e-poets Plain Text: Poetry across frontiers (08)

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Poetry across frontiers (08)

response from Johannesburg, South Africa

John Paul,

First of all, thanks for the response. I must admit it kind of threw me off-guard; a bit too much to think about first thing in the morning. You highlighted something that we continue to struggle with, particularly in Africa. Within a historical context, we have always looked to "western civilisation" for answers to our future and this has eroded certain portions of the diverse and rich cultures that exist throughout this continent. In South Africa, the recent struggle and political environment has affected the people, and therefore, poetry, immensely. As I am not a South African, I have found that I am able to view developments from a more unbiased perspective.

Anyway, getting back to the point. You are truly accurate in your assessment of the influence of the US on the rest of the world. It is an obstacle we all have to overcome globally. I personally believe that the best judgement for anything is whether it is quality or not. A regurgitation of someone else's style, content, etc is simply poor imitation. All of us here are greatly influenced by US poetry from what we see on TV, hear on radio and discover on the Net. I guess our responsibility is to gain from what we understand and discard the aspects that are irrelevant to us. Basically, what you were saying about adapting the best aspects. It is a long road to travel but overall I believe that there are people out there who are challenging themselves to expand on the current reality. I, sure as hell, am going to do my best to put Africa a step further on the poetry map.

Regards,
- Kojo Baffoe

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