Humour as an Aesthetico Existential Strategy in Third Generation Modern Nigerian Poetry

Abstract

The emergence of any generation of poets, at least since the moderns, has been characterized by a lot of controversies. In Modern Nigerian Poetry, the incarnation of the third generation has its own slant of controversies. Burdened by the lack of a formidable, vibrant critical presence at home and challenged by the dominant standards of powerful precursors, there have been doubts about the emergence of a third generation in Modern Nigerian Poetry. Given that each generation should be defined by some peculiarities, it has been asked, what the defining aesthetic features of this generation are? This paper critically affirms the emergence of the third generation of modern Nigerian poets within the context of Nigerian literary history. The paper identifies and interrogates Humour as a particular quality which typifies the poetry this generation.

Keywords: Generationalism, Nigerian Poetry, Humour, Aesthetics, Existentialism