DISENCHANTMENT AND THE ART OF RESISTANCE: THE OGAGA IFOWODO’S MODEL

Abstract

This paper argues that disenchantment occasioned by dissatisfaction
with the political, economic, social, and environmental conditions of
a society leads to resistance. The paper relies on the postcolonial
theory and makes illustrations from six poems taken from Madiba
(2003) and seven from A Good Mourning (2016). The explication of
the movement from disenchantment to resistance reveals that
remembering is the most important asset that the resistance forces
lean on to equate the better past with the agony of the present.
Findings reveal that through the tropes of lack, deprivation,
oppression, dislocation and regret, the seed of disenchantment is
sown among a suppressed people. The art of resistance includes the
ideas of preparation, self-imposed exile, formation of an ideological
base for the resistance and resilience in the midst of loss and betrayal.
Counter resistance, which is the reaction of the hegemonic forces, is
developed through the themes of banishment, mass arrests and
imprisonment. The paper concludes that the enduring spirit of
resistance is rewarded with hope, victory and the remediation of the
environment for a better life. Disenchantment and resistance are
tools that any oppressed people will use to shape and rejuvenate the
society for a better life for any oppressed people.