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Vierke, Clarissa:
Poetry.
In: Vossen, Rainer ; Dimmendaal, Gerrit
(Hrsg.):
The Oxford Handbook of African Languages. -
Oxford
: Oxford University Press
,
2020
. - S. 1016-1025
ISBN 978-0-19-960989-5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199609895.013.5
Abstract
This chapter offers an overview of poetry in African languages from all over the continent, which is, on the one hand, the most universal and the most specific literary form. Most African cultures did not have a specific term for literature before colonialism, but have long traditions of rhythmically bound speech reserved for special occasions and used to promote the most important ideals and aspirations of society which have proved flexible to newly emerging styles. Given the beauty, vitality, and long history of poetry and its diversity rooted in its intimate connection with respective cultural contexts, concepts of aesthetics, and language form, the chapter starts by making heuristic use of generic categories, like epic and praise poetry, to be able to both draw comparisons and highlight cultural specifics. It pays attention to poetry’s changing media across time while also going beyond the typical dichotomy of “traditional” and “modern” poetry.