Depictions of Resilience in Selected Poems by Susan Kiguli And Stella Nyanzi

Abstract

The study's fundamental goal is to establish how Susan Kiguli and Stella Nyanzi depict resilience in selected poems. Specifically, the research examines the different forms of resilience and the styles used to depict these forms in selected poems. This qualitative research is underpinned by the interpretivism paradigm to understand the multiple realities presented by each phenomenon, as presented by each poem studied. This study adopts a descriptive design that involves an analysis of a single character, situation, or case presented in the selected poems. This research is guided by two objectives: To examine the different forms of resilience in selected poems by Susan Kiguli and Stella Nyanzi, and to establish how the selected poems by Susan Kiguli and Stella Nyanzi depict resilience. The findings of this study reveal three forms of resilience: Intellectual, historical and cultural, as well as psychological resilience. Furthermore, the findings show that the two poets use similar devices to depict the theme of resilience: symbolism, irony, personification, allegory, satire, simile, imagery, rhetorical questions, and ellipsis. The two poets‟ point of departure is in their diction, where Kiguli uses civility and Nyanzi uses Vulgarity to express the traumatic encounters that characters face. This study establishes that Nyanzi rides on her license bestowed by her Ganda culture, which allows her to use language as she deems fit to articulate her concerns. This means which leads to such extreme representation, is born out of hegemony, patriarchy, and politics of assumption and betrayal; hence, the need for resilience. I note that trauma suppresses the urgent need for testimony because it destabilizes speech, leading to either a fragmented witness or a repetition of words or sentences in a stressful attempt to bear testimony, which leads to repetition of traumatic episodes. The study recommends that the government should prioritize the welfare of all its prisoners, irrespective of whether they are law offenders or victims of poor governance, humanely. It should guard against radical violence by safeguarding both physical and emotional spaces. This is on the backdrop that prisons are meant to serve a rehabilitative role to citizens.. that to understand one‟s writing style, one ought to do well by studying their background. Trauma