Textualization of History in Poems from East Africa by Cook and Rubadiri

Abstract

<jats:p>Using new historicism, this paper examines textualization of history in selected poems from Cook and Rubadiri anthology, Poems from East Africa (1971). A textual analysis of poems with titles that encompass appellations of real humans, such as Martin Luther King and Yatuta Chisiza, and places, such as Vietnam and Angola,  have been selected in order to compare how history and historicization has been undertaken in poetry. History and historicization are examined as twin elements that ambivalently help readers in understanding the context and inspiration of the poets in the selected poems for this study. The reading established that there is a one to one correlation between the messages contained in the texts (poems) and the historicities surrounding such creations. It also established that the personalities in the poems: Martin Luther King, Yatuta Chisiza, Major Christopher Okigbo, inter alia, fought for causes that, to this day, afflict humanity as a whole. The reading also found that wars such as was the war in Vietnam, Angola, Maji Maji  Revolt, and many more, mirror the current wars in various parts of the world.</jats:p>