In our last column, we had an interesting discussion based on a critical review of one of Alfred Mukanaka’s poem from his newly published book of vernacular verse, ‘Amakalata’ in Ici-Bemba,which our translation renders as ‘Letters’ in the English tongue. It was rather deliberate that we did not discussany poetic devices employed in the poembecause we paid much attention to the themes in his verse, ‘Africa.’ We raised two issues about Africa’s predicament which bordered on either Africa being perceived as an idea on one hand and as an ideal on the other hand. We supported the thought that Africa should be anembodiment of all that we long for and the good we ought to see in her continued development, which indeed is the ideal; a corrupt -free Africa—rather than simply an idea inherent in sentimental polemics by her intelligentsia and political protagonists.
The negation of the ideal, we argued, had more to do with Africa’s failure to produce credible leadership in her political and intellectual persuasions. Although one must mention that there are some exceptions to this unfortunate rule.We reasoned that the roots of Africa as an idea are rooted in the negritude movement of 1930-60s championed by eminent literary figures of the likes of the poet-president of Senegal, Leopold Sedar Senghor and AimeCesaire of MartiniqueIsland including other poets from Franco-phone Africa: David Diop, Birago Diop and others. We may return to this conversation in future columns but for now let us consider the literary style of Mukanaka’s poetry. Here is ‘Africa’ for a start:
Africa, ulichishala (a)
Apasangwaimito ne fimbaala (a)
Apasangwaamashi ne fiseekwafyamise. (b)
Africa, ataa see! (b)
Imandayawamapo (c)
Pantutubikamofyeimbokoshiimo epela, mwashikapo! (c)
Africa, niweselamunshilampite. (d)
Imyakaubwingi, waikala pamo kwaticiite! (d)
Africa,abantuyawe-yawebaletapululaifyuma (e)
Nawikalabusheutiinauluuma? (e)
Africa,bushetaulasumukananomba? (f)
Africa,bushetaumfwansonishakulomba –lomba? (f)
Africa,impangaubukulu (g)
Bushe mwaisula fye amafwesa ne fyulu? (g)
Africa,bushecaalochaming’omba (f)
Ilyafyetaibomba (f)
Africa,niciniwemaayo na taata (h)
Aubacibusa nga nalikupata! (h)
There is a deliberate pattern in this poem and I think the poet could have been aware of it at its conception.We canidentify patterns of meter, line length, the length of a poemand a rhyme scheme, which is a set pattern of rhymes. For purposes of learning we will assign each sound a letter as can be seen in the parentheses above. Each letter corresponds to a rhyme sound, for example, letter ‘a’ indicates the rhyme sounds of‘chishala,’‘fimbala,’ while ‘b’ denotes ‘mise’ and ‘see’ (pronounced as in the expression ‘per se’ and not ‘forsee’ as in ‘I can see you.’)The letters run right down indicating the sounds that correspond to them except in stanza three where lines three and four aredesignated with the letter ‘f’ for sounds ‘chaming’omba and ‘taibomba’which echo the soundsin stanza two, lines five and six where sounds ‘nomba’ and ‘shakulomba- lomba’are used. We can actually conclude that the poem’s rhyme is ‘aabbddeeffggffhh.’ The poem follows a certain form using stanzas. A stanza is a group of lines set apart from other group of lines although sometimes this does not apply particularly in free verse where units of thought are more pronounced. In our poem there are three stanzas. Now, let us look at the translated edition for the sake of none-Bemba speakers.
[Africa you’re a damp heap
Where ashes and left-over foods are found
Where dregs of brew and canes are damped
Africa, Phew!
A grave is better than you
Where the casket is lain and buried
Because we put in only one coffin and cover it
Africa, you are the let-me- pass object
So many years of immobility like the disabled
Africa, the nonentities are taking away your wealth
Unconcerned, are you afraid of assaults?
Africa, aren’t you weaned yet?
Africa, are you not ashamed of constant begging?
Africa, how vast the land!
Are you only full of insect mounts and anthills?
Africa, are you the land of the hornbills
That only eat without doing any work
Africa, you’re my mother and father,
If you were a friend, I’d hate you]
Mukanaka uses profoundly rich Bemba idiomatic expressions most of which are fast running out in daily speech. Look, for instance, at the expression ‘Africa, ataa see!’ transcribed as ‘Africa, Phew!’ This expression is used to demean, to denounce or degrade somebody or something.Consider too the local images of ‘amashi,’ ‘fiseekwafyamise’ what onewould call the after-sip images because ‘amashi’ is what one throws out when sipping the local brew with a straw. ‘Katubi’ or local brew is made of fermented millet; ‘ifisekwa’is what you would get after chewing sugar cane or asweet maize stock.In our English rendering both have been referred to as dregs. There are also fine rural landscape images of ‘amafwesa ne fyulu’ or insect mounds and anthills. I am familiar with both English and vernacular verse by Mukanaka and I think I would be right if I said that he is more comfortable in his intensely rich-vernacular expressions than he is in a borrowed tongue. Let us now turn to a second poem, ‘PafwaBaantu, PashalaBaantu’ or ‘Some People die, Others Remain.’
Africa, impangayampalume
Nshitiina nagu mungume
Nsilila nagu umoafwe
Ifyafwile Ba Mwansa Kapwepwe
Africa, nshakalekeukuilumba
Nangu mwipaye Ba Patrice Lumumba
Mwachepasaana, ekobalinabambi
Abeengiukucilaabasambi.
Africa, impangayabukata
Nga nafulwa, naanienganjikata?
Mwitiila Jomo Kenyataalifwa
Mzeeepoalimulibalupwa!
Africa, nimwemwaletamoulubuli
Paliimwetalelaala Albert Luthuli
Talelaala Oliver Tambo na Nelson Mandela
Bamwansa-kabinga, mwabanolwendela!
Africa, Samora Machel alifwa, nshilila
Impalumemunoshingi, takwabaabatucila
Mwilaba Joshua Nkomo, Kwame Nkrumah
Nanshila –ikampa, uwatumpayamusuma.
Africa, the land of the brave
I am not afraid even if I am beaten
I don’t mourn even if one dies
The way Mwansa Kapwpepwe died
Africa, I will never stop to brag
Even if you murder Patrice Lumumba
You’re too small, others are still there
More numerous than the disciples
Africa, the land of dignity
If I were to get annoyed, who’d dare?
Don’t say Jomo Kenyatta is dead
The old man is alive among his relations
Africa, it is you who have brought rivalry in us
Because of you AlbertLuthuli couldn’t sleep
Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela couldn’t sleep
Omen-carriers who dredge everywhere!
Africa, Samora Machel is dead, I don’t grieve
There’re still men of valor; we’ve no equals
Don’t forget Joshua Nkomo,Kwame Nkrumah
The majestic lionthatcan bite the naive]
I am at pains to adopt the English title equivalent of this verse because in Ci-Bemba it is much more expressive; the saying is richer and deeper. Mukanaka’s literary strength lies in his ability to draw inspiration from oral folklore traditions. There are, for example, two oral folklore sources for this poem. The first is about Mwansa-kabinga a lad who, according to the legend, found an oily and slippery creature trapped in a spiked hunter’s pit. Mwansa’s mistake was to stub it with a spear. The creatureslowly ‘leaked’ away filling the pit and out itwent spreadingto the whole village and as people scampered they were calling to one another: ‘Mwansa-kabinga atula itelela!’ literary- speaking,‘Mwansa (name of the lad) kabinga (trouble shooter but also used as a sir-name)has punctured or ‘atula,’ ‘itelela,’the creature’s name. There is an interesting play on words here: ‘atula’ or has punctured and ‘itelela’ (oily creature) strung together gives us the villager’s cry: ‘Mwansa-kabinga atuletelela’or ‘Mwansa-kabinga— the trouble maker— has brought trouble to the village.’ One gets this interesting word-play in the successive and quick rolling of the tongue.
In the last line of stanza five, there is a reference to ‘nanshila-ikampa,’ a legendary lion associated to a particular period in Bemba land which is fondly remembered for its ‘majestic walk’ or ‘ukuikampa.’ It is said to have been friendly and on meeting people it would disappear into the bush and reappear ahead of them in its imposing walk. Dear reader, there is more one can discover in Mukanaka’s verse which has a definiteecho—especially in its thematic treatment—of the classic volume of poetry ‘Africa kuti twabelela uluse lelotekuti tulabe’ or ‘Africa, we can forgive but we cannot forget’ by the later Simon Mwansa Kapwpepwe.We have not discussed any themes and may do so next week but it is clear as Africans have not yet faced up to the realities of the continent; our blame is still the four-hundred and fifty years of loss through slavery, colonialism and later capitalism and neo-colonialism. How about Africa’s own glaring imperfections?
You will do well, dear reader, to get a copy of Mukanaka’s book and read it. The Ministry of Education can, one would hope, adopt it for use in both secondary and tertiary institutions of our country.–ofpoetspoems@gmail.com–
