Abstract:
ABSTRACT
This study examines the dimensions of exile in Anglophone African poetry of the second
generation. Bearing in mind the challenge that arises from such exercise in periodization,
the study is clear in stating that the demarcation paradigm employed in identifying the
various generations of writers is not absolute. Specifically, the study considers the works
of selected poets from sub-Saharan Africa in this generation: Odia Ofeimun, Tanure
Ojaide, Olu Oguibe, Kofi Anyidoho, Jack Mapanje and Mongane Wally Serote. Noting
that in spite of its commonality, exile is not experienced exactly the same way by its
victims or patrons, the study engages the peculiar circumstances that induce the uprooting
about which the poets write with respect to their individual nations. Also, because exile
can be both internally and externally induced, I examine how the poets reflect upon the
combination of internal and external factors in the aggravation of African exile
experience. Besides, the study explores the link between exile and other similarly
invoked terms such as nationalism, migrancy, multiculturalism, transnationalism,
diaspora, globalization, cosmopolitanism, and so on, with a view to discussing how they
interconnect and facilitate an understanding of exile in the selected works of the poets.
For the purpose of conceptual focus, the study is framed by postcolonial theory, relying
on it to ultimately explore the relationship between exile, home and return and its
implications for African nation-states and their development.
