A Stylistic Reading of Selected Poems from Niyi Osundare’s A City without People

Abstract

This paper critically examines the stylistic traditions and innovations inherent in the poetics of Niyi Osundare, one of Africa’s most renowned literary-linguistic artists. Using the Text World Theory (TWT) as conceptual framework, it penetrates into the poet’s mind with the intention of answering the fundamental questions in stylistics: why and how has the writer chosen to use particular words, sentences and metaphors (imagery) in particular ways to achieve particular objectives. Ten poems are purposively selected from the anthology titled ‘A City without People: Katrina Poems’, published in 2011. In a way that speaks volume to his literary genius, Osundare makes the reader involved in the artistic depiction of the ruinous aftermath of the great Hurricane Katrina tragedy through the poetic use of the English language. The data, explored through the aforementioned theory, project the personal and communal feeling of loss, destruction and alienation in a way that unites the different (pieces of) poems as a whole unit (text). The findings reveal a style that, reminiscent of the vintage Osundare, validates his place as one of the few poets who maximise the total potentials of language in the rendition of art.