Our Group realized that the poets personal lives are closely tied to their writing, and that to understand the meaning of the authors writing you must know the background and the motive of the writer. So closely linked that it is impossible to glean any meaning from the writings until you look into the background and include the time and condition under which the words were written. Who, what, where, when and why are all questions that need to be answered about the writers of these poems. We noticed the writers we have read have a few common threads. They are all men and they were born in a place that was colonized by a foreign country also they were either sent away to be educated by the same people who were colonizing their country or their education had a strong western influence. In Africa especially, many different foreign countries colonized and in some cases terrorized the natives of that land. Literature comes from the author/s working through the conflicts that arise from living in that particular situation. The writer sees himself as a voice for his society and literature is the medium by which it is heard. We will attempt to show that intimacy of the poet to their poetry.
Angola Augustino Neto South Africa Dennis Brutus; Mazisi Kunene; Keorapetse Kgositsile
Senegal Leopold Sedar Senghor
World Lit 2014 