AFRICA BY DAVID DIOP(A LITERARY CRITICISM)

Course: English 15- Afro-Asian Literature

Sectio: BSED III                                                     

Rating:

AFRICA BY DAVID DIOP

(A Literary Criticism)

The Persona

            The persona in the poem “Africa” is a person from Africa (a black one) but is living in another country. This can be seen in the lines; “Africa my Africa, I have never known you but your blood flows in my veins”. You can sense how much he misses his homeland by his stress on the word Africa, and he continues to call it "My Africa" to emphasize that it is his land and his feelings of patriotism towards it.  I have also known the authors biography, stating that he is of West African descent and he lived in France throughout his childhood and only visited Africa in the 1950s. His choice of word “distant” from the line “On the banks of a distant river” again symbolize how far he is from his country. In some lines in the poem we may be able to know that the persona is a young one (maybe in his teens or early 20’s), from the verses “Africa whom my grandmother sings” As he stress that he did not know Africa until he heard it from his grandmother songs (his grandmother maybe telling him a story from Africa to satisfy his cleverness since for me he is a child), and “Impetuous child that tree, young and strong”.

The Theme

            The theme for me would be “patriotism”, again understanding the poem in biographical perspectives most of the authors poems highlighted the problems of Africa brought about by the colonialism. In this poem he gave a message to African people to urge and bring about the change & freedom in verses; “Is this your back that is unbent, this back that never breaks under the weights of humiliation, This back trembling w/ red scars and saying yes to the whip of under the midday sun”. These lines encourage the African people to stand up to the pain and humiliation that they are experiencing in their own land. He then reminds them of the strength and pride they have in them, despite of the suffering he urges them to remain unbent and must not this break them despite the weight of their suffering.

                    

Critical Insights

            I think the best approach we could use is the Historical Approach. To better understand the poem we do have to dig deeper to the history of the Africa during the colonial era, where the author came from, and whom the poem is addressed. Based on the country’s history the African people suffer and experienced slavery and forced labor brought about by colonialism. With this we may be able to understand why the author wrote some lines of anger and accusatory; “Your beautiful black blood that irrigates the fields, the blood of your sweat, the sweat of your work, the work of your slavery”. There he stresses that it is the blood and sweat of his people that irrigates the fields for the benefit of other people (the colonialist). He is pointing fingers to the colonialist who exploited the black people and used them as slaves to profit from their hard labor.

Reflection

            It is indeed a very nice poem. For me this serves as a wake-up call, not just to the African but also for everyone who continues to live in oppression. I admire the fact that it does not encourage the oppressed people to pursue the act of violence in order attain freedom. There he stressed the importance of patience, and suggest everyone to be calm and be wise enough. Like the old adage saying that it is better to wait, prepare and be ready before going into a battle, rather than fought a fight in a hurry and experience defeat in the end (simply because you are not ready). Another thing I admire in this poem is that it encourages us especially the Africans to be an optimistic person. That slavery, problems and challenges are only a path to better enjoy the sweet and sour taste of success and freedom.