SOURCE: Ofuani, Ogo A. “The Form and Function of Repetition in Okot p'Bitek's Poetry.”¹ META 31, no. 3 (September 1986): 300-13.

In the following essay, Ofuani discusses the emotional effects of repetition in p'Bitek's poetic monologues.

Okot p'Bitek needs no introduction on the African literary scene. His songs under consideration here are Song of Lawino, Song of Ocol and Two Songs (Song of Prisoner, Song of Malaya)². They are all dramatic monologues—one-speaker poems in which the conflicts, confrontations, etc., are presented consistently from the point of view of the speaker.

Repetitions abound in p'Bitek's pœms. This is one of the observations a careful reader makes on initial reading. Such repetitions are considered rhetorical devices in the texts because they are of significant stylistic importance to the monologuers as they try to persuade us to adopt their viewpoints, to inform us, to achieve imaginative consent, and to engage our interests...