This study examines the manner in which Tadi’s "Voices from the Slum" is a poetic offspring of Osundare’s poetry. Also seek to purport in this paper is the discursive matrix that the medium of gathering data for any literary construction is from literature itself but not the society. This study concludes that the indeterminacy of textual, discursive formation between Nigeria’s second generation and contemporary generation poets − as shown in the poetic semblance between Niyi Osundare’s poetry and Tadi’s "Voices from the Slum" − stands on the ideological benchmark which glorifies the assertion that poetry is considered as an interdependence or reworking of other poetic arts.
The figure-poet of Alter-Native poetry tradition in Nigeria, Niyi Osundare − whose ideas and thought-patterns have succeeded in popularizing a tradition of cultural essentialism − has made quite a number of contributions to the development of Nigerian poetry by domesticating the poetic form of obscured and fragmented ideas of Nigeria’s first generation poets into a poetic tongue that bears the language of both the colonizer and the colonized. His poetry volumes reject the impressionistic works of Nigeria’s first generation poets and provide sufficient resources in looking at the affairs of the nauseating socio-cultural and political system using nature-centered tropes as adaptation of cultural and natural propensities.
In light of this, Tadi’s poetic ingenuity bears the influential stamp of poetry that Osundare exerts on him. As he also embraces the lingua-cultural vista of his people, Tadi’s poetic form owes this paper a duty to have a deeper insight into the socio-political activities of Nigerian society, thereby negotiating the intertextual connectivity between Tadi’s "Voices from the Slum" and Niyi Osundare’s poetry.
At a glance
- Compares Nereus Yerima Tadi’s Voices from the Slum with Niyi Osundare’s poetry
- 14 sources in the bibliography
Table of Contents
Abstract
Introduction
Socio-Cultural and Political Deployment in Tadi’s Voices from the Slum
Socio-Cultural and Political Deployment in Osundare’s Poetry
Negotiating Boundaries: Tadi’s Voices from the Slum versus Osundare’s Poetry
Summary and Conclusion
Purpose and Themes
This study examines the intertextual relationship between Nereus Yerima Tadi’s Voices from the Slum and Niyi Osundare’s poetry, asking how Osundare’s work influences Tadi’s poetic form and themes. It considers how the poems engage with Nigerian cultural, social, and political life and how poetic texts draw on earlier poetic works.
- Intertextual connections between Tadi and Osundare
- Socio-cultural and political criticism in Nigerian poetry
- Oral traditions and cultural expression
- Poetic representations of poverty, injustice, and political power
- Nature-centered imagery and ecological concerns
- Influence and continuity across generations of Nigerian poets
Excerpt from the Book
Waiting, Voice, and Poetic Influence
In correlation with the above, there is also an enormous intertextuality between Tadi’s poem “Waiting” and Osundare’s Waiting Laughters. Osundare in page 45 of the collection lays more emphasis on the “waiting system” of the masses and presents this way:
Waiting
all ways waiting
like the mouth for its tongue
My land lies supine
like a giant in the sun
its mind a slab of petrified musing
its heart a deserted barn
of husky cravings (Waiting Laughters 45)
Reechoing Osundare’s poetic voice, Tadi presents, thus:
Waiting
All my life waiting
Waiting for what
I do not know
For the sun that rises
For the sun that sets
For the wind that blows
For the air that is still (Voices from the Slum 115)
To carry the larger society along, the two poets create an imagery of “waiting” to pillory the optimistic side of the masses. Along this, Tadi shows the leveraging upshot of intertextuality by also using the image of the “sun” to affirm Osundare as his mentoring hero.
True to Tadi’s admission of Osundare’s mentorship, the tenor of Voices from the Slum is indebted to Osundare’s soaring influence as the sample cited below demonstrates. One page (28) in a poem entitled “The Peasant.” The poem says:
He wakes up in the morning
And clutches his hoes with calloused hands (Voices from the Slum 28)
In these lines above, the persona divulges his poetic vocation from the metaphoric implanting of “he wakes up in the morning” to talk about the plight of a peasant who labours day and night but the imposition of “tax and levies sap the peasants” (28). This poetic credo is traceable to Osundare in Village Voices. In Village Voices, Osundare utters:
I wake up this morning
With a strong in my throat (Village Voices 1)
Chapter Summaries
Abstract: The study frames Tadi’s poetry as influenced by Osundare and presents intertextuality as a way of understanding poetic production across generations.
Introduction: The introduction describes Osundare’s role in Nigerian poetry and establishes the paper’s focus on his influence on Tadi’s Voices from the Slum.
Socio-Cultural and Political Deployment in Tadi’s Voices from the Slum: This chapter discusses how Tadi’s poems address Nigerian political and cultural conditions, including misrule, violence, social hardship, and communal resistance.
Socio-Cultural and Political Deployment in Osundare’s Poetry: The chapter examines Osundare’s poetry through themes including popular political critique, cultural expression, ecological concerns, and the experiences of ordinary people.
Negotiating Boundaries: Tadi’s Voices from the Slum versus Osundare’s Poetry: This chapter compares poems and images from the two poets, tracing parallels in titles, recurring motifs, and poetic language.
Summary and Conclusion: The final chapter presents the relationship between the poets as an example of intertextual influence and continuity between generations of Nigerian poets.
Keywords
Intertextual connectivity, Nigerian poetry, interdependence, reworking, Nereus Yerima Tadi, Niyi Osundare, Voices from the Slum, socio-cultural criticism, political poetry, oral tradition, cultural essentialism, poetic influence
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this study about?
It examines the intertextual relationship between Nereus Yerima Tadi’s Voices from the Slum and Niyi Osundare’s poetry.
What are the main themes explored?
The study focuses on social and political criticism, cultural expression, oral tradition, nature imagery, and poetic influence.
What is the study’s main research question?
It asks how Osundare’s poetry influences Tadi’s work in form, imagery, and thematic concerns.
What method does the study use?
It uses comparative literary analysis, discussing selected poems and passages from the two poets’ collections.
What does the main body discuss?
It first considers socio-cultural and political themes in Tadi and Osundare, then compares their poems and recurring images.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Intertextual connectivity, Nigerian poetry, interdependence, reworking, cultural expression, political poetry, and poetic influence are among its key terms.
How does the study connect Tadi’s poem “Waiting” with Osundare’s work?
It compares the poems’ use of waiting and the sun, linking Tadi’s imagery to Osundare’s Waiting Laughters.
Which Osundare collection is discussed in connection with Tadi’s “The Peasant”?
The study traces the morning imagery in Tadi’s poem to Osundare’s Village Voices.
How does the study describe the relationship between the poets?
It presents Tadi’s poetry as engaging with Osundare’s work and as part of an intergenerational poetic conversation.
- Quote paper
- Ibrahim Nureni (Author), 2019, The Intertextual Interface between Nereus Yerima Tadi’s "Voices from the Slum" and Niyi Osundare’s "Poetry Volumes", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/460933
