Niger Delta Poetry: Trauma, Blues and Bibliotherapy

Abstract

Poets from the Niger Delta region of Nigeria explore the devastating effect of oil capitalism and its traumatic manifestations on the emotions and psyches of the region’s indigenes. Beyond the depiction of psychological trauma, some of the poets deploy a characteristic rhythm that is capable of facilitating psychotherapy. Although studies on Niger Delta poetry have acknowledged issues of minority discourse, ecological despoliation and the politics of dispossession, they seem to overlook the exploration of the people’s psychological responses to the destructions induced by the oil companies. This study, therefore, examines the psychotherapeutic merit in the blues-like rhythm of Niger Delta poetry within the ambit of bibliotherapy. Poems in three poetry collections were selected through purposive sampling and were critically analysed. The collections, Ibiwari Ikiriko’s Oily Tears of the Delta, Ebi Yeibo’s The Forbidden Tongue and Ebinyo Ogbowi Song of a Dying River, were evaluated using the Trauma Model.