Globalization and the African Praise-Poet: The Example of ??b?b? K?n? ?z?n Ibe (The Chief Oral Poet of the ?z?n Nation)

Abstract

Scholars exploring the role of praise-poets in contemporary Africa have not yet looked at praise-poets' response to globalization-related issues, such as immigration, gender, environment, HIV/AIDS, and language endangerment and death. This article focuses on the relations between African praisepoets and globalization. It examines how Chief Adolphus Munamuna, an Ịzọn praise-poet, has used his art to address two issues of globalization affecting Africa in general and the Ịzọn in particular: HIV/AIDS and language endangerment and death. It points out that even globalization has not wiped out the social function that praise-poets have been serving since precolonial times; rather, it has opened up new topics and contexts for them to explore.