Poems from Igbo

ABSTRACT The importance of contemporary Nigerian poetry in English does not lie merely in its consideration as a point of historical construct within the conceptual framework of modern Nigerian poetry, rather, it must be construed more significantly vital as a social credo of poetic engagement, set apart, for instance, from the self-reflexive indulgent attitude of the earliest Nigerian poetry of modern era. Consequently, this paper aims at examining and determining through systematic outlay, firstly, if the expressive character of poetry purely must be a verbal act with strictly aesthetic function or, a functional statement of a social act. From that foothold, this paper proceeds to specifically examine by theoretical application, the Nigerian poetic instance in order to establish a possible conceptual framework for the poetry written by contemporary Nigerian poets.

1987

In general terms, Nigerian poetry in English before the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970) was marked by an excessive preoccupation with private grief and emotions over and above societal tragedies and triumphs, undue eurocentrism, derivationism, obscurantism and private esotericism. This tendency may be attributed to, among other factors, the fact that until the Civil War, Nigeria had n© major public historical rallying point. The colonial struggles were waged by the various tribal kingdoms with little or no inter-ethnic co-operation; amalgamation was carried out by agents of an external force; the struggle for independence was neither violent nor concerted on a national scale; and independence itself was merely another gimmick for entrenching a few greedy members of the native élite. This serial is available in Kunapipi: http://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi/vol9/iss2/5 death. See John S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy (Garden City, N . Y . : Anchor, 1970), pp. 195-216. 9. Achebe, In...

OGIRISI: a New Journal of African Studies, 2014

International Journal of Art and Literature. Vol. 3, No. 1, 2019

Here, we attempt a scholarly review and art appreciation of selected recent poems of these poets, with a view to highlighting their contributions to indigenous studies. Although we rely solely on the poems, focusing on their themes, for content-analysis, a few other relevant textual materials are used too. Besides, the poets are also interviewed for an in-depth understanding of their perspectives.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), 2022

African Study Monographs , 2021

Written Igbo poetry (henceforth, W.I.P.) (1) is generally known to have begun with the publication of Akpa Uche (An Anthology) in 1975. Recent evidence reveals that W.I.P. started in 1934, with the publication Akwukwo Ukwẹ n'Asusu Ibo by the Church Mission Society (C.M.S.). Igbo scholars have chronicled the development of Igbo prose and drama, but the historical trajectory of W.I.P. is yet to be explored in literature. To this end, this paper presents an account of the developmental journey of Igbo poetry from its oral form to its present written state, taking into consideration all the factors that contributed to its growth and metamorphosis. The study claims that the missionaries laid the foundation for the birth of W.I.P. in 1975. The study also finds that, since the final debut of W.I.P. in 1975 through 2015, a period that commemorates four decades of the existence of W.I.P in Nigeria, W.I.P. has grown tremendously in terms of quantity.

2015

The Paper attempts to translate an Igbo poem ’Atilogwu’ by Chidi Emenike into English with a view to sharing his indigenous Igbo creativity with English readers. Literature and development are inseparable as every era has its philosophical undertone. Literary traditions of international repute often include translated literature. African multilingualism has given birth to a generation of African Scholars who not only create artistic works in African and non-African languages, but contribute greatly to world literature through literary translation. The Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria are rich in creative works expressed in Igbo language and other international languages like English, French and German. Bearing in mind the fact that the beauty of poetry lies in its sonorous presentation of the subject-matter, efforts have been made to reproduce in English the most dynamic and most natural equivalent of Chidi Emenike’s original message in his poem ‘Atilogwu.’. Although there is a signific...

Editorial Afro de Panamá/Selected Afro Poems, 2020

Selected Afro Poems is a window for poets to expose their inspirations monthly. Write your poems, forward them to luisgreenidge@cableonda.net, and sealyxxi@gmail.com, the world will see your communication in black and white, visible for posterity. If you don't want to receive this project anymore, just write ”Remove” and you will be deleted from the list. The poets' e-mail can be added to the poem in case you wish feedback.

2021

Igbo proverbs and riddles are replete with stylistic features: tonal and lexical contrasts, repetitions, sound symbolisms, tonal rhymes, assonance, and consonance. This stylistic analysis of selected Igbo proverbs and riddles investigates these features. The main objective is to illustrate the aesthetic sound, tonal and lexical combinations characterizing these sub-genres. The data were collected from diverse sources over a period of three months (December, 2017 - February, 2018). The proverbs were got mainly during village meetings and traditional ceremonies like marriage and title taking. The riddles and some proverbs were provided by the researchers who are Igbo native speakers, as these sub-genres are within the public domain, while some were from published collections of these Igbo sub-genres. We found that tones play a crucial role as there are tonal contrasts in the data - aji HH ‘hair’, aji HL ‘woolly garment’. For lexical contrasts, we see elu HS ‘up’, ala LL ‘down’; tonal ...

Faculty of Arts. Obafemi Awolowo University, 2018

The issue of poverty has always been and will continue to be a cause for concern. Countries have diverse means of combating this menace, which is unmistakable in their values and ideologies. Like any other race, the problem of poverty abounds in Yorùbá communities and they are not oblivious of it. Thus, Yorùbá poets over time have tried to identify causes of this problem and find means by which one can live a life almost, if not entirely, devoid of poverty. The main thrust of this paper is to identify and analyze the Yorùbá world-view on poverty in selected Yorùbá poems. These include J. F. Ọdúnjọ’s Akójọpọ̀ Ewì Aláduǹ, Akínwùmí Ìṣòlá’s Àfàìmọ̀ àti Àwọn Àròfọ̀ Mìíràn, Adébáyọ̀ Faleti’s Àwon Ewì Adébáyọ́ Fálétí (Apá kìíní) and Ọlánrewájú Adépọ̀jù’s Ìrònú Akéwì. These poems are chosen because issues of poverty are prevalent in them. Using poems by these authors as sources of data for analysis, the paper underscores Yorùbá orature as a rich repertoire from where materials that would positively affect the society can be drawn.