Aesthetic Portrayal of Food in Contemporary African Poetry

Abstract

Contemporary African poets have artistically projected the importance of African food into modern African literature; this representation has popularised and promoted some African meals by giving them global recognition. However, the portrayal of food in African literature, especially within poetry, has little or no scholarly consideration. This is the critical lacuna that this study attempts to fill. This study, therefore, examines the literary aestheticism of food in some African poems with a view to establishing that the import of food in African poetry promotes the nourishment value of African dishes, projects the admiration of African food, and widens the propagation of these dishes beyond African shores. The study employs purposive sampling of three African poems as its data. They are Olúwáṣeun Olútúnbí’s “Àmàlà Dúdú”, John Onyeme’s “Akpu, African Food” and Oyin Olúdípẹ̀’s “Ìkọ́kọrẹ́ (Water Yam Porridge)”. These texts are subjected to critical textual analysis. The analysis will be influenced by Brad Kessler’s model of Gastronomic Theory of literature as its theoretical framework. The essence of Gastronomic Theory is to establish the poetic devices that intrinsically orchestrate the various literary aesthetics through the import of food in the primary texts; it will also undergird the findings. Significantly, the findings reveal that the aesthetics of admiration, nourishment, and nostalgia emanate from the import of food in the selected African poems. Findings have also shown that the import of food in African poetry is a rich and multifaceted concept that reveals deep insights into the individual, social and communal contexts of African continent. Portrayal of food in African poetry, therefore, is an essential ointment to popularize African cuisine beyond the shores of Africa.

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