Old Roots, new routes: following the troubadour in the poetry of Dennis Brutus

Abstract

Literary critics routinely associate the poetry of the South African writer Dennis Brutus (1924–2009) with the medieval European figure of the troubadour. This article examines the presence of this image in his poetry, both as a motif and as a poetic persona, and explores the reasons why he chose to use the troubadour. It also investigates to what extent Brutus remains faithful to historical accounts of the troubadours and their defining characteristics, and how he transforms these romantic figures from another time and place to suit his own poetic objectives. I contend that Brutus’s use of the troubadour persona is fraught with tensions and contradictions, and I discuss some of the criticism that his deployment of the troubadour figure has attracted. Even though the choice of this persona is in some ways problematic, for both cultural and political reasons, any assessment of Brutus’s poetry cannot ignore its presence. The troubadour remains a vital aspect of the thinking that informed and inspired his writing.

Keywords: Dennis Brutus, troubadour, South African protest poetry