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Poetic Style And Social Commitment In Niyi Osundare’s Songs Of The Marketplace
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THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The paper adopts Marxist theory as a theoretical approach. As a utilitarian perspective of literature and society, Marxist ideology identifies social and economic factors in the conceptualization of the relationship between the bourgeois and the proletariat. Marxist philosophy upholds that a capitalist society perpetuates oppression of the less privileged class. The Marxist critic thus reacts to the various strata of social and moral decadence. The theory criticizes the political and economic deprivation and promotes the need for social change through revolution. Marxism is grounded in dialectical materialism that stresses economic survival of the competing classes. Karl Marx defines materialism as the struggle between bourgeoisies and proletariats as the mover of social change (Raji,1999 p.200). Marxism believes that the historical development of society is an aftermath of the changing mode of socio-economic productions. The struggle between the two indentified classes engenders social stratification. Shapiro defines social stratification as a process or system by which groups of people are classified into a hierarchical social structure.
The radical wing of Marxist critic emerged in Nigerian critical practice in the 1970s. The literary critics operating within the Ibadan/Ife axis namely, Biodun Jeyifo, Femi Osofisan, G.G Darah, Niyi Osundare, Ropo Sekoni were prominent. In the submission of Okunoye (2008, p.192), the ground-breaking essay of Omafume Onoge (1965) entitled The Crisis of Consciousness in Modern African Literatureprovides inspiration for modern poets in their campaign against the vices of social and economic contradictions. Ngara’s (1990) Ideology and Form in African poetry and Udenta’s (1976) Arts, Ideology and Social Commitment in African poetry are also among the few studies of African poetry in the Marxist tradition. Chidi Amuta’s (1989) The Theory of African Literature is another enviable follow up. The Marxist analysis of African literature emphasizes the historical and social conditions which have given rise to African literature.
OSUNDARE’S STYLE AND SOCIAL VISION
The style of Osundare’s poetry can well be understood in the context of oral performance. The poet, through oral medium, adopts a creative process in which performance constitutes his major style. In this way, the audience is actively involved both in the creative process and actual performance. Oral narrative performance is a form of communication in which the performer and audience share a social discourse. Sekoni (2003, p.140) identifies three broad components of oral performance as “captivation of the audience, retention of audience and the transfer of cognitive experience to the audienceâ€. These components are interwoven and none can suffice in isolation. The success of performance is determined by the degree to which the oral performer reflects the outlook and expectations of the audience through the identified components.
In performance, the narrator uses his voice and body movement to convey message. Osundare adopts the style of oral performance for the specific purpose of diverting the attention of the audience from their private thoughts to the apprehension of images with which he hopes to express his concern for happenings in the nation. The poet’s skillful use of language and effective manipulation of oral performance will definitely attract the attention of the audience. The narrator will need to sustain his audience’s attention throughout the performance. Osundare depicts the relationship between traditional (oral form) and modern poetry (written form) in the context of commitment to revolutionary action. His radical dimension to African poetry can be contextualized in its relevance to culture and society. Poetically, Osundare reflects his concern with the socio-economic woes in Nigeria. He employs novel styles and imageries that create avenue for expressiveness and social transformation. His poetry deploys suitable metaphors to describe the unnatural relationship between the rich and the poor.
According to Nachafiya (2008, p4) “Osundare pioneers a campaign against obscurantism by writing Songs of the Marketplace to propagate and celebrate what many critics came to believe was an over-asserted and unrealistic leap. The void, so seemingly created at kenosis in this context, gives Osundare the leverage to employ a befitting poetic medium to join the emerging new voices in poetryâ€. His interest in an innovative poetic style is well defined in his choice of language and style. The collection redefines poetry as
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]ABSTRACTThis essay studies how oral performance constitutes the core poetic style employed by Niyi Osundare to project social commitment and vision in Songs of the Marketplace. It discusses how the poet’s deployment of oral performance makes his poetry more accessible to a larger audience than those of his predecessors. The pervasive theme of moral degeneration remains a serious concern in the selected poems. Like the oral traditional performance, Osundare employs rich Yoruba oral-liter ... Continue reading---
