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- Title
Motherhood and Sundry Preoccupations in Hope Eghagha's Mama dances into the night and other poems.
- Authors
AWHEFEADA, SUNNY
- Abstract
A significant motif in African poetry which critics have ignored over the years is that of motherhood. This theme has been explored by many an African writer, depicting its various manifestations -- physically, psychologically, and spiritually. However, the metaphoric aggregation of the many aspects of maternity has not been met with the appropriate critical response. The aim of this study is to examine the foregrounding of motherhood in Hope Eghagha's Mama dances into the night and other poems. What is revealed is not a romanticization of motherhood, but a tear-glazed threnodic articulation of a mother's last moments on earth, though with telling glances at the past which poeticize the essence of motherhood. Also discernible in this collection are other sundry themes which, often with a certain cynicism, re-create the nature of humanity, complementing Eghagha's versification of motherhood. These themes -- greed, wickedness, love, betrayal -- are largely ignored in the evaluation of African poetry. The present study excavates them, arguing that they deserve critical articulation for African poetry to be seen as representing life as it is lived and experienced.
- Subjects
MOTHERHOOD in literature; POETRY (Literary form); AFRICAN authors; EGHAGHA, Hope; CYNICISM in literature
- Publication
Matatu: Journal for African Culture & Society, 2012, Vol 40, Issue 1, p81
- ISSN
0932-9714
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1163/18757421-040001006