Nourishing the Land of the Brave: A critical analysis of Mvula Ya Nangolo’s anthology of poems

Abstract

This study examined Ya Nangolo’s poems using selected strategies from critical discourse analysis (CDA) and rhetorical analysis. The study aimed to investigate how Ya Nangolo used his poems to persuasively communicate to his anticipated readers. The study found that Ya Nangolo skillfully uses language to tap into every aspect of human life during the colonial era. Ya Nangolo contributes to literature as a genre and to historical moments that are shared by most Namibians through texts or monuments. His poems are declarative in nature, which indicates the certainty of Mvula Ya Nangolo’s experience of war and his wishes for peace. Additionally, the poems carry a very critical political function as well as identity in poetry. The use of both CDA and rhetorical analysis helped reveal the underlying ideological points of view, prejudice and how Ya Nangolo’s anthology of poems undermine the exercise of power using the literary text as a weapon. Ya Nangolo’s uses of metaphors tell a story of people affected by colonial system in Namibia and convince the readers that it was not an easy walk to independence. The use of such poetic devices as repetition, rhyme and rhythm makes the poems ring in the reader’s mind long after they would have been read.