FIGURATION OF VULNERABLE LIVES IN THE POETRY OF SOPHIA OBI AND MABEL EVWIERHOMA

Abstract

This essay explores how the two poets employ various devices to represent the vulnerable lives in the poetry of Sophia Obi and Mabel Evwierhoma. The concept of vulnerability is employed to portray individuals in society who are marginalized and oppressed thus making them victims of society. The essay uses analytic method to read the two poetry collections studied. These are Obi’s Tears in a Basket and Evwierhoma’s Solitude and Other Chants. The theory of postcolonial alterity is used to read the various poems. The findings are that these two female poets unveil the pain and precarity of the downtrodden. Three classes of vulnerable individuals are presented. They include the vulnerable Niger Delta environment, the vulnerable daughters in society and the vulnerable poor in Nigeria. these form the crux of this essay who need urgent attention to rescue them from their predicament.