AFRICAN IMAGE IN AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE: A CASE STUDY OF LANGSTON HUGHES’ THE PANTHER AND THE LASH: POEMS OF OUR TIME AND YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA’S PLEASURE DOME: NEW AND COLLECTED POEMS
AFRICAN IMAGE IN AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE: A CASE STUDY OF LANGSTON HUGHES’ THE PANTHER AND THE LASH: POEMS OF OUR TIME AND YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA’S PLEASURE DOME: NEW AND COLLECTED POEMS
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Date
2015-05
Authors
UBATU, BENJAMIN OLISAELOKA
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Abstract
This thesis is concerned with the how image of Africa is presented in African American
literature using Langston Hughes‟ The Panther and the Lash: Poems of our Time (1964) and
Yusef Komunyakaa‟s Pleasure Dome: New and Collected Poems (2001). The study employs
New Historicism as an analytical tool to explore how the African American writers use
poetry as a mouthpiece to assert their African origin at a period when it was widely believed
by the Eurocentric critics that African Americans have totally lost Africanness. It also shows
how the fusion of two distinct cultures has led to the emergence of a hybrid culture that has
produced a great art, and concludes that societies should focus more on what unites them than
what divides them in order to foist a more united and prosperous society. African image in
the context of this research centres on the issues of slavery, racism, identity formation,
disenchantment, struggle for freedom and integration. The presence of African image in the
African American literary creation is anindication of their consciousness of Africa as their
ancestry and their acceptance of dual heritage in U.S.A. The study is not concerned with a
comparative analysis despite using two poets from two different literary eras; it rather focuses
on the connection between the two poetic eras which lies in their expression of African
elements and displeasure with the status quo in the American society and their desire for
integration. However, Langston Hughes is more conservative (and sometimes uses caustic
language) and uses blues tradition in addressing the subject matter,while Yusef
Komunyakaa, who is more versatile and universal in addressing the subject matter sees
Africa as a source of inspiration. These writers accept Africa as their root which they cannot
return physically. They also argue that America is equally their origin although they are not
fully accepted, and express their desire for integration. They therefore illustrate how the
Blacks, having found themselves in the web of dual identity crisis with its numerous
challenges, plays significant roles towards resolving the issues of identity formation/crisis
and cultural hybridisation that characterised the changing face of the history of U.S.A.
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES,
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENTOF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD
OF A
MASTER OF ART DEGREE IN ENGLISH LITERATURE
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES,
FACULTY OF ARTS,
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY,ZARIA
NIGERIA
Keywords
AFRICAN IMAGE,, AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE,, CASE STUDY,, LANGSTON HUGHES’,, PANTHER,, LASH,, POEMS,, OUR TIME,, YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA’S,, PLEASURE DOME,, NEW,, COLLECTED POEMS,