The Contemporary Phase
There
is no absolute distinction between this third phase that we have just been
considering and the fourth phase which we have called contemporary poetry
writing. But at the same time, it is clear from such a poem as Kofi Anyidoho’s
“Hero and thief’ that some of the new poetry is, indeed, attaining the appropriation
of Africa’s spiritual heritage. For in them “custom” has, indeed, become “the
spreading laurel tree”. We do not claim that this is the only way in which the
younger contemporary poets are writing or should write. In fact, some of
Anyidoho’s poetry remains impenetrable as a result of the intensity of the
traditional idiom.
But
what we see happening in people like Muckhtarr or Niyi Osundare or Funso
Ayejina is that the intensity of their understanding of the traditional
aesthetic has made their exploration and their grasp of the contemporary
situation firmer and their poetry more expressive and more resonant. It is
because of this close link between traditional African poetry and what we
describe as modem African poetry that we have chosen to begin this anthology
with a representative sample of the traditional poetry.
Comments
Post a Comment