Dike Okoro analyzes the various manifestations of ecocriticism and political activism in the poetry of Lupenga Mphande, who was arguably Africa's first poet to explore the existence of territorial cults and natural shrines in his work. This book is recommended for students and scholars seeking new interpretations of the African experience in contemporary world literature.
Dike Okoro is associate professor of English and Chair of the Humanities Department at Harris Stowe State University
Chapter 1: Lupenga Mphande's Poetry: Nature, Environment, Activism & Futurism Chapter 2: Visionary Art in the Poetry of Lupenga Mphande Chapter 3: Human Rights and Environment in Modern African Poetry Chapter 4: Symbolism, Mythology, and Sacred Space: A Study of the Poetry of Lupenga Mphande Chapter 5: Nature and Environmental Anxieties in the Poetry of Lupenga Mphande Chapter 6: The Depiction of Prison Life in African Literature: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Lupenga Mphande, and Others Chapter 7: Elegies in the Poetry of Lupenga Mphande Chapter 8: Nostalgia As A Representative Character in the Poetry of Lupenga Mphande Chapter 9: The African Poet and Political Activism: Lupenga Mphande Chapter 10: The Depiction of Children and Life Lessons in Mphande's Poetry Chapter 11: Nelson Mandela's Legacy Chapter 12: Lupenga Mphande and His Generation: Malawian Poets Chapter 13: Love Poems and Meanings: A Study of Lupenga Mphande's Poetry Chapter 14: Social Justice and Environmental Criticism in the Poetry of Lupenga Mphande, Brian Gilmore, and Benjamin Zephaniah
African poetry is one of the most neglected areas of scholarship on the continent and among Africans in the diaspora. This is not for lack of enough good materials. Whatever is the reason for this regrettable lack, we are happy that Dr. Dike Okoro has undertaken a giant step toward remedying the condition. His scholarship on the poetry of Lupenga Mphande, one of the most profound and environmentally conscious of African poets, is more than welcome. Mphande is important not only as a fine poet, but especially for bringing much-needed attention to social and environmental justice and human rights in African scholarship. Lupenga Mphande: Eco-Critical Poet and Political Activist is a welcome addition to the scholarship on African poetry and environmental justice. Students of environmental justice--and we all should be--must be delighted to have it.--Chielozona Eze, Northeastern Illinois University; author of Justice and Human Rights in the African Imagination: But We, Too, Are Humans Dike Okoro's Lupenga Mphande: Eco-Critical Poet and Political Activist is a groundbreaking critical study of African poetry from a fresh, new perspective that brings us in conversation with a poet we otherwise would not have understood. Okoro's expertise in approaching Mphande's poetry through both interviews and a comparative study of the poet and the works of his contemporaries guides the reader to an understanding of one of Africa's finest poets who deserves more attention than has been given him through the years. Lupenga Mphande: Eco-Critical Poet and Political Activist opens us up to the diverse themes of Mphande's poetics, not often a subject of conversation in the study of African poetry.--Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, Penn State University Altoona
