The Nexus between Orature and Poetic Language in the Crafting of Chinua Achebe’s Beware Soul Brother (1972)
The Nexus between Orature and Poetic Language in the Crafting of Chinua Achebe’s Beware Soul Brother (1972)
Author(s): Youssoupha ManeSubject(s): Anthropology, Social Sciences, Language and Literature Studies, Customs / Folklore, Studies of Literature, Other Language Literature, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology
Published by: Universitatea Tehnică "Gheorghe Asachi" din Iaşi
Keywords: poetry; Chinua Achebe; orature; dirges; myths; anecdotes; proverbs; culture;
Summary/Abstract: The objective of this paper is to analyze the way Chinua Achebe as a poet and an artist has availed himself of his indigenous oral literature and cultural community as features with which he has sharpened his poetry craft. Imageries such as the python, children chanting, themes like war, death, love, culture, and symbolisms, namely the vulture, the tortoise, the drum, lizards, etc. are mostly drawn from the huge and inspiring repertoire of orature ranging from funeral dirges, myths, folk anecdotes to proverbial utterances. These have been used as literary raw materials, fertilizing silt in establishing Beware Soul Brother (1972), and in capturing the flavor of African life, past and present, and its human conditions. The literary hybridity (which is also the poet’s hallmark) that prevails in this collection of poems, devoid of private mysticism and orphic messages, has undoubtedly enabled hearers/readers to be locally and universally receptive.
Journal: Buletinul Institutului Politehnic din Iași secția Științe Socio-Umane
- Issue Year: 69/2023
- Issue No: 3-4
- Page Range: 21-33
- Page Count: 13
- Language: English