The Rhetoric of Violence in the Poetry of Don L. Lee, Nikki Giovanni and Sonia Sanchez: A Reading in Ethnic Poetry (Published)
The 1960s in America witnessed an abundance of ethnic poetry authored by young black poets. Most of that poetry was devoted to the rejection of the American culture in favor of the consolidation of an African-American personality independent of White America. This new wave of black poetry of the 1960s and ‘70s was, thus, not only a literature of protest, which gradually turned into violence exercised against white Americans, but also an outcome of a psychological state encapsulated in the internal problems of black Americans. This new black poetry was primarily employed as a catalyst aiming at awakening the ethno-political consciousness of black people. It, therefore, incorporated elements of black culture and mythos, which were meant to enhance the values of the struggle and hence the revolution to be ignited against the American value system. Utilizing the socio-political events of the period as a setting and the “black aesthetic theory,” originated in the same decade, the 1960s, as a critical framework, the present study explores the revolutionary poetry of black American poets, such as Don L. Lee (Haki Madhubuti), Nikki Giovanni, and Sonia Sanchez. In this context, the study will argue that the black poetry of the 1960s is but an offshoot of the protest motif in Afro-American poetry first initiated by the black slave poets of the 18th century. So, consequently, the black poets, dealt with in this study, will be contended to make a breakthrough and to pursue, instead, a black literary nationalism, capable of reflecting the aspirations of the Blacks. Their poetic attempts will be argued to promulgate the “black aesthetic,” to revitalize black values and to call for revolution.
Keywords: Afro-American Poetry, Black Poetry, Catalyst, Don l. Lee, Ethno-Political Consciousness, Nikki Giovanni, Protest Motif, Radical Development, Revolutionary Poets of 1960s and 1970s, Sonia Sanchez, Violence, rhetoric, the Black Aesthetic Theory
ANGER AND REJECTION- THE RHETORIC AND DIALECTICS OF VIOLENCE IN ANGLOPHONE CAMEROONIAN POETRY (Published)
Change and development are embodied in the principle of dialectics and the aesthetics of violence. Gahlia Gwangwa’a, Mathew Takwi and Bate Besong in their poetry write with the conviction, orientation and consciousness that if something is not done, society will slowly but surely drift to the precincts of insanity. The radicalism and the rhetoric of violence reflected in their poetry attest to this. From this standpoint, this paper sets out to demonstrate that Gwangwa’a, Takwi and Besong in their respective collections, Cry of the Destitute (1995) People Be Not Fooled (2004) and Disgrace: autobiographical narcissus, (2007) express anger and frustration with regard to the dismal and abysmal state of socio-political affairs in Cameroon which culminate in the rejection of the neocolonial political systems. The argument of this paper is predicated on the premise that third generation Anglophone Cameroonian poets like Gwangwa’a, Takwi and Besong are radical and revolutionary in their poetic works because they use their poetic works to protest against victimization, oppression and lack of social justice in the Cameroonian society. They are as angry as they are impatient. Their poetic works are artistic missiles and arsenals that embody the rhetoric of violence. Drawing largely from the socialist realism of Lukacsian-Marxist artistic paradigms, this study underscores the fact that Gwangwa’a, Takwi and Besong’s poetic vision aspires to explore and capture the reality in the Cameroonian society. Thus, this study reveals that this poetry has made conscientisation, revolts and violence its campaign themes to overcome the impedimenta that have made life a real drudgery and nightmare.
Keywords: Anger, dialectics socialist realism and violence, rejection, rhetoric