented in the fifth chapter are that Osundare
redefines the concept of commitment as carrying a deeper meaning, also his celebration
of traditional art forms is unrivalled yet in modern Nigerian poetry even though he faces
the limitations of mediating the essential oral using the written form, his use of nature
imagery in poetry is a breakthrough. The research concludes by emphasising that the
presence of Osundare on the poetic scene has enriched the body of poetry and also
shaped the development of modern Nigerian poetry.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Cover Page
Certification …………………………….………….………………………....i
Declaration………………..…………………………….…………………….ii
Dedication ………………………………………….………………………...iii
Acknowledgements ………………………………………..…….…………...iv
Abstract………………………………………………………………….……vi
Table of contents……………………………………………………………..viii
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction ……………………………………………………………… 1
The Concept of Tradition ………………………………………………… 2
The Emergence of a Nigerian Literary Tradition ………………………… 3
A Survey of Modern Nigerian Poetry …………………………………… 5
Literature Review ………………………………………………………… 16
CHAPTER TWO
Commitment in Poetry …………………………………………………… 20
Language Use in Osundare’s Poetry ……………………………………... 36
CHAPTER THREE
Artistic use of the Oral Tradition ………………………………………….. 45
CHAPTER FOUR
Nature in Osundare’s Poetry ………………………………………………. 63
CHAPTER FIVE
Emerging Trends in Nigerian Poetry ……………………………………… 78
Conclusion………………………………………………………………… 83
Bibliography ………………………………………………………………
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The tradition of poetry in Africa did not commence with the colonial presence but
as in other parts of the world, poetry in Africa is as old as society itself. African
languages, through the oral culture, as well as writing which began in North Africa;
Egypt in about 1250 B C (1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation) established a long tradition
of poetry. This was not the situation in other parts of Africa. Beginning from South of the
Sahara to the Southern part of Africa, the tradition of written poetry began as a result of
colonial influence on African societies. Works of art find material in the historico-social
realities in society, thus the tradition of literary activity reflects the historical trends of
Western Africa’s contact with the West. Oral poetry exists alongside the written one and
indeed influences the literary output. The colonial experience produced poetry that was
different from what obtained in the traditional African setting. Modern Nigerian Poetry,
as in all of Africa, became an integration of the oral resources from traditional life and
the western influences of language and literary techniques (Jones 1992).
The pioneer poets as represented by Osadebey and Okara addressed the cultural
identity problems that the educated Africans who underwent colonial education faced.
Okara in The Fisherman’s Invocation (1978) sees the cultural crises in clearer terms than
Osadebey. Okigbo and Echeruo who belong to a later generation also shared the theme of
culture conflict. Okigbo alongside Soyinka and Clark commented on the political,
economic and social problems that engulfed the nation soon after independence and have
hardly met with a resolution even in present times.
The post independent Nigerian poets condemned the social injustices of their time
and drew tremendously from traditional lore, this is evident in Okigbo’s Labyrinths with
Path of Thunder (1971) and Soyinka’s Idanre and Other Poems (1967). Yet the private
nature of Echeruo and Okigbo’s early collections before Path of Thunder and their use of
foreign images and allusions to Western and European mythologies made the poems
sound more like western modernist poems. This kind of poetry elicited a response from
the new generation of poets of the 1970s and 80s in the voices of Niyi Osundare, (1983)
and his comrades like Ofeimum, The Poet Lied (1983) and Chinweizu, (1986) Ojaide,
(1988). These poets wrote with revolutionary zeal by redefining the role of poetry as
capable of bringing about change in society through awakening in the masses the
potential for revolutionary action. Osundare, the champion of revolutionary poetry,
opines that poetry must adopt the specific commitment of celebrating the masses by
speaking for and sometimes through them. Therefore, the concern with the suffering of
the underprivileged people in society who are the most affected by economic realities
dominates Osundare’s poetry and that of his “literary comrades” (Bamikunle 1997:23).
THE CONCEPT OF TRADITION
The tradition of literary activity goes way back into the history of Africa as a precolonial
entity. The Longman Dictionary of English Language, 4th Edition (1995:1714)
defines tradition as
The handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by
word of mouth or by example from one generation to another.
(It is) an inherited pattern of thought or action (eg. Religious
practice or social custom). A convention or a set of
conventions associated with or representative of an individual,
group or period.Certain key words stand out in the above definition; these are “beliefs” “conventions”
“pattern of thought” which are sustained by transmission over a period of time. Another
important factor of tradition is the element of practice that ensures its sustenance.
Tradition therefore is the sum total of a people’s way of life.
This broad concept of tradition also applies to an English language literature
situation, here collected works of Eliot (1951) Bennett (1979) establish that tradition is
not just a slavish imitation of the past, but it is influenced by changes especially as new
practices arise. At the same time, the writer acknowledges in a historical sense, his ties
with past poets, “because a writer is influenced by the time and society in which he finds
himself” (Eliot 1951:15). This concept of tradition portrays literary activity as having a
long history dating back to about 1957 to the early 1960s with the appearance of Black
Orpheus; An African Journal that brought to limelight the works of poets like J.P. Clark,
Wole Soyinka, Awoonor Williams, Lenrie Peters and others. This makes it pertinent to
discuss how a literary tradition has evolved.
THE EMERGENCE OF A NIGERIAN LITERARY TRADITION
In an English language literature situation the emergence of tradition is influenced
by historical factors, criticism of literary works and the oral tradition. Many African
writers and critics have observed that there is a close relationship between literature and
history. For example, in Osadebey’s and Okara’s poetry, we notice the need to
accommodate the European culture that encroached on the African one. While still
following historical trends in Osundare’s poetry, there is a radical attempt to rescue the
decaying social values that have become a feature of politically independent African
states. Literature relates to history in the sense that historical events provide the raw
material for the fictional artistic creation of literature and the artist has an important role
to play in this process. Very early in the development of African literature, Achebe
(1965) spelt out that the artist’s obligation to his society is to enlighten. Others like Ngugi
and Osundare have seen in the artist the deeper calling of not just educating but of also
awakening the consciences of the people through revolutionary literature. The various
stages of Africans’ contact with Europe from slavery to the Postcolonial era has therefore
produced literatures that reflect the particular historical epochs. Bamikunle (1991:73)
sums up the relationship between literature and history by reestablishing that:
Art… depends on historical realities for … all its constituents
elements: from the subject matter (mankind) to the language
(medium of expression) to the artistic traditions that provide
the author with form and other modes of expression, to the
critic and reading public that literature needs to survive.
The power of criticism to shape literary development was recognized by African
writers and critics who rejected the use of western standards as yardstick for assessing
African literature. Literary output depends largely on the work of criticism for
establishing its importance in the literary tradition. Criticism can also discover new
meanings and “thus give the work a new form and a new importance” (Izebaye 1971:21)
elevating it to a height above what the author originally thought it would attain.
Another contributory factor to the emergence of a literary tradition is the oral
tradition. Various elements of the oral tradition in the form of tales, riddles, proverbs,
images, myths, legends and the creative arts generally exert a tremendous influence on
African writing. This attachment of the literary texts to the African cosmic setting has
been described by Kunene (1980:200) as “the primary basis of all literatures”. Apart from
SHARE THIS PAGE!