Preservation of African Poetic Heritage through Self-Representation in the Poetry of Tanure Ojaide and Alfred Kisubi

Abstract

This study examines the perpetuation of African traditional art-forms by contemporary African diaspora poets through the different ways of representing the self in their literary creations. It explores the continued utilization of oral art forms by African poets Tanure Ojaide and Alfred Kisubi who live and practice their literary art in the Diaspora in the contemporary period; and how the consciousness of inhabiting multiple locations influences the blending of the oral arts forms with the modern styles of poetry expression. The selected collections of poetry are Tanure Ojaides When It No Longer Matters Where You Live and Alfred Kisubis Time Winds. The research appropriates Postcolonial concepts of Alterity, Hybridity and Subalternity in the interrogation of the extent to which the consciousness of inhabiting the complex transnational space in the global age influences the creative output of African Diaspora literary artists, as reflected in the poems studied. The study establishes that the hybrid nature of these literary artists creations stem from their consciousness of straddling diverse locations in the global era. It also shows that through the practice of conveying their experiences in the creative pieces, in their own unique way, these Africans in the Diaspora are able to universalize and internationalize Africa and her cultural values. The study further reveals that the contemporary African diaspora writers in order to uniquely assert their identity and personality in their creative texts rely heavily on the African oral art forms and use mostly African images and symbols to enrich their scripted experiences.