Modern African Poetry

Modern African Poetry

Modern African poetry, or literature, is not only modern in terms of being recent. It is termed modern because it is not traditional African poetry, or literature, and because it is pro and post independence in some region, and because it is recent. Moreover, certain uniform traits exists among poems, and literature, in this era.

Some of these traits, features, characteristics or attributes are evident in their forms and contents. Examples of them are: syntactic jugglery, imagism, fragmentation, neologism, allusiveness, among others. They are also termed Modernist poetry because most of these poets imitates the techniques of the European Modernist poets too.

From North Africa down to South Africa, poems in the early 19th century were mostly either written against oppression, imperialism, colonialism and apartheid. The poets who wrote against colonialism and imperialism, the first set, are regarded as the pioneer poets. Examples are Wole Soyinka, Christopher Okigbo, among others. The writings of these poets emerges in the 1950s and transcends into the post colonial era.

The post colonial era witnessed a lot of African poets and writers and in the scene; probably because of the independence and the freedom of expression. However, this class of poets did not come to sing praises to the ears of their political leaders, but rather to express their political disillusionment in their various country’s administrations.

The literature of disillusionment is the form of literature that expresses the utter disappointments and hopelessness climaxed in the exercise of spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. It emerges as a result of a cumulative aura of dystopia, disappointment and failed promises that African states, or newly independent colonies, encountered just barely a decade, and less, after self rule or independence.

After independence in many African countries, many people hoped for a better life, rooms for new opportunities and better innovation that will ensure progress. Africans also hoped for better administrations in which every one will be evenly represented. 

However, these did not come into fruition due to the type of rulers that took over from the European colonial masters that vacated the seat.

It is this utter disappointment, sorrow, and anguish the citizens felt towards their government system that literary artists, especially poets, took upon themselves, as a form of social conscience, to serve as the “voice of the street”.

Ayeojuyo, Olamilekan Joshua.