ABSTRACT
This essay studies how
oral performance constitutes the core poetic style employed by Niyi Osundare to
project social commitment and vision in Songs
of the Marketplace. It discusses how
the poet’s deployment of oral performance makes his poetry more accessible to a
larger audience than those of his predecessors. The pervasive theme of moral
degeneration remains a serious concern in the selected poems. Like the oral
traditional performance, Osundare employs rich Yoruba oral literary devices in
a way that is unique. His poetic style has a clearly defined concept and role
of concentizing the masses toward revolutionary consciousness. The poem is central to the depiction of the polemics of
governance and politics in Nigerian society. In a way, the poem raises hope of
redemption from the decadent situation that has eaten deep into the fabric of
social existence.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Theoretical
Framework
Osundare’s
Style and Social Vision
Conclusion
References
INTRODUCTION
The emergent poets are
the second generation of Nigerian writers namely Tanure Ojaide, Niyi Osundare,
Odia Ofeimun whose poetry immersed in the Marxist critical tradition. Marxist insurrection in Nigerian creative
practice emerged from the late 1970s.
The Marxist-oriented poetry is preoccupied with the criticism of the
oppressive systems, the identification of the people responsible for the failure
of nation building as well as the promotion of an alternative system perceived
to be liberating. Emmanuel (2007, p.85) posits that:
There
is that type of literature by which the writer rebels against societal
values. He is the one that is sensitive
to what is going on around him; one who wants a better deal for everybody. This is the kind of literature that becomes
an instrument for social transformation.
Its basic aim is to awaken the revolutionary consciousness in the
majority of group of the society who are oppressed, exploited and deprived of
good social living condition.
Several
critics have attempted to give emergent revolutionary writers a brand name. For
instance, Aliyu-Ibrahim(2012,p.125) posits that Akinwale (1993) refers to it as
‘protest’. Gbilekaa (1997) calls it
‘radical’ while Ododo (2004) adopts the term “re-creative”. The high point of difference between the
works of the earlier and emergent poets is the adoption of a new poetic style
and revolutionary ideology. Ojaide cited
in Okunoye 2004, p.3) states clearly that:
Modern
African poetic aesthetics are unique in possessing a repertory of authentic
African features. This authenticity
manifests itself in the use of concrete images derived from the fauna and
flora, proverbs, indigenous rhythms, verbal tropes and concepts of space and
time to establish a poetic form. The
mere fact that foreign languages are used could occasionally create discord in
discourse but modern African poetry attempts to reflect indigenous
rhythms. In fact, an authentic African
world forms the backdrop of modern African poetry.
This paper studies the poetic style
and vision of nation-building in Niyi Osundare’s Song
of the Marketplace. The essay
focuses on the specific way in which cultural production like poetry has
contributed to the understanding of the problem of governance in the
post-independent Nigerian nation. In the
field of African literature, interrogation of this nexus has come to be known
as radical aesthetics. Songs of the Marketplace addresses a
wide range of issues bothering on corruption, poverty and administrative
ineptitude. Osundare’s poetic style is ideologically infused with the
materialistic perspective of society as argued by Karl Marx. The social
relevance of Songs of the Marketplace to
the society as a mirror of political and economic sterility and the call for
social redemption cannot be over- emphasized.
This is why Osundare (2009, p.115) affirms that:
Literature
is part of the structure of the society; it may simply record the kind of
society the writer knows- its values, problems, structure, events, e.t.c or it
may attack this very society and its present evils. Literature more often embodies the writer’s
evaluation of his work or illuminates its possibilities.
Osundare’s postulation
shows how sensitive literature is to the society, not only in employing poetry
for depicting happenings but also as an advocate of social change and nation
building. The emergence of modern African poets with a new poetic revolution
presents a dramatic departure from the Euro-Modernist Nigerian poetry of the
first generation. The emergent African
poetry champions a poetic innovation within the framework of what has been
described as alternative poetic tradition. Stylistically, the adaptation of
local language and traditional speech pattern are distinguishing
characteristics of the poetry. Niyi
Osundare in particular strives for an effective way of projecting African
poetic visions and African realities.
Ojaide affirms this when he posits that “unlike in the 1960s when the
poets were culturally obsessed, nature-oriented and universal, today, old and
young poets are addressing their national issues more aggressively than before. In their desire to effect changes, they use
the nation state as their starting point. (Okunoye, 2008 P.4)
Buyers has the right to create
dispute within seven (7) days of purchase for 100% refund request when
you experience issue with the file received.
Dispute can only be created when
you receive a corrupt file, a wrong file or irregularities in the table of
contents and content of the file you received.
ProjectShelve.com shall either
provide the appropriate file within 48hrs or
send refund excluding your bank transaction charges. Term and
Conditions are applied.
Buyers are expected to confirm
that the material you are paying for is available on our website
ProjectShelve.com and you have selected the right material, you have also gone
through the preliminary pages and it interests you before payment. DO NOT MAKE
BANK PAYMENT IF YOUR TOPIC IS NOT ON THE WEBSITE.
In case of payment for a
material not available on ProjectShelve.com, the management of
ProjectShelve.com has the right to keep your money until you send a topic that
is available on our website within 48 hours.
You cannot change topic after
receiving material of the topic you ordered and paid for.
Login To Comment