Charles Nelson Okumu
Department of Languages and Literature, Gulu University
Abstract
Okot p’Bitek, born in 1931, midway through the British colonial rule in Uganda (1900-1962), is an internationally renowned poet, polemic writer and cultural activist. From an early age Okot imbibed Acoli culture from his parents who, though converts in the Protestant Church in Gulu, continued to practice their Acoli culture. This article explores the creative use of the structure and poetic features of orality as resources in his literary writing. My study of his creative writings is underpinned by an autoethnographic theoretical framework. The main research tool is document analysis focusing on the two texts: Lak Tar Miyo Kinyero iwi Lobo and Wer pa Lawino and its English version, Song of Lawino. My literary analyses of the texts confirm that they are embedded in the rich Acoli cultural resources. Okot’s upbringing in a family that was culturally active provided him with resources including Acoli oral narratives and proverbs from his father and the song genre from his mother who was a great composer-singer. He harnessed these resources through his formal study in anthropology at Oxford University (1960-3).
Keywords: Acoli, Cultural Resources, Creativity, Autoethnography
The singer may be dead but if the song is good, it will live on. (Professor Margaret Macpherson’s Eulogy at Okot’s funeral, 1982).
Introduction
Okot p’Bitek, born in 1931, midway through the British colonial rule in Uganda (1900-1962), is an internationally renowned poet, polemic writer and cultural activist. His formation is a blend of informal education under the guidance of his parents and formal schooling, which started in Gulu Primary (1938-1944) and continued in Gulu High School (1945-7) both run by the Church Missionary Society (CMS). He received ‘European’ education in King’s College Budo in Buganda (1948-1950); Mbarara in Ankole (1951-3); Aberystwyth in Wales (October 1957-June 1960); Bristol (October 1956-June 1957) and Oxford (October 1960-June 1963) in England. Okot’s Oxford education came at a time when he was more mature in Acoli cultural knowledge and this maturity was further enriched as a result of his social and cultural anthropological education at Oxford. The fieldwork for his B.Litt Thesis in Social Anthropology: ‘Oral Literature and its Social Background among the Acholi and Lango’ (1963) exposed him more thoroughly to the rich oral literature (orature) resources of the Acoli people. His anthropological training allowed him to take another perspective on his own culture, to appreciate more fully the value of his heritage and to draw on it as a resource.