Of Minstrelsy and Masks
The Legacy of Ezenwa-Ohaeto in Nigerian Writing
Published on 1. January 2006
Book
Hardback
382 pages
978-90-420-2168-6 (ISBN)
Description
This collection is dedicated to a distinguished scholar and writer who for a quarter of a century wrote consistently on African literature and the arts and was a major voice in Nigerian literary circles. Ezenwa-Ohaeto made a mark in contemporary Nigerian poetry by committing pidgin to written form and, by so doing, introducing different creative patterns. He also saw himself as a 'minstrel', as someone who wanted to read, express and enact his work before an audience. First and foremost, however, Ezenwa-Ohaeto was someone who 'un-masked' ideas and meanings hidden in the folds of literary works and made them available to an international academic public. With his outstanding work on Chinua Achebe, he influenced the reception of African literary biography. His networks and connections were extensive and wide-ranging, and they are partly reflected in the essays, creative writing and personal notes assembled in this volume. In their various modes and expressions, the contributions included here constitute a tribute to Ezenwa-Ohaeto's many talents and achievements. As an extension of Ezenwa-Ohaeto's legacy, they expand on various aspects of minstrelsy and the un/masking of texts in a Nigerian and broader African context.
The book is divided into six sections. "In Memoriam" contains personal tributes by long-standing colleagues, mentors and friends. "Poetry and Fiction" collects the voices of three generations of Nigerian writing from the 1960s to the present day, followed by poetic and pictorial insights into the domestic and social life of the scholar and family man. Section Four comprises two interviews, while Sections Five and Six are devoted to critical evaluations of Ezenwa-Ohaeto's work and to contemporary perspectives on Nigerian literature respectively.
The book is divided into six sections. "In Memoriam" contains personal tributes by long-standing colleagues, mentors and friends. "Poetry and Fiction" collects the voices of three generations of Nigerian writing from the 1960s to the present day, followed by poetic and pictorial insights into the domestic and social life of the scholar and family man. Section Four comprises two interviews, while Sections Five and Six are devoted to critical evaluations of Ezenwa-Ohaeto's work and to contemporary perspectives on Nigerian literature respectively.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Leiden
Netherlands
Publishing group
Brill
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
730 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-420-2168-6 (9789042021686)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Contributors: Toyin Adewale-Gabriel, Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, Susan Arndt, Eckhard Breitinger, Isidore Diala, Sule E. Egya, Ernest N. Emenyonu, Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto, Ngozi Ezenwa-Ohaeto, Chukwuemeka Ike, Lyn Innes, Esiaba Irobi, Okinba Launko (Femi Osofisan), Bernth Lindfors, Kahiudi Claver Mabana, Patrice Nganang, J.O.J. Nwachukwu-Agbada, Obi Nwakanma, Odia Ofeimun, Obododimma Oha, Tanure Ojaide, Gabriel Okara, Tejumola Olaniyan, Paul O. Onovoh, Ogochukwu Promise, Aderemi Raji-Oyelade, Frank Schulze-Engler, Chika Unigwe, Chantal Zabus
Content
Illustrations
Frontispiece
Preface
EZENWA-OHAETO: Raising a Chant
SECTION 1: IN MEMORIAM
Bernth LINDFORS: Ezenwa-Ohaeto (1958-2005): Obituary
Eckhard BREITINGER: In Memoriam Ezenwa-Ohaeto
Ernest N. EMENYONU: Gone Too Soon! Thoughts at Ezenwa-Ohaeto's Graveside on 23 December 2005
Remi RAJI: The Last Conversation: "When the village cock dies..."
SECTION 2: POETRY & FICTION
Gabriel OKARA: We Shared
Okinba LAUNKO: Once Again, a Familiar Song
Tanure OJAIDE: The Minstrel Wails
Odia OFEIMUN: Sermon of a King Hornsman
Esiaba IROBI: Elegy for Ezenwa-Ohaeto
Akachi ADIMORA-EZEIGBO: Shadow of Death
Ogochukwu PROMISE: Elegy: Tribute to Ezenwa-Ohaeto
Obododimma OHA : Destinations
Chika UNIGWE: Sugar in My Bowl
Toyin ADEWALE-GABRIEL: Stuttgart Blues
SECTION 3: THE MAN, THE MINSTREL, THE MOMENT
Chinua EZENWA-OHAETO: Three Poems
Ngozi EZENWA-OHAETO: The Chants are Forever
EZENWA IN PICTURES
SECTION 4: INTERVIEWS
Paul O. ONOVOH: Interview with Ezenwa-Ohaeto on the Publication of the Biography of Chinua Achebe
Paul O. ONOVOH: Ezenwa-Ohaeto as I knew him. Ihe ahu ka na enwu kwa! / The Light still lights the path
Paul O. ONOVOH: Of Courage and Resilience: An Interview with Ezenwa-Ohaeto
SECTION 5: EZENWA-OHAETO: CRITICAL EVALUATIONS
Chantal ZABUS: Informed Consent: Ezenwa-Ohaeto between Past and Future Uses of Pidgin
Obododimma OHA: Shepherding the Chants Home: Language and Mmanwu Minstrelsy in Ezenwa-Ohaeto's Poetry
J.O.J. NWACHUKWU-AGBADA: Ezenwa-Ohaeto: Poet of the Njakiri Genre
Sule E. EGYA: The Minstrel as Social Critic: A Reading of Ezenwa-Ohaeto's The Chants of a Minstrel
SECTION 6: CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES ON NIGERIAN LITERATURE
Lyn INNES: Chinua Achebe and the Creation of a Democratic Novel
Susan ARNDT: Paradigms of an Intertextual Dialogue: 'Race' and Gender in Nigerian Literature
Kahiudi CLAVER MABANA: Leopold S. Senghor, Birago Diop et Chinua Achebe: Maitres de la parole
Patrice NGANANG: Le roman des detritus
Tejumola OLANIYAN: Femi Osofisan: Revisionary Notes on Familial Relations
Frank SCHULZE-ENGLER: Civil Society and the Struggle for Democratic Transition in Modern Nigerian Drama: Ken Saro-Wiwa's The Transistor Radio and Wole Soyinka's From Zia, with Love
Aderemi RAJI-OYELADE : Representational Exposures: The Album of Nigerian Women's Poetry (1985-2006)
Isidore DIALA: Nigeria and the Poetry of Travails: The Niger Delta in the Poetry of Uche Umez
Obi NWAKANMA: Okigbo Agonistes: Postcolonial Subjectivity in "Limits" and "Distances"
Chukwuemeka IKE: Contemporary Nigerian Youth and the Reading Culture
APPENDIX
Christine MATZKE and Obiwu, with Marcela KNAPP: A Checklist of Ezenwa-Ohaeto's Creative and Critical Writings
EZENWA-OHAETO: The Post Chant
Notes on Contributors and Editors
Notes for Contributors
Frontispiece
Preface
EZENWA-OHAETO: Raising a Chant
SECTION 1: IN MEMORIAM
Bernth LINDFORS: Ezenwa-Ohaeto (1958-2005): Obituary
Eckhard BREITINGER: In Memoriam Ezenwa-Ohaeto
Ernest N. EMENYONU: Gone Too Soon! Thoughts at Ezenwa-Ohaeto's Graveside on 23 December 2005
Remi RAJI: The Last Conversation: "When the village cock dies..."
SECTION 2: POETRY & FICTION
Gabriel OKARA: We Shared
Okinba LAUNKO: Once Again, a Familiar Song
Tanure OJAIDE: The Minstrel Wails
Odia OFEIMUN: Sermon of a King Hornsman
Esiaba IROBI: Elegy for Ezenwa-Ohaeto
Akachi ADIMORA-EZEIGBO: Shadow of Death
Ogochukwu PROMISE: Elegy: Tribute to Ezenwa-Ohaeto
Obododimma OHA : Destinations
Chika UNIGWE: Sugar in My Bowl
Toyin ADEWALE-GABRIEL: Stuttgart Blues
SECTION 3: THE MAN, THE MINSTREL, THE MOMENT
Chinua EZENWA-OHAETO: Three Poems
Ngozi EZENWA-OHAETO: The Chants are Forever
EZENWA IN PICTURES
SECTION 4: INTERVIEWS
Paul O. ONOVOH: Interview with Ezenwa-Ohaeto on the Publication of the Biography of Chinua Achebe
Paul O. ONOVOH: Ezenwa-Ohaeto as I knew him. Ihe ahu ka na enwu kwa! / The Light still lights the path
Paul O. ONOVOH: Of Courage and Resilience: An Interview with Ezenwa-Ohaeto
SECTION 5: EZENWA-OHAETO: CRITICAL EVALUATIONS
Chantal ZABUS: Informed Consent: Ezenwa-Ohaeto between Past and Future Uses of Pidgin
Obododimma OHA: Shepherding the Chants Home: Language and Mmanwu Minstrelsy in Ezenwa-Ohaeto's Poetry
J.O.J. NWACHUKWU-AGBADA: Ezenwa-Ohaeto: Poet of the Njakiri Genre
Sule E. EGYA: The Minstrel as Social Critic: A Reading of Ezenwa-Ohaeto's The Chants of a Minstrel
SECTION 6: CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES ON NIGERIAN LITERATURE
Lyn INNES: Chinua Achebe and the Creation of a Democratic Novel
Susan ARNDT: Paradigms of an Intertextual Dialogue: 'Race' and Gender in Nigerian Literature
Kahiudi CLAVER MABANA: Leopold S. Senghor, Birago Diop et Chinua Achebe: Maitres de la parole
Patrice NGANANG: Le roman des detritus
Tejumola OLANIYAN: Femi Osofisan: Revisionary Notes on Familial Relations
Frank SCHULZE-ENGLER: Civil Society and the Struggle for Democratic Transition in Modern Nigerian Drama: Ken Saro-Wiwa's The Transistor Radio and Wole Soyinka's From Zia, with Love
Aderemi RAJI-OYELADE : Representational Exposures: The Album of Nigerian Women's Poetry (1985-2006)
Isidore DIALA: Nigeria and the Poetry of Travails: The Niger Delta in the Poetry of Uche Umez
Obi NWAKANMA: Okigbo Agonistes: Postcolonial Subjectivity in "Limits" and "Distances"
Chukwuemeka IKE: Contemporary Nigerian Youth and the Reading Culture
APPENDIX
Christine MATZKE and Obiwu, with Marcela KNAPP: A Checklist of Ezenwa-Ohaeto's Creative and Critical Writings
EZENWA-OHAETO: The Post Chant
Notes on Contributors and Editors
Notes for Contributors