Earth in the Poetry of Niyi Osundare
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Date
2012
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Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), Lagos
Abstract
The quest to make the world a better place to live in has always been the common concern of all disciplines. However, despite the plethora of efforts which focus on man’s survival in his environment, the currency of manifestations and use of terms like ‘tsunami’, ‘acid rain’, ‘earth quake’, ‘depletion of the ozone layer’, ‘oil spill’, ‘land slide’ and, of recent, ‘climate change’ underscore the fact that our earth is becoming more dangerous to inhabit. This paper, using the poetry of Niyi Osundare as guide, showcases the dual allegiance of literature to the discourse that bothers on climate change, culture and the earth. The first hinges on the use of nature tropes to mediate on social issues while the latter seeks to mend the ruptured relationship between man and the earth, his primordial and eternal host. The paper establishes that man in destroying nature is destroying himself and that conscious efforts must be made by man to keep the sanctity of the relationships between fellow men and nature.
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Keywords
Poetry, Osundare, Earth
Citation
Afolayan, K.N. (2012): Earth in the Poetry of Niyi Osundare. In Fireworks for a Lightening Aesthetician: Essays and Tributes in Honor of Duro Oni@ 60. Sunday Enessi Ododo (ed.) 386-395. Lagos: Published by Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), Lagos.