Nelson Mandela as poetic trope

Abstract

Over the last fifty or sixty years, Nelson Mandela has almost certainly been the most frequently mentioned public figure in South African poetry. As with the “shape-shifting quality” (Barnard 5) of his political iconicity, so his representation in poetry has varied over time. More often than not, the meaning of “Mandela” in any given poem tells us as much about the poet’s attitudes as about Mandela the (once-)living man, but the sheer frequency of the references attests to his unique stature. This essay illustrates the range of meanings ascribed to Mandela by poets from the 1960s to the present day: the stoic embodiment of resistance during his imprisonment, the messianic figure leading his people to freedom in 1990, the potentially compromised/compromising politician following his release, and finally the revered elder trapped by his own iconicity and weighed down by the burden of public (over-)expectation. The essay concludes by suggesting that Mandela’s name will continue to be invoked in the future as a kind of touchstone of personal character, political probity, and national promise.