The poetry of an orphaned nation: newspaper poetry and the death of Nyerere

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Periodical article

Title:	The poetry of an orphaned nation: newspaper poetry and the death of Nyerere
Author:	Mhina, Mary Ann
Year:	2014
Periodical:	Journal of Eastern African Studies (ISSN 1753-1063)
Volume:	8
Issue:	3
Pages:	497-514
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Tanzania
Subjects:	heads of State in memoriams poetry images newspapers
About person:	Julius Kambarage Nyerere (1922-1999)
External link:	https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2014.917857
Abstract:	This article takes as its starting point readership poetry published in Tanzanian newspapers following the death of Julius Nyerere in October 1999, taking these as an incidence in which popular literature can help us to explore political phenomena. Through analysis of these poems it explores the 'Father of the Nation', as Nyerere was often known, as both narrative and discoursive. Using this particular manifestation of mourning for his death as a starting point, it explores some of the ways in which the powerful discourse about Nyerere functioned both during his life and immediately after his death. In doing so, it illuminates both the power and salience of the familiar discourse which surrounded him and the extent to which at the same time readers, and the public at large, might chose their own interpretations despite the powerful narrative surrounding him. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]