Language, Translation, and Poetic Realities

The Poetry (Àfàìmò Àti Àwon Àròfò Mìíràn) of Akínwùmí Ìsòlá

Akinloyè Òjó

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2026
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781501390630
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: African Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

Akínwùmí Ìsòlá (1940–2018), renowned writer, scholar, and sentinel of indigenous African languages, contributed to the development of Yorùbá literary traditions by producing most of his literary works in Yorùbá.

His artistic pacesetting in Yorùbá literature included his anthology, Àfàìmò Àti Àwon Àròfò Mìíràn (1978), which contains poems composed over a significant period in his life. Language, Translation, and Poetic Realities considers Ìsòlá's language use in this anthology; his contributions to the promotion of Yorùbá and African linguistic and cultural values; and the procedures, benefits, and challenges of translating his poetry into English.

In so doing, Akinloyè Òjó examines the understudied relationship between African oral traditions and contemporary African literature, addressing in particular the influential role of traditional forms of praise-singing in contemporary Yorùbá poetry.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle Page
• Dedication Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword by Akintunde Akinyemi
• 1 Language, Translation, and Poetic Realities (LTPR): An Introduction
• Part One: Akínwùmí Ìṣọ̀lá and His Poetry
• Part Two: Akínwùmí Ìṣọ̀lá’s Language Dexterity
• Part Three: Akínwùmí Ìṣọ̀lá’s Poetry Rendered in English
• Notes
• References
• Appendix. Supplementary Material—Two Secondary Collections
• Index
• Imprint