A Stylistic Analysis Of Okot P’ Bitek’s Song Of Lawino Song of Ogol and Song of Prisoner

Abstract

This stuay was inspired by the feeling that crItics of East Afrlcan literature have not given OKot P'Bltek and his works' sufficien attentIon. This I felt was unfortunate because p'Bitek is not only our leadIng poet in East Africa but also one of the foremost poets in Africa . Even where critics have dlscussed his work, I still felt there was an anomaly in that so far, attention has been directed toward the themes rather than the style. To correct this bias, this thesis attempts a stylistic analysis of Okot p'Bitek's Song of Lawino Song of Ocol ans song of Prisoner. To do this effectively we have adopted a stylistic theoretlcal framework. Concurring with such Styllstic critics ana theoreticians as Emmanuel Ngara and Ernst fischer. I have argued the case for the inseparability of style and content. The special appeal of a stylistIc theory in this study is that it enables us to take cognizance of the salient themes in the poems as I analyse their style. The thesis runs into three chapters. In chapter one entltied "Okot p'Bitek : A Literary and Intellectual Biography" we outline some of the biographical, intellectual. social and hIstorical factors that may have a bearing on the style of the poem under study. My view is that style is a product of both historical and social factors. The Impact on the reader of any lIterary work ultimately depends on the work's abilityty to communlcate. Language is the foremost expressive device in literature and in chapter two of this study, I focus on the poet's creative use of language. I partIcularly look at the poet's use of imagery and symbollsm. This is important partIcularly in the study of poetry whIch more than any other genre of literature relies on the skillful exploitation of Linquistic resources tor the realisation of its meaning. Chapter three; my last chapter, brIefly looks at the structure of p'Bltek's poems. I attempt to show how the structure relates to the narratIve technIque or digression. I argue that the poet uses the tecnnique of digression to counter the limitatIons of the extended monologue structure of his poems. In the last palt at the chapter', I look at the allegatIon that digresslon is a distracting and fragmentIng narratIve technique. Our analysis is premised on the theoretlbal contruct of a text which holds that a lIterary work must hold togcthel as a whole. I highlight the technical and Stylistic features Which the poet deliberately employs to ensure that his works remain cohesive and therefore creditable works of art. In the concluslon I highligt the main flndlngs of the study . I conclude that although P'Bitek exhibit flexibility at the thematic level. styllstlcally he continues to draw inspiration from traditional literary forms and technical modes.