CHAPTER ONE

Revolutionary Poetry: A Social-Historical Overview

Literature is a reflection of society in its moment of development and

transformation, poetry as such captures this change in nature.

Poetry emerged out of experience, it reflects the life and emotion, of the people in
the society.

Revolutionary poetry which is an essential part of revolutionary literature has been

in existence since even before human civilization and before the slate social
formation and other subsequent period in human history.

Poets have played direct roles in revolutionary struggles and that poems have
expressed protest against harsh realities as well as dreams of liberation across a
wide range of styles and gears.

In the mecheval periods/ages, fen day serts and peasants composed poem and
songs which affirmed their humanity and right to existence.

But revolutionary poetry was given a fundamental boost in the 19th century because
of the emergence of industrial capitalism and the development of large urban mega
polls etc. such poem effated this is the song of the Silesian weavers, popularly
called, the weaver’s song. This poem gically influenced Karl Marx in its
historically correct ideological vision and consciousness of the place of the
proletariat in the overall context of the revolutionary struggle. It means to him the
transition from old folk-song to new protectdrinn poetry.

In 1831, a song was composed, fitlces “song of the silk-weaver’s of Lyons”, this
song led to the conseious understanding of what the proletariat is and was used as a
model on the deprivation and tenacity of the Silesian weavers.
In Poland, their poetry is compact with imagery that vibrates with the violent out –
imperialist protect, with an angry exposure of those guilty of the tragic death of
millions and calls for the revolutionary remark of the world.

Writers creat poems on the events of the day giving voice to the oppressed and
down trodden and campaigned for social change.

Therefore, revolutionary poetry is a venure for social protest no matter the subject.

CHAPTER TWO

GENESIS OF ART AND IDEOLOGY IN AFRICAN POETRY:

NEGRETUDE AND NATIONALIST POETRY

Art and ideology are not only colonial or postcolonial aesthetic modes and forms
of artistic expression, it is a rality as old as all societies in Africa. But their
exploiation of experience is based on modern sensibility. Over determined by
colonial and post colonial social, cultural and aesthetic.

Imperatives

Looking at the Negritude poetry (francophone Africa), a framework of critique and

literary theory, developed by francohone intellectuals, writers and politicians of the
Africa diaspora. The moment was initiated by Aime cesaire, a black west Indian in
his return to my native Lane in 1939, this aimed at ralising and cultivating “Black
consciousness” across Africa and its diaspora.
French colonial socio-political policy was to enable france implant French culture
and civilization on the people with the intention of suffocating the culture and
fundamentalities of Africans thereby rejecting the Africans world as nonrelaity.

David Diop, one of the revolutionary affirmative poets shows dialectical vith f
African history in his poems tieled “Africa” and the “vulture”.

He shows his understanding of African historical and political development and the
nature of French colonial imperialism, pretending in innocence and actual
destruction of every humanity in Africa.

He sees Africa capacity of endurance and struggle and project a revolution future
of freedom and liberty in his poems.

And the nationalist poetry a form of political poetry emerging from the nationalist
ideologies that were born in the aftermaths of the French.

Resolution. The poetry is believed to have emerged, developed and degenerated

between 1927-1957, a movement with such people as; Dennis Chukwdde
osadebay, Michad Diel-Annany, Nnamdi Azikiwe etc who were ditist Nationalist
uses their poetry forms to express their feelings and perspective on colonial
imperialism and national independ to defend the humanity of the black man and to
appeal to the world about the necessity of accommodation, brotherhood and
universal fraternity. Though some of them had contradiction and vacillations in
their poems e.g. Dennis usaddebay, he is one of the poets tortured by his native
conscience to recognize the yearnings of Africans for a continent tree from the
ruthless clotches of imperialism and colonial rape, and also writes a heartfelt poem
of joy and happiness to Britain for civilizing his continent.

“who Buys my thoughts” an “thank you sons and Daughters of Britannia”.

Dennis Osadebay is unable to understand the contradiction in his art and
ledological position because of his status as a defender of European values and a
campaigner for African dignity and independence. His art is as contradictory as his
political and ideological loyalty, and fight for African independence and his
insistence for the unchanged of social formation determined by colonial
imperialism.

CHAPTER THREE

art and ideology in pstcolonial African poetry: the difleal realist/radual uberal
humanist context

Critical realism is a transitory phase in the growth of any nation to a considerable

extent, continental uterature. And as a transitional phenomenon, critical realism
and radical liberal humanism gives may to a revolutionary socio-aesthetic form in
modern African poetry.

Okigbo for example is a representative of modern African poet of the immediate

post colonial period who attempted a blend of aesthetic idea with social conscience
and political involvement.

There is no doubt that modern African poetry of the period in question is a poetry
of critical realism and radical liberal humanism, either in the form of violence for
national political and socio-moral sanity or weakening African indigenous cultural
values by a rampaging modernist sensibility this period also witnessed one of the
most amasing flowering of poetic talent, the display of varied and oftentiness
contradictory perception of existing objectives reality and the agony of metal and
physical fortune of souls and minds caught in the circumstance of collective
strategies and national betrayal.

A lots of issues such as; the location of the problem posed by urbanization,
capitalism and modernity, the issue of domestication and Africanization etc have
been raised concerning the position of modern African poetry in relation to the
emergence of national literary tradition.

The study of modern poetry especially the poetry of the 1960s which was informed
by critical realist sensibility and liberal humanist consciousness cannot be put
down without the works of.

Anozie, Paul theroux, Romanus tgudu, Dan Izevbaye, Donatus Nwoga, G. Heron,
Adrian Roscoe, Bahadur Tejani, Chinewe, Zu, et al Ali A. Mazrui, OR. And
Chukwuma Azuonye.
 CHAPTER FOUR

ART AND IDEOLOGY IN THE PERIOD OF RE-COLONIZATION: THE

REVOLUTIONARY AESTHESTIC AND IMPERATIVE

The concept of re-colonization interpreted in the loxicon of modern African socio-

political and socio-cultural experiences reveals a clear, qualitative ideo-aesthetic
break from the critical realist poetry of the 1960s and 1990s. the poets of 1980s
and 1990s from the poets of the 60s is basically simple, both on the purely
aesthetic score of poetic manner and the idea-content that under girds poetic
matter. While the older poets explore experient and social reality with a highly
distorted privalist idiom, exception of (P’ Bitek, A woonou and the later Okigbor).
The new poets are essentially ideological combatants, posting new visions and
ideals about our acceptable democratic, humanistic and people-oriented mode of
production and structure of social relation, through an innovative and refreshing
socio-aesthetic means.

In a poem like “song of a laboure” (if to say Ibi Soja) and “criki of a general these
poems are ancompromising in their criticism of the role of the military in the
means of state power; the undemocratic and tyrannical base of their governance;
and their corruption and mismanagement of natural resources. Another pomem like
“I wan Bi president” by Ezenwa-Ohacto in tormal and Didgin English is a highly
incisive piece that takes on the whole wide-ranging and complex structure of
decadent social and political institutions in Nigeria’s post colonial moment.
Nothing is spared in the whole poetic design of ridicule and biting caticature.
Subjecting the history of Nigeria to an acule dialectical scruting , the poet
underscores the inevitability of revolutionary social change as a necessary outcome
of the contradictions engendered by an in human and inequitable mode of material
production and structure of social relations

Therefore, post-civil war poets, in Nigeria, display a more complete awareness and
appreciation of the dynamic of social development and an understanding of the
inner organic law of transition of quantity into quality and quality into quality as
this pertains to social historical phenomena.
 CHAPTER FIVE

THE AESTHETIC AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS OF POST-2000

NIGERIAN POETRY

This section focuses attention on the social concern of post-2000 Nigeria poetry
and the expansive nature of the consciousness and the imagination of the mediating
agent, the aesthetic dimension of the realized poetic craft, not altogether to be
separated from either overly stated or concealed ideological and political
imperatives of the artists and finally, the social and cultural context of the creative
process.

Two fundamental conflicts defines the post colonial Nigerian political space in the
past tears. The struggle for liberal capitalist democratic referms which was given
decisive impetus and push with total destruction of the June 12, 1993 presidential
election, the conflict over the performance of the instruments and institutions of
governance; the struggle against official corruption, graft and sleaze which has
dehumanized.

Post-2000 Nigerian poetry is a consequence of complex combination of cultural, a

esthetic and political forces supported by post-colonialist institutional platforms at
their most traumatic and stresses; contradictions and disunities; and integral group
identition and individual narratives powered by the symbol of dissalisfaction.

Ify Agwips Amidst “the Blooming Tempest” is a good example of those poetic
works that dominates the outset of social didacticism and student criticism of
certain unbecoming oddities that define the Nigerian social and political landscape.
Therefore, there is no doubt that the invasion of African post colonial spaces by the
raging current of late, pst modern capitalism is a in herently insufficient, if not, our
rightly impotent in constructing a platform for the contestation of ideas and the
realization of visions – personal and collective.
 CHAPTER SIX

POETRY AND POLITICS IN A PARTH AND SOUTH AFRICA

This section deals on poetry and politics in Apartheid of so Africa which took
place 1960s-80s and its refers to as Black consciousness. Black consciousness poet
was characterized by its direct, conversational approaches to the everyday violence
of apartheld. Poetry of this period was a medium of railying people at home to
mobilize for the inevitable confrontation with racism, and a message to the outside
world about injustice at home a poem indicating their humanism and acute creative
imagination, that in their presentations of the glaring horrors of apartheid, they still
apprehend and mediate the subtle shades of consciousness, feelings and emotions
of the oppressors and do not allow their art to degenerate to the level of being a
naturalistic, photographic and illustrationist one-on-one correspondence with
material reality. For instance, in “A troubadour I Traverse” by Dennis Brutus. In
this poem, he pictures himself as a roving bard, touring the whole expanse of south
Africa, protesting about her humidiation and singing songs of courage and hope to
his oppressed countrymen and women by using mediaval allusion of an European
poet-knight protecting his lady from the moslem sacacena, brutus is thus showing
us the compatibility of living and fighting, singing and struggling. Another poem is
“just a passer by” by Oswald Mbuyiseni Meshali, one of the younger south African
poet. The poem is highly ironic and sarcastic, in this poem, mtshali condemns the
escapist and mute indifferent attitude to political murder as a consequence of the
inctitical acceptance of the doctrine and dogmas of Christianity. Christianity in this
poem is seen as demeaning and reactionary doctrine that destroys the individual’s
capacity for resistance or active participation in the fight for liberation.
Some of the poems were really escapist in nature, displaying and indifference to
and lack of concern for positive action against apartheld, while some displayed
agony of life while living under the system.
 CHAPTER SEVEN

SOUTH AFRICAN POETRY AFTER 1994 AND THE PST-COLONIAL

DEBATE

The final chapter of this brok which is this section actually focuses its attention on
south African poetry, and post colonial debate. The poetry of south Africa covers a
broad range of themes, forms and styles. This book discusses the context that
contemporary poets have come from and identifies the major poets of suouth
Africa, their works and influence.

The south African literary landscape from the 19 th century to the present day has
been funnally shaped by the social and political evolution of the country,
particularly the trajectory from a colonial trading station to an apartheld state and
finally toward a democracy. Primary forces of population growth and economic
change, which have propelled urban development, have also impacted on the
thems, forms and styles of literature and poetry.

Izibolongo Tradition of poetry is the earliest manifestation of written south African

poetry on a corpus scale. Functionary and artistically, new poetry was influenced
by “izibolongo”, the indigenous poetic art of Izimbongi, the popular south African
native poetic craft of the Zulu and xhosa people who composed” imbingi’ poetry in
praise of their leaders. The contemporary izibolongo poetry was written by the first
group of south Africans exposed to Western education and culture.

Apartheld phase, a political system in south Africa from 1948 to 1994, which
separated south Africans along colour lines, gave privileges to people of European
origin and denied people of African desent political, social and economic right.
Antiapartheld poetry fought apartheld by exposing the injustices in the system both
to south Africans and the out side world, thereby engaging and enlisting the
attention, sympathy and support of the international community in the efforts to
eradicate it. Post-a partheld phase although the new poetry shifted focus from the
racially charged past with its old themes of political struggle, it does portend to shy
away from the immediate social and economic issues thrust forth by the
democratic system, such as equity, justice and fairness.

Nevertheless, there are those who continue to express themselves critically and
openly about the social ills of south Africa, and the complacency among some of
the youth. This can be seen not only on the printed page but among some of those
who span the gap between poetry and hip-hop culture and music.