INTRODUCTION
POETRY
Poetry, a genre of literature shares in the attribute of literature as both a reflection and
reflector of society. Ngugi submits that literature shapes “our attitudes to life, to the daily
struggle with nature, the daily struggles within a community, and the daily struggle within our
individual souls and selves” (6). For Ernst Curtis all “Antiquity sees the poet as sage, teacher,
educator” (203). Poetry as such is distilled from human wisdom and thought based on the
realities of a given culture. In Okolo's view poetry has “its being, meaning, and existence in the
forces that operate and shape peoples' live – how human society is organised, the quality of life,
the physical and mental development” (Understanding Social Environment…, 150). Society in this context is a human setting where poetry takes place especially as it relates to the people the
poet is writing for and about. In this vein, poetry here refers to poems written about Africa by
African poets. Poetry, thus, projects African culture, values, and their socio-political impact,
relationship between individual activities and experience, human conflicts and tensions in
society.
Indeed, to a very high degree, the texture of the language in the society is determined by the
poet. This is because of all the genres of literature; poetry is the most concise in the use of words.
Jerome Beaty, Alison Booth, J. Paul Hunter and Kelly J. Mays explain, in “poems, ideas and feelings are packed tightly into just a few lines. The experiences of life are very concentrated here, and meanings emerge quickly, word by word” (811). In a situation where the poet is
careless or inattentive or incompetent in the choice of words he employs, he can bring disaster to the society. Achebe warns that “when language is seriously interfered with, when it is disjoined from truth, be it from – mere incompetence or worse, from malice, horrors can descend again on mankind” (Hopes 94).
AFRICAN SOCIETY
There is a sense in which the African society is inextricably tied to its colonial past to the point that to think of Africa is to think of colonialism and the many legacies it left behind.
Legacies such as forced amalgamation, zero-sum political competition, unmanageable ethics status in global affairs, underemployment, among others.The reason for calling attention to colonialism in understanding African society is two-fold. One is to underscore the importance of Ake's view that “we do not really understand a society until we can account for how it came to be what it is, until we can articulate its laws of motion” (A Political vii). Two, is to draw attention to the different ways a society can be sabotaged. The attempt by the colonialist to stripe Africa of its history, identity, culture, religion, language and dignity is, perhaps, the height of destruction that can be directed at a people.
Okolo contends that while positive narratives on Africa are hardly ever mentioned or remembered, what “is always present in popular imagination is Africa as a corrupt, poverty-ridden continent in perpetual crises” (“Understanding the Philosophy” 196). Achebe, in fact, insists that “Africa has been the most insulted continent in the world” (Morning 78). He maintains that an adequate revolution to espouse is to help African society “regain belief in itself and put away the complexes of the years of denigration and self-abasement” (Hopes 30). It is therefore imperative that African society achieve Mandela's “ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities” (189). The task here is to show how poetry responds to these challenges and more importantly how it contributes to the reordering of African society. The role of poetry in the reordering of African societyHow do we really know that poetry is useful to the society? That a poem can give us practical knowledge? And more importantly, that poetry can help in the building of a healthy, balanced society? Here my interpretation of a healthy balanced society is a society where people can aspire and have the enabling environment to achieve their positive goals; a society where it is possible for people to maximize their talents, skills, creativity and potential for collective and individual welfare. It is a society where the leaders can show through concrete examples what is best for the society through their acts of service, selflessness, courage, discipline and determination to live within the ambit of the laws. The task is to show that poetry is both useful to the society and that its contribution is critical for the advancement of a healthy, balanced society. Analysis of the six selected poems will be undertaken to back up this claim.
Richard Ntiru's “If It Is True”, calls attention to the need to interrogate issues beyond their surface presentation. In a world where there are so many conflicting values, ideologies and beliefs how do we know what is true? What, in fact, is true? This is a philosophical issue which like other philosophical enquires defy a clear-cut answer. Suffice it to say that for Socrates the search for the truth should be paramount in all human undertakings. This for him consists in the attitude of cultivating an inquisitive mind towards issues, a refusal to accept anything that has not been carefully examined as knowledge. He sums this in his insistence that the unexamined life is not worth living. The implication of this is that what we accept as true has serious implication for society. As such, it is important that we probe beneath the cover of things in an attempt to apprehend their reality in as far as humans are capable. Among the issues Ntiru raised are the need to reflect deeply on the interpretations we give to what we say, see, hear and do as these can have grave consequences for society. He advocates the necessity of understanding issues as essential condition for advancing the required solution.
How then does this poem contribute to the re-ordering of African society? A healthy society in character, outlook and essence provides its members with both social and cultural environment to bring out their best to work for the development of the society and their personal growth. Ntiru's poem is a wakeup call to the various issues bedevilling the African society and the need to employ appropriate resources in solving them. He believes that Africans have adaptive capabilities and are capable of solving their problems through critical thinking. The poem urges Africans to respond in time to avoid catastrophe and make African society the enviable place it should be. By nudging us towards the supreme importance of critical thinking and aligning our actions to conform to our thoughts “If It Is True” underscores an essential tool in the making of an ordered society. In a society where people think of their starting-points, the consequences of their actions and inactions, the value of criticism and review, and the need to take action in line with present situation, society progresses. Howard Kahane's view helps to sum up this point. He insists that citizens “who think for themselves, rather than uncritically ingesting what their leaders and others with power tell them, are the absolutely necessary ingredient of a society that is to remain free” (xv).
For times that have passed, poets help us to retain memories of those days and connect them to man's perennial quest for self-understanding. Birago Diop's “Breath” and Mazisi Kunene's “Cycle” invoke the bond between the living and the dead and their relevance to understanding and interpreting our present circumstances and, even, making a meaningful projection into the future. While Diop tells us that “those who are dead have never gone away” and urges us to “listen more to things/than to words that are said” (44); Kunene.
THE ROLE OF POETRY IN THE PREORDERING OF AFRICAN SOCIETY
How do we really know that poetry is useful to the society? That a poem can give us practical knowledge? And more importantly, that poetry can help in the building of a healthy, balanced society? Here my interpretation of a healthy balanced society is a society where people can aspire and have the enabling environment to achieve their positive goals; a society where it is possible for people to maximize their talents, skills, creativity and potential for collective and individual welfare. It is a society where the leaders can show through concrete examples what is best for the society through their acts of service, selflessness, courage, discipline and determination to live within the ambit of the laws. The task is to show that poetry is both useful to the society and that its contribution is critical for the advancement of a healthy, balanced society.
Analysis of the six selected poems will be undertaken to back up this claim.Richard Ntiru's “If It Is True”, calls attention to the need to interrogate issues beyond their surface presentation. In a world where there are so many conflicting values, ideologies and beliefs how do we know what is true? What, in fact, is true? This is a philosophical issue which like other philosophical enquires defy a clear-cut answer. Suffice it to say that for Socrates the search for the truth should be paramount in all human undertakings. This for him consists in the attitude of cultivating an inquisitive mind towards issues, a refusal to accept anything that has not been carefully examined as knowledge. He sums this in his insistence that the unexamined life is not worth living. The implication of this is that what we accept as true has serious implication for society. As such, it is important that we probe beneath the cover of things in an attempt to apprehend their reality in as far as humans are capable. Among the issues Ntiru raised are the need to reflect deeply on the interpretations we give to what we say, see, hear and do as these can have grave consequences for society. He advocates the necessity of understanding issues as essential condition for advancing the required solution.
How then does this poem contribute to the re-ordering of African society?
A healthy society in character, outlook and essence provides its members with both social and cultural environment to bring out their best to work for the development of the society and their personal growth. Ntiru's poem is a wakeup call to the various issues bedevilling the African society and the need to employ appropriate resources in solving them. He believes that Africans have adaptive capabilities and are capable of solving their problems through critical thinking. The poem urges Africans to respond in time to avoid catastrophe and make African society the enviable place it should be. By nudging us towards the supreme importance of critical thinking and aligning our actions to conform to our thoughts “If It Is True” underscores an essential tool in the making of an ordered society. In a society where people think of their starting-points, the consequences of their actions and inactions, the value of criticism and review, and the need to take action in line with present situation, society progresses. Howard Kahane's view helps to sum up this point. He insists that citizens “who think for themselves, rather than uncritically ingesting what their leaders and others with power tell them, are the absolutely necessary ingredient of a society that is to remain free” (xv).For times that have passed, poets help us to retain memories of those days and connect them to man's perennial quest for self-understanding. Birago Diop's “Breath” and Mazisi Kunene's “Cycle” invoke the bond between the living and the dead and their relevance to understanding and interpreting our present circumstances and, even, making a meaningful projection into the future.
While Diop tells us that “those who are dead have never gone away” and urges us to “listen more to things/than to words that are said” (44); Kunene writes that the festival ground on which the living are dancing is where the dead “also stood with their dreams/They dreamed until they were tired/And handed us the tail with which we shall dance” (48). This calling attention to the past invariably raises questions in the mind of any reflective person. Why, for example, did colonialism take place in Africa? Was the environment so conducive that the colonialists did not want to leave? If so, what eventually compelled them to change their mind? The historical enquiry also prompts questions about the post-colonial state in Africa, the current issues that African states are grappling with and, even, what the future holds for them. What is responsible for the undemocratic character of the African state and should we expect worse or a change in the years ahead? What kind of society should Africa be aiming at? There are other concerns too. What is responsible for crisis of identity in Africa? Why are Africans deliberately and consistently turning their backs on their culture? What do these portend for Africa's present and future development? Finally, and most important of all, is the past relevant to the re-ordering of African society? Questions like these compel us to admit our limited understanding of the forces shaping our society. Yet for African society to survive and thrive there is need to understand the 'cycle' that glue the past, present and future together. Patrick Nolan and Gerhard Lenski submit that we “must examine societies over an extended period of time if we are ever to understand the critical processes of societal change and development” (4). They went further to state that experience “has shown, moreover, that the broader the span of time we consider, the better we can understand the most basic processes of change in human life” (4). Equally Achebe is of the view that for African societies to achieve stability and make progress they need to understand their past. He submits that what African societies “need to do is to look back and try and find out where we went wrong, where the rain began to beat us.
THE ROLE OF SOCIETY IN THE PRODUCTION OF A GOOD POET
Does the society have any decisive role(s) to play in the quality of poetry at its disposal? In other words how and what can society do to promote or hinder the activities of the poet? Here I have four proposals.First, is enabling environment. An enabling environment is cardinal in whatever one achieves in life. Okolo is emphatic that while a good environment can help people maximise their physical and mental development, a poor environment “dwarfs peoples' development and frustrates their ability to acquire skills, develop their talents and maximise their potentials” (“Understanding Social Environment” 150). In an environment of insecurity it will be difficult for poets to carry on with their craft. There is need for African leaders to take the issue of security seriously. An insecure environment is prone to violence, conflict and, even, war. For example the Nigeria-Biafra war claimed the life of Christopher Okigbo who Achebe eulogised as the finest Nigerian poet of his generation and the most widely imitated Africa poet in Nigeria and Africa by young poets too young to have known him (Hopes 80).
In Ali Mazrui's view cited in Achebe “The Nigeria Civil war and all its ramified implications [can be] compressed in the single poetic tragedy of the death of Christopher Okigbo” (There was a Country 56).The second is funding. Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs help to understand factors that lead to high level of productivity. Maslow itemised these needs as physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualisation. Whether Maslow is completely right or wrong, the essential core of his theory remains valid. In essence, this is that a person who is facing a serious physiological and safety needs will not be in a fit state to pursue his dreams. The importance of highlighting this point is to stress that poverty can hinder a poet from being productive. Karl Marx insists that man has to satisfy his economic needs before he can think. Robert Whittemore attributes the beginning of philosophy in the Western world to the Greeks because “among no other people of the ancient world was there such freedom of thought, conjoined with a lively curiosity about the nature of things, in a society where the labor of the slave enabled the citizen to pass his days in leisurely conversation and dispute” (408). For a poet to be able to give his best his living condition has to be tolerable. In this vein, it is important that local, state and federal government devise means of assisting poets. This can be done by setting poetry fund grants. Corporate organisations and wealthy individuals can also assist through poetry prizes and residencies for poets. Society should also provide outlets for poets to showcase their works. This can come in form of sponsored poetry readings, book presentations and awards.The third point connects to the second. This is societal expectation. It is in two-fold. The first is that society should expect poets to produce works that impact positively on the society. While society frowns heavily on quackery in other professions like medicine, anyone can write anything without serious attention to language and call it a poem without societal sanction. Society must hold poets as accountable as they hold other professionals.
The second is the role the poet as a member of the society has to play. As a member of the society the poet should be accountable to it. Given that the tool the poet uses is language, the poet has a duty to be careful with it. Achebe cites W.H. Auden as pointing to this unalloyed devotion when he states that as“a poet…there is only one political duty, and that is to defend one's language from corruption. And that is particularly serious now. It's being so quickly corrupted. When it is corrupted people lose faith in what they hear, and this leads to violence” (Hopes 92). The poet as such has to ensure that he does not compromise the integrity of language through incompetence. It is easy to think that writing poetry is easy. An aspiring poet has to exercise restraint; study the works of other poets; romance extensively with language so as to be well-established in its many nuances, intrigues and complexities. He should be aware when a connotative meaning is supplanting a denotative meaning and vice versa and which is really required. The poet should be dexterous and should ensure that every word conveys the right meaning and create the desired impact. Achebe's warning that “we all stand to lose when language is debased” (91) helps to round this point. Fourth, and finally, is the poetic community. This has to do with established poets like Niyi Osundare and associations like Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) taking up the challenge of grooming and encouraging upcoming poets.
For instance, in Nigeria, ANA national organises yearly literary prizes for all genre of literature. This should be replicated at branch levels, if not yearly, bi-annually to encourage upcoming poets. Also, there is need to organise workshops for poets. ConclusionThis study sets out to underscore the role poetry can play in the building of a healthy, balanced society. To do this, poems by African writers that contain significant notions of African experience and provide imaginative answers to socio-political issues confronting the continent are exposed to philosophical reflection. The essence of applying philosophical analysis to extract and interrogate the ideas contained in the poems is due to the fictional nature of poetry. A philosophical reflection is needed to validate the ideas contained in them. Beyond this, also highlighted is the importance of society in both supporting the poets and holding them accountable. This is particularly critical because the wellbeing of the poet is dependent on the character of the society. Equally, to a very high degree, the texture of the language in the society is determined by the poet. In all, this study invites reflection on what our society will be like if we all realise that in a dysfunctional society no one is safe and progress and development cannot be nurtured, achieved and sustained. Also that it behoves on all to strive towards the creation of a society where people feel self-compelled to maximise their potential. This is the society that our poets, from different perspectives, presented to us. Essentially, then, they converge in one essential point: poetry has significant statement to make in the reordering of the African society to Works
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