Anthropomorphism as a Tool for Environmental Discourse in Niyi Osundare’s Selected Poetry Collections

Abstract

Environmentally conscious African writers are devising ways to push ecological concerns in their works. This paper examines the aesthetic of anthropomorphism in selected poems of Osundare to understand how the poet imbues non-human nature with human qualities. Osundare’s poetry collections, Green: Sighs of Our Planet (Osundare 2021) and City Without People: The Katrina Poems (Osundare 2011) are purposefully selected to explore how the poet employs the aesthetics of humanization to depict the interconnectedness between human actions and environmental conditions. The theoretical framework of ecocriticism, which links literary works and environmental concerns, is deployed in the analysis of the selected poems. The study finds that Osundare leverages the African cultural belief in the spirituality of non-human nature to invest nature elements with human qualities. It concludes that the selected poet’s engagement with the aesthetic of anthropomorphism enables the depiction of a humanized environment to bring empathy, emphasizing the need for sustainable environmental practices to mitigate climate change and preserve biodiversity.