Malay Roychoudhury : Hungryalist Legend & Pioneer Anti-Establishment in Bengal : Abhijit Pal

Omolola Odunowo Protest literature refers to works that address real socio-political issues and express objection against them. Most African nations gained their independence in the 1950’s to 1960’s with liberation and an increased literacy. However, before this time, many African writers and poets suffered greatly and were compelled to cast aside their artistic vocations in order to be involved in the liberation straggles of their people. The tradition of protest poetry in Nigeria began with Christopher Okigbo’s “Path of thunder” which marked the first significant step by any Nigerian literary poet. Christopher Okigbo was however killed in the 1960’s civil war in Nigeria. To understand the ever evolving African poetics, there should be an awareness of the socio-political significance of the African literary expression. Mr Sam Awa from the University of Lagos’ Department of English states that African literature is protest in nature as it stems from the react...

Terms of protest A writer has two chief weapons against the state: To write, and to refuse or return awards from the establishment. Written by Ashutosh Bhardwaj Why should an artist protest against the state? What can be the methods and legitimate grounds, if any, for this protest? Three senior writers have returned their Sahitya Akademi awards, saying that the state has failed to protect the freedom of speech and rights of minorities. The Akademi finds their protest “illogical” and urges them to remain apolitical as “there is no convention that the Akademi should take a stand on such issues”. The Akademi overlooks that literature, in itself, is an act of protest. The written word, as it confronts the world and its politics and aspires to lend a voice to the unheard, constitutes an essen...