Abstract
The emergence of any generation of poets, at least since the moderns, has been characterized by a lot of controversies. In Modern Nigerian Poetry, the incarnation of the third generation has its own slant of controversies. Burdened by the lack of a formidable, vibrant critical presence at home and challenged by the dominant standards of powerful precursors, there have been doubts about the emergence of a third generation in Modern Nigerian Poetry. Given that each generation should be defined by some peculiarities, it has been asked, what the defining aesthetic features of this generation are? This paper critically affirms the emergence of the third generation of modern Nigerian poets within the context of Nigerian literary history. The paper identifies and interrogates Humour as a particular quality which typifies the poetry this generation.Keywords: Generationalism, Nigerian Poetry, Humour, Aesthetics, Existentialism
Highlights
God! What dancers! Singers – God! What singers! Singers and laughers Laughers? Yes, laughers... laughers... laughers – Loud mouthed laughers in the hands of Fate (Langston Hughes, 27-8).It seems to me that there is no other generation of poets in the history of Nigerian Poetry among who humour is so impressive, that it becomes definitive of their voices, than the third generation of modern Nigerian Poets
It is the critical aversion to that well mannered tone, which ruled Nigerian Poetry through the 60s, the events that led to the civil war and the cataclysm of the war itself that opened up the space for a new and more radical generation in the mid 70s
We encounter a different sense of humour, which we do not find even in Osundare’s Waiting Laughters, when we turn to the poetry of the third generation of Modern Nigerian Poets
Summary
God! What dancers! Singers – God! What singers! Singers and laughers Laughers? Yes, laughers... laughers... laughers – Loud mouthed laughers in the hands of Fate (Langston Hughes, 27-8).It seems to me that there is no other generation of poets in the history of Nigerian Poetry among who humour is so impressive, that it becomes definitive of their voices, than the third generation of modern Nigerian Poets. It is the critical aversion to that well mannered tone, which ruled Nigerian Poetry through the 60s, the events that led to the civil war and the cataclysm of the war itself that opened up the space for a new and more radical generation in the mid 70s. From this initial impulse emerged the poetry of the second generation of modern Nigerian poets among who are poets like the late Pol Ndu, Tanure Ojaide, Niyi Osundare, Ossie Enekwe, Odia Ofeimun and many others.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
