Go to AfricaBib home

Go to AfricaBib home AfricaBib Go to database home

bibliographic database
Line
Previous page New search

The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here

Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The articulation of social decay: satire in contemporary Nigerian poetry
Author:Akingbe, Niyi
Year:2015
Periodical:African Study Monographs (ISSN 0285-1601)
Volume:35
Issue:3
Pages:183-203
Language:English
Geographic term:Nigeria
Subjects:poetry
satire
social problems
society
External link:https://hdl.handle.net/2433/193252
Abstract:Contemporary Nigerian poets have addressed the country's social and political problems using satire to crystallize the malaise affecting their society. Their social critiques rest on their linguistic skill, which renders their work both accessible and popular. The extraordinary lucidity and elegance of these selected poets is demonstrated in the sense of humor reflected in their poems, which endears them to their readers. The poems cited in this paper are characterized by an abundance of anecdotes, humor, suspense, and curiosity. This paper examines the use of satire in the work of contemporary Nigerian poets such as Niyi Osundare, Tanure Ojaide, Chinweizu, Femi Fatoba, Odia Ofeimun, Ezenwa Ohaeto, Obiora Udechukwu, and Ogaga Ifowodo, emphasizing the role of these poets as synthesizers of, and conduits for, the concerns of the Nigerian society for which they claim to speak. The author demonstrates how satire is used in contemporary Nigerian poetry to criticize certain aspects of contemporary Nigerian society. Furthermore, the paper focuses on the mediating role of proverbs, aphorisms, and metaphors in the satiric references in selected poems that constitute impassioned critiques of the social and moral problems related to Nigeria's sociopolitical development. [Journal abstract]
Views
Cover