DOCSLIB.ORG

The Natural Environment in the Selected Poems of John Keats and Niyi Osundare: an Eco-Critical Perspective

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Natural Environment in the Selected Poems of John Keats and Niyi Osundare: an Eco-Critical Perspective THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT IN THE SELECTED POEMS OF JOHN KEATS AND NIYI OSUNDARE: AN ECO-CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE A Ph.D Thesis By FORTRESS ISAIAH AYINUOLA CUPG040113 SUPERVISOR: DR. (MRS) OLUWATOYIN JEGEDE CO-SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR CHRISTOPHER AWONUGA Department of Languages, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria JULY, 2013 1 THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT IN THE SELECTED POEMS OF JOHN KEATS AND NIYI OSUNDARE: AN ECOCRITICAL PERSPECTIVE By FORTRESS ISAIAH A AYINUOLA CUPG040113 A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Languages, College of Development Studies (CDS) of Covenant University Ota, Nigeria In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) Degree in English 2013 2 CERTIFICATION We certify that this work was carried out by Mr. Fortress Isaiah Ayinuola in the Department of Languages, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria. ------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- Dr. (Mrs.) Oluwatoyin Jegede Professor Christopher Awonuga Supervisor Co-Supervisor ------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- Dean, College of Development Studies The External Examiner 3 Fig.1: John Keats from National Portait Gallery, London, and Niyi Osundare, retrieved on 13 Februry 2012 from Wikipedia. John Keats (1795-1821) Niyi Osundare (1947- to date) If Poetry comes not as naturally as the Poetry is what the soft wind musics to the leaves to a tree it had better not come dancing leaf, what the bee hums to the at all (Gittings,1978:46). alluring nectar, what rainfall croons to the lowering eaves (Na‘Allah, 2003:134). 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I give honour, glory and adoration to God who drew me out of the miry clay and a slippery terrain. He brought me into His marvelous light, stood me on the solid rock and fed me with the bread of life. This thesis is a fulfilment of His prophecies: Deut 8:1-10. At the inception of this study, I had no tools in me but the Rod of faith and the voice of the Lord that fortified and emboldened me. As I lifted my eyes to the hills, He sent my way these great souls and builders, every one of them unique in his/her callings and fields and by them I am eternally blessed: Special thanks to Dr. David Oyedepo, my mentor and prophetic teacher. He provided a platform on which I build an inner fortitude to stand in times of peace and in times of storm. The late Professor (Rev) Ishaya Audu who taught me charity, discipleship, faith and humility. His life was his message. Thank you, Professor David Cook who taught me to mould images with words. With deep gratitude that wells out of my spirit, I thank the former Vice-Chancellor, Professor Aize Obayan: A mother-eagle whose words: ―Yes you can, together we can‖ consolidated the total man in me. Thank you, Professor Charles Ogbulogo, who always say, ―It can be better‖ and Professor Christopher Awonuga who co-supervised this thesis with patient fatherly counsel. Professor Emmanuel Kwofie, for thoroughly and patiently reading through this work, dotting the ‗i‘s and crossing the ‗t‘s. I thank you. Special thanks to my Heads of Department, previous and present: Dr. Taiwo Abioye and Dr. Innocent Chiluwa, for their support and advice. Thank you, Professor A.E. Eruvbetine, English Department, University of Lagos, for giving me a deeper insight into John Keats and Romanticism. I thank Professor Niyi Osundare who called the study, in a telephone interview, ―very intriguing topic‖. My special thanks to Dr. S. Ogunpitan, my teacher and friend, who provided invaluable materials on Niyi Osundare and nature poetry in particular. I thank Dr. Ikenna Kamalu, my teacher and friend, in the area of metaphorization. Very special thanks to my able Supervisor, Dr. (Mrs) Oluwatoyin Jegede, who introduced me to different areas of eco-critical studies and provided invaluable materials on Niyi Osundare and nature poetry in particular. A teacher indeed, she was detailed and meticulous and expected nothing but the best. I thank you for the thoughtful insight on the Abstract. I acknowledge also Dr. A. Egwu, who edited the final copy and gave me constructive advice; Covenant University Centre for Learning Resources (CLR); the University of Lagos Library Postgraduate Reference Unit and The Head of English Department, University of Ibadan, for availing me of the use of some dissertations and theses; the Environmental Unit, Alausa, Ikeja and Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF), Lekki, Victoria Island, Lagos. I thank my wife, Margaret Oladotun Fortress and children, Immanuel, Deborah, Daniel and Elizabeth who stood by me in the teeth of the wind, on stony deserts and by the rock of warm springs. Thank you Emmanuel Oluwaseyi Fortress for typing part of this thesis and for those symbolic snap shots you sent into my mail: landscapes, waterfalls, wildernesses, valleys beneath the oceans and their inhabitants; oasis in thirsty and lonely deserts; the deep-blue cloudless sky and the rising sun behind green mountain ranges. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Title page: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- i Certification:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ii Acknowledgements: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------iii Table of Contents: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------vi List of Tables/Figures/Pictures -------------------------------------------------------------------v Abstract. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ vi CHAPTER ONE THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT IN LITERARY ECOLOGY 1.1. Introduction-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------11 1.2. Historical Overview and Issues in Literary Ecology------------------------------------12 1.3. Statement of the Problem-------------------------------------------------------------------14 1.4. Aim of the Study ----------------------------------------------------------------------------14 1.5. Objectives of the Study ---------------------------------------------------------------------14 1.6. Specific Research Questions---------------------------------------------------------------15 1.7. The Significance of the Study--------------------------------------------------------------15 1.8. Scope and Delimitation---------------------------------------------------------------------16 1.9. Social and Artistic Vision of John Keats and Niyi Osundare--------------------------17 1.10. The Nature and Scope of Comparative Literature --------------------------------------17 1.11. Structure of Thesis--------------------------------------------------------------------------26 Notes on Chapter One----------------------------------------------------------------------27 CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 2.1. Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------28 2.2. Tenets of Eco-criticism and Theoretical Framework------------------------------------32 2.3. An Eco-critical Reading in the Nigerian Context----------------------------------------35 2.4. The Natural Environment and Romanticism in English Literary Tradition----------40 2.5. The Romantic Era: John Keats and Niyi Osundare -------------------------------------44 2.6. Aesthetic and the Natural Environment---------------------------------------------------46 6 2.7. John Keats and Niyi Osundare: A Comparative Interfacing--------------------------- 47 2.8. Lyrical Ballad and Folk Poetry ----------------------------------------------------------- 50 2.9. Art as a Source of Inspiration for Nature-Poets ----------------------------------------- 53 2.10. The Construction of the Natural Environment in Africa --------------------------------56 2.11. Natural Environment Issues in the Niger Delta------------------------------------------59 2.12. Built Environment, Natural Architecture and the Natural Environment--------------66 2.13. The Cognitive and Objective Aspect of the Built and the Natural Environment-----68 Notes on Chapter Two------------------------------------------------------------------------71 CHAPTER THREE: NATURE POETICIZING AND PRIMAL RECOLLECTION 3.1. Introduction-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------72 3.2. Autobiography and Faction: Themes on Stages of Development in the Careers of Keats and Osundare: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------72 3.3. Landscape and Seascape: --------------------------------------------------------------------79 3.4. The Seasons: Summer and Rainy Season --------------------------------------------------82 3.5. The Seasons: Winter and Dry Season-------------------------------------------------------85 3.6. Flora and Fauna: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------89 Notes on Chapter Three: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------96 CHAPTER FOUR IDENTIFYING WITH THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT THROUGH LITERARY DEVICES 4.1. Introduction:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------97 4.2. Metaphor :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------102 4.3. Simile:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------105 4.4. Imagery:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------107
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Geographical Marginalisation in Context with Identity Crisis Projected by David Rubadiri and Derek Walcott in Their Poems
    Geographical Marginalisation in Context with Identity Crisis Projected by David Rubadiri and Derek Walcott in Their Poems K. Uma, II M.A. English Department of English and Comparative Literature Madurai Kamaraj University Madurai ================================================================== Abstract This paper is an attempt to view the “Geographical Marginalisation” with the reference to the two poems, David Rubadiri’s “A Negro Labourer in Liverpool” and Derek Walcott’s “A Far Cry from Africa”. In Rubadiri’s poem, the poet spot lights the suffering of a Negro who is working in the land of free (the place of White) and how he longs for a hope. The title of the poem itself is a juxtapose and the toil of a Negro to get an identity is shown. In Walcott’s poem, “A Far Cry from Africa” the suffering of the native African is discussed and the condition of the native “Kikuyu” is mentioned. The poet uses the personification to show the pitiable condition of Arica during the battle by comparing the position of the White and of the Black. Both the poems depict out the voice of the voiceless. Keywords: David Rubadiri, “A Negro Labourer in Liverpool”, Derek Walcott, “A Far Cry from Africa”, Battlefield, Impact, Migration, Quest for an Identity, Longing for a hope. This is an attempt to focus on the poems which has the same theme ‘Geographical Marginalisation’ of two different poets like James David Rubadiri’s ‘A Negro Labourer in Liverpool’ and the poem ‘A Far Cry from Africa’ by Derek Walcott tell about the pitiable situation of the African people. Literature is a word derived from Latin word ‘Littera’ means Letter in English.
    [Show full text]
  • Fragments of Rubadiri: Student, Teacher and Poet Susan Kiguli Makerere University
    J. Hum 27 (1), 2019 77 Fragments of Rubadiri: Student, Teacher and Poet Susan Kiguli Makerere University Abstract Keywords: The article explores the intersections of James David Rubadiri, archive, Rubadiri’s roles as a student, poet and teacher. The article Polysemous human, draws on selected episodes, experiences and interviews exile, home on his life and work at Makerere University with the aim of addressing silences and gaps the apparent absence of © 2019 The Author. Rubadiri’s full auto/biographical work creates. Relying This work is licensed on the archive, the paper traces three stages in Rubadiri’s under the Creative life: his days as a student at Makerere, his time as a teacher Commons Attribution at the same university and his career as a poet. I observe 4.0 International License that his remarkable abilities and personality as attested to by his teachers during his student days allowed him to transition into a celebrated teacher and an intuitive poet later in his life. I also observe that as a student, teacher and poet, his strengths were anchored in his ability to understand the importance of being human and the shifting boundaries of human experience. Further, I touch on notions of home and exile in Rubadiri’s life and poetry, particularly in the context of Makerere University and Uganda, his adopted home. The article takes note of the polysemous yet connected roles and their significance in defining Rubadiri as one of the leading literary voices in the East African region. Introduction James David Rubadiri was born on 19th July 1930 on Likoma Island in the then British Protectorate of Nyasaland, now Malawi.
    [Show full text]
  • Portrait of an Asian As an East African
    SINGING AGAINST ANTI-ASIAN SENTIMENT IN THE EAST AFRICAN POSTCOLONY: JAGJIT SING’S “PORTRAIT OF AN ASIAN AS AN EAST AFRICAN” Danson Sylvester Kahyana Makerere University, Kampala (Uganda) & Stellenbosch University (South Africa) Abstract The 1972 expulsion of Asians from Uganda by the President of the time, General Idi Amin Dada, is one of the most traumatic events that Uganda has suffered. This article examines how this event is imagined in Jagjit Singh’s ‘Portrait of an Asian as an East African’ (1971). I am interested in three inter-related issues that the poet depicts in this work: the pain of being uprooted from a place one has known as home, only to be cast into a state of statelessness and refugeehood; the nature and character of the emergent postcolony that the poem speaks to; and the ability of poetry to give prescient insights, given the fact the poem was published a year before the expulsion was announced. In the close reading of the poem that I perform in this paper, I pay special attention to the poetic devices that the poet deploys to speak to the three issues that I have mentioned above, and the success with which he does this. Keywords: Prejudice, Expulsion, Trauma, Atrocity, Asians. UN CANTO CONTRA EL SENTIMIENTO ANTI-ASIÁTICO EN LA POSTCOLONIA DEL ÁFRICA ORIENTAL. “PORTRAIT OF AN ASIAN AS AN EAST AFRICAN” DE JAGJIT SINGH 95 Resumen La expulsión de la población asiática de Uganda perpetrada por el presidente del momento, el General Idi Amin Dada, es uno de los episodios más traumáticos que Uganda ha sufrido.
    [Show full text]
  • (20) Ui Art Olorunyomi Africa 2014
    African Notes Vol. 38 No. 2 2014, pp. 71-77 Africa and the Literature of Unfreedom Sola Olorunyomi University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria Introduction forebears found allies in other genres for When I grow up I’d like to be a dog... creative expressivity. For instance, by playing (A little girl in a Warsaw Ghetto) the codifier, through speech surrogacy, music became a viable nest for treasured information, The muse as'endangeredspecie and hidden critique. The early jester, In their book, Extreme Situations. ■.. David Craig “remembrancer” and court poet all comingled, and Michael Egan write, detailing the behaviour yet finding a little space to get at the Genre. of literature in the interwar years: “In the ghetto Even great minds in history will eventually in Warsaw in 1914, Ludwik Hirszfeld asked a want the poet banned from the Republic; and little girl, ‘What would you like to be.’ She over the period, they did get banned, even answered, ‘A dog, because the sentries like harmed in ways too shameful to recount to dogs’.” contemporary civilsation. And it was not a Literature continues to recount and habit contained by the diversity of our transform experience, such as has been geographies ... just wherever power relations described above. No doubt, literature has over felt threatened sufficiently enough. And the the ages b^emg^onstantly affronted, largely infamous apartheid system of South Africa was because it stokes the imagination. Imagination yet one such case in point. continues to serve as a cypher for a universal A bit of the anti-apartheid literature got language; and, in a way, it is'not particularly smuggled out and the rest of the continent held suprising that workers of the imaginative its breath, reading lines written in blood, enterprise UNIVERSITYhave hlso had to contend, OF IBADANdescribing sanguine LIBRARY tales of horror, in lonely, simultaneously, with a universal.language of lonsome cells - homes of the extra-judicial applause and censorship.
    [Show full text]
  • A Journalist's Reflection on Lessons from James David Rubadiri's Life
    J. Hum 27 (1), 2019 65 A Journalist’s Reflection on Lessons from James David Rubadiri’s Life Mzati Nkolokosa University of Kwazulu-Natal Abstract Keywords: James David Rubadiri was a teacher both inside and out- teacher, life-lessons, side the classroom. Whenever he opened his mouth to humanity, Rubadiri, speak, his listeners learned something, almost always, Malawi perhaps without his realisation. In this article, I give a journalist’s reflection on Rubadiri’s life as embodying © 2019 The Author. various lessons for all those that interacted with him. This work is licensed I conclude by noting that Rubadiri was a great teacher under the Creative whose life remains a classroom for all of us even after Commons Attribution his death. 4.0 International License Introduction Professor James David Rubadiri was a teacher both inside and outside the classroom. He thought and spoke without visible effort and his audience learned something, almost always. In this reflective essay, I describe the lessons that Rubadiri’s life taught us. I cite lessons on such critical issues as the balance between courage and safety, dedication to work and patriotism. In addition to these lessons, I discuss the idea of life as a journey, matters of the heart and greatness. The essay is a product of many hours I spent interviewing Rubadiri both on and off the record during 13 years of my journalism career. The essay is, therefore, simply a journalist’s reflection of the life of a great academic who served Malawi from as early as 1960. Lesson One: Learn from everyone Susan Kiguli , formerly a student of Rubadiri at Makerere University, often tells a beautiful story about her professor.
    [Show full text]
  • David Rubadiri - Poems
    Classic Poetry Series David Rubadiri - poems - Publication Date: 2012 Publisher: Poemhunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive David Rubadiri(19 July 1930) James David Rubadiri is a Malawian diplomat, academic and poet. At independence in 1964, Rubadiri was appointed Malawi's first ambassador to the United States and the United Nations. On Tuesday August 18th, 1964, he presented his credentials to President Johnson at the White House and expressed the hope that his newly independent country would get more aid from the United States. Ambassador Rubadiri said that Malawi needed help to build its democratic institutions and noted that Malawi was already receiving US economic and technical help. David Rubadiri left the government in 1965 when he broke with President Hastings Banda. <b>Education</b> Rubadiri attended King's College, Budo in Uganda from 1941-1950 then Makerere University from 1952-1956, where he graduated from with a bachelor's degree in English literature and History. He went on to the University of Bristol from 1956- 1960, where he received a master of arts degree in English literature. <b>Publications</b> His only novel, No Bride Price was published. The novel criticized the Banda regime and was, along with Legson Kayira's The Looming Shadow, some of the first published work by Malawians. www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 1 An Africa Thunderstorm From the west Clouds come hurrying with the wind Turning sharply Here and there Like a plague of locusts Whirling, Tossing up things on its tail Like a madman chasing nothing. Pregnant clouds Ride stately on its back, Gathering to perch on hills Like sinister dark wings; The wind whistles by And trees bend to let it pass.
    [Show full text]
  • Francis Davis Imbuga: the Story of His Life
    FRANCIS DAVIS IMBUGA: THE STORY OF HIS LIFE BY MAKHAKHA, JOSEPH WANGILA C50/63702/2013 A RESEARCH PROJECT IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER DEGREE IN LITERATURE SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LITERATURE, FACULTY OF ARTS- UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI 2015 i FRANCIS DAVIS IMBUGA THE STORY OF HIS LIFE ii DECLARATION This project is my original work and has not been submitted for the award of a degree in another University: Candidate: Makhakha Joseph Wangila SIGNATURE _________________________DATE ___________________ This Project has been submitted for examination with our approval as university supervisors: FIRST SUPERVISOR: PROF. HENRY INDANGASI SIGN: _________________________ DATE_______________________ SECOND SUPERVISOR: PROF. CIAIRUNJI CHESAINA SIGN: _________________________DATE _______________________ iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ...................................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background to the study ........................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Statement of the problem .....................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Evocation of the Dramatic in David Rubadiri's Poetry
    J. Hum 27 (1), 2019 25 Evocation of the Dramatic in David Rubadiri’s Poetry Syned Mthatiwa University of Malawi Abstract Keywords: Rubadiri, James David Rubadiri (1930-2018), poet, playwright, Malawian poetry, style, novelist, academic, diplomat, and political activist, is no language, evocative stranger to many literary scholars in Africa and beyond. imagery, Africa, His popularity is not a result of his thespian skills—he colonialism acted Othello once—or skills in fiction writing (although he did try his hand at novel writing, producing No Bride © 2019 The Author. Price), but mainly a result of his teaching and his skills This work is licensed in poetry. Although he is famous as a poet, his poetic under the Creative harvest is rather minimal—his only collection, An African Commons Attribution Thunderstorm and Other Poems, boasts only twenty-three 4.0 International License poems. What the poems lack in numbers, they more than compensate for in the energy and beauty that they radiate, beauty that has seen most of them translated and anthologised around the world over the years. It is also this energy, the beauty of composition, and their tackling of relevant themes, which have made his poems the staple of many poetry classes in Africa and beyond. In this paper I analyse Rubadiri’s poems that appear in the collection An African Thunderstorm and Other Poems. I argue that the success of Rubadiri’s poetry is primarily based on his evocation of the dramatic, which is in turn reliant on his economic use of language, his descriptive skills, and his use of vivid and evocative images.
    [Show full text]
  • Nationalism and Politics of Narrating the Malawian Nation In
    NATIONALISM AND POLITICS OF NARRATING THE MALAWIAN NATION IN LEGSON KAYIRA’S NOVELS AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY By JOSHUA ISAAC KUMWENDA (Student Number 0718647G) Thesis submitted to the Department of African Literature, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment for the award of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in African Literature Supervisor: Professor Isabel Hofmeyr Date of submission: 4th November, 2019 Declaration I declare that this thesis is submitted to the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in fulfillment for the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy as an original work done by me. This work has not been submitted to any other university or examined for any other degree before. I further declare that the various materials used in the study have been duly acknowledged. SIGNED: Joshua Isaac Kumwenda: Signature Date (Candidate) APPROVED: Professor Isabel Hofmeyr: Signature Date (Supervisor) I understand that my thesis will become part of the permanent collection of the University of the Witwatersrand libraries. My signature below authorizes release of this thesis to any reader who would like to use the information for academic purposes. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means without prior permission from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Joshua Isaac AUTHOR: 0718647G Signature Date Kumwenda: (Candidate) (Student Number) i Dedication To my mother, Mama Ethel Nyasindani Nkhoswe who did everything to ensure that I attained education when the situation was very tough for her as a single parent, I say that this thesis is for you. May the Almighty God bless you with more years ahead to enjoy the fruits of my sweat and witness my rise to positions of prominence and influence in society.
    [Show full text]
  • Democratisation in Malawi: State, Economic Structure and Neo-Liberal Hegemony
    Democratisation in Malawi: State, Economic Structure and Neo-Liberal Hegemony Eunice Njeri Sahle A thesis submitted to the Department of Political Studies in conforrnity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, Canada 2001 Copyright O Eunice Njeri Sahle, 2001 National Library Bibliothèque nationale 1*1 .,,a du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Omwa ON K1A ON4 ûttawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence ailowing the exclusive permettant à la Kationai Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or seU reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfichel~de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstract Existing studies on Malawi's transition to democracy overwhelmingly cite local factors such as ethnic cornpetition, poor leadership, corruption, and economic difhlties as being the determinants of the forrn of democracy that emerged in the post 1994 period. This thesis argues these studies have led only to partial insights since they have not problematized the role of the state, its economic structure and the transnational lending community's neo-liberal hegemony on the country's democracy.
    [Show full text]
  • The Transcription Centre
    The Transcription Centre: An Inventory of Its Records at the Harry Ransom Center Descriptive Summary Creator: The Transcription Centre, circa 1962-1977 Title: The Transcription Centre Records Dates: 1931-1986 (bulk 1960-1977) Extent: 25 boxes (10.50 linear feet) Abstract: The records of the Transcription Centre comprise scripts and manuscripts, correspondence, legal documents, business records, ephemera, photographs, and clippings spanning the years 1931 to 1986. Languages: English, Hausa, Swahili, German, French, and Italian . Access: Open for research Administrative Information Acquisition: Purchase, 1990 (R12142) Processed by: Bob Taylor, 2008 Repository: The University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Center The Transcription Centre, circa 1962-1977 Organizational History The Transcription Centre began its brief but significant life in February 1962 under the direction of Dennis Duerden (1927-2006), producing and distributing radio programs for and about Africa. Duerden was a graduate of Queen’s College, Oxford and had served as principal of the Government Teachers’ College at Keffi, Nigeria and later as producer of the Hausa Service of the BBC. As an artist and educator with experience in West Africa, as well as a perceptive critic of African art he was a natural in his new post. The Transcription Centre was created with funding provided initially by the Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) to foster non-totalitarian cultural values in sub-Saharan Africa in implicit opposition to Soviet-encouraged committed political attitudes among African writers and artists. Much of the CCF’s funding and goals were subsequently revealed to have come from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. The stress between the CCF’s presumed wish to receive value for their investment in the Transcription Centre and Duerden’s likely belief that politically-based programming would alienate the very audience it sought permeated his activities throughout his years with the radio service.
    [Show full text]
  • Nairobi Journal Textualization of History in Poems
    Nairobi Nairobi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Journal Textualization of History in Poems from East Africa by Cook and Rubadiri Nairobi Journal of Humanities Bwocha Nyagemi and Social Sciences Department of Languages and Linguistics, Archbishop Mihanyo University College of Tabora Volume 1, Issue 1, 2017 © 2017 The Author(s). This open ABSTRACT access article is distributed under Using new historicism, this paper examines textualization a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license. of history in selected poems from Cook and Rubadiri anthology, Poems from East Africa (1971). A textual Article Information Submitted: 30th December 2016 analysis of poems with titles that encompass appellations Accepted: 5th February 2017 of real humans, such as Martin Luther King and Yatuta Published: 15th March 2017 Chisiza, and places, such as Vietnam and Angola, have Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interest was reported by the been selected in order to compare how history and authors historicization has been undertaken in poetry. History Funding: None and historicization are examined as twin elements that Additional information is available ambivalently help readers in understanding the context at the end of the article and inspiration of the poets in the selected poems for this study. The reading established that there is a one to one correlation between the messages contained in the texts (poems) and the historicities surrounding such creations. https://creativecommons.org/lice nses/by/4.0/ It also established that the personalities in the poems: Martin Luther King, Yatuta Chisiza, Major Christopher ISSN 2523-0948 (Online) Okigbo, inter alia, fought for causes that, to this day, afflict humanity as a whole.
    [Show full text]