Overview and Tracking of Modern African Poetry

Abstract

Tracking the beginning of modern African poetry has remained a
mystery to many students of Literature. This work, therefore, aims
to demystify the history of modern African poetry, redefining African
poetry, identifying the leading voices of colonial and post-independence
African poetry as well as examining the major thematic preoccupations
or the ‘Africaness’ of African poetry of the written expression. The paper
traces the history of African poetry and establishes the recentness of modern
African poetry. The New Historicist theoretical approach is adopted in this
work so as to trace the past and connect with the present. It concluded that
Ibadan and in particular the University of Ibadan played a significant role
in the development of modern African poetry. Also, political conflicts and
socio-economic issues of post-colonial African states appeared to be the major
concerns of contemporary and new generation modern African poetry.