Speaking denunciation

Satire as confrontation language in contemporary Nigerian poetry

Bibliographic Data

ID14815964
AuthorsNiyi Akingbe (0000-0003-4637-131X, Federal University Oye Ekiti, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume27
Issue1
Pages47-67
Publication date2014-02-25
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAVRUG-bulletin/Afrika Focus (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0772-0793 • E-ISSN: 0772-084X
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/2031356x-02701004
OpenAlexW2792381674
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited3

Contemporary Nigerian poets have had to contend with the social and political problems besetting Nigeria’s landscape by using satire as a suitable medium, to distil the presentation and portrayal of these social malaises in their linguistic disposition. Arguably, contemporary Nigerian poets, in an attempt to criticize social ills, have unobtrusively evinced a mastery of language patterns that have made their poetry not only inviting but easy to read. This epochal approach in the crafting of poetry has significantly evoked an inimitable sense of humour which endears these poems to the readers. In this regard, the selected poems in this paper are crowded with anecdotes, the effusive use of humour, suspense and curiosity. The over-arching argument of the paper is that satire is grounded in the poetics of contemporary Nigerian poetry in order to criticize certain aspects of the social ills plaguing Nigerian society. The paper will further examine how satire articulates social issues in the works of contemporary Nigerian poets, including Niyi Osundare, Tanure Ojaide, Chinweizu, Femi Fatoba, Odia Ofeimun, Ezenwa Ohaeto, Obiora Udechukwu and Ogaga Ifowodo. Viewed in the light of artistic commitment, the paper will demonstrate how satire accentuates the role of these poets as the synthesizers/conduits of social and cultural concerns of Nigerian society for which they claim to speak. As representatively exemplified in the selected poems, the paper will essentially focus on the mediation of satire for the impassioned criticism of social and moral vices, militating against Nigeria’s socio-political development

Aesthetics · Art · Criticism · Curiosity · Denunciation · Literature · Poetics · Poetry · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Humor Studies and Applications · Law · Literary Theory and Cultural Hermeneutics · Philosophy · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology

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