Volume-2, Issue-6, June 2026

Abstract

This research provides an in-depth analysis of the musical aspects of Mehdi Akhavan Sales' innovative poetry. Focusing on three main areas; external music (meters), lateral music (rhyme and radif), and internal music (sound and meaning), this article explores the role and importance of these elements in the structure and transmission of Akhavan's poetic  concepts. In particular, in the section on internal music, by providing definitions and examining the most frequently used verbal and spiritual devices, it is emphasized how they affect the message of the poem. The aim is to clarify the vital role of music in Akhavan's poetry as one of the most prominent contemporary Iranian poets. This research aims to answer the following questions using a descriptive-analytical method: 1- What meter and rhyme patterns are used in Akhavan Sales' free verse poems and how have these choices affected the external and accompanying music of his compositions? 2- How do the verbal and spiritual devices (internal music) in Akhavan Sales' poems contribute to the musical richness and the transmission of his deep poetic themes? The research findings indicate that Akhavan Sales, by creatively utilizing prosodic meters and also making innovative changes in rhyme and radif, has created a special music in the form of his free verse that distinguishes his poetic identity. The strategic use of widely used literary devices such as metaphor, simile, pun, and repetition in Akhavan's poems has not only contributed to the aesthetics of his words, but has also been an effective tool for transmitting his emotions, social, and philosophical themes.

Keywords: Mehdi Akhavan Sales, poetry music, meter, rhyme and radif, inner music.

References

[1] Natel Khanlari, P. (1988). Poetry Volume. Toos. 
[2] Akhavan Sales, M. (1980). Inventions and innovations and the gifts and encounters of Nimayushij (2nd ed.). Bozorg Mehr. 
[3] Akhavan Sales, M. (1972). Neighbor's Words. Dunya. 
[4] Akhavan Sales, M. (2002). Winter (17th ed.). Morvarid. 
[5] Akhavan Sales, M. (2000). From this Avesta (11th ed.). Morvarid. 
[6] Akhavan Sales, M. (2000). Arghanun (11th ed.). Morvarid. 
[7] Akhavan Sales, M. (1999). The End of the Shahnameh (14th ed.). Morvarid. 
[8] Akhavan Sales, M. (2002). Winter (17th ed.). Morvarid. 
[9] Akhavan Sales, M. (2000). From this Avesta (11th ed.). Morvarid. 
[10] Akhavan Sales, M. (2002). Winter (17th ed.). Morvarid. 
[11] Akhavan Sales, M. (2000). Arghanun (11th ed.). Morvarid. 
[12] Akhavan Sales, M. (1999). The End of the Shahnameh (14th ed.). Morvarid. 
[13] Akhavan Sales, M. (2000). Hell, but Cold (9th ed.). Winter. 
[14] Akhavan Sales, M. (2002). Winter (17th ed.). Morvarid. 
[15] Akhavan Sales, M. (1999). The End of the Shahnameh (14th ed.). Morvarid. 
[16] Akhavan Sales, M. (2000). From this Avesta (11th ed.). Morvarid. 
[17] Akhavan Sales, M. (1990). Life Says: But Still One Must Live... (9th ed.). Zamstan. 
[18] Vahidian Kamyar, T. (2025). Creativity from the Perspective of Aesthetics. Samt. 
[19] Akhavan Sales, M. (2002). Winter (17th ed.). Morvarid. 
[20] Akhavan Sales, M. (1999). The End of the Shahnameh (14th ed.). Morvarid. 
[21] Akhavan Sales, M. (2000). From this Avesta (11th ed.). Morvarid. 
[22] Akhavan Sales, M. (2000). Hell, but Cold (9th ed.). Winter. 
[23] Akhavan Sales, M. (2002). Winter (17th ed.). Morvarid. 
[24] Akhavan Sales, M. (1999). The End of the Shahnameh (14th ed.). Morvarid. 
[25] Akhavan Sales, M. (2000). From this Avesta (11th ed.). Morvarid. 
[26] Akhavan Sales, M. (1990). Life Says: But Still One Must Live... (9th ed.). Zamstan. 

Keywords: Mehdi Akhavan Sales, poetry music, meter, rhyme and radif, inner music.

Abstract

Moving from the premise that African literature can introduce the reader to and inform him or her about the changing world of coexistence on the continent and elsewhere, this paper employs sample texts from contemporary African literature to explore the varying perspectives from which African writers represent changing historical phases of mutual  coexistence on the continent in their works. It aims at showing how the literature reveals more about the "customs, conflicts, stresses, changes and transformations" (Ngugi 1997, p. 4) that accompany social movements and evolution over time. My paper argues that the African continent's historical encounter with the western world has primarily, at least in the literature I examine here, informed and transformed the ways in which people perceive and relate with each other in society. I use Ato Quayson's reading practice dubbed "Calibrations" in my analysis. 

Keywords: Subsistence, Coexistence, Transformations, Relationships, Unison.

References

[1] Achebe, C. (1958). Things Fall Apart. Heinemann. 
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[8] Butake, B. (2005b). Family Saga. Clé. 
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[10] Laye, C. (1954). The African Child. (J. K. Farrar, Trans.). Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

[11] Mpe, P. (2001). Welcome to Our Hillbrow. University of Natal Press. 
[12] Ngome, V. E. (1992). What God Has Put Asunder. Pitcher Books Limited. 
[13] Ngugi wa Thiong'o. (1965). The River Between. Heinemann. 
[14] Nwapa, F. (1966). Efuru. Heinemann. 
[15] Rotimi, O. (1971). The Gods Are Not to Blame. Oxford University Press. 
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[17] Adéèko, A. (2005). Symptoms of the Present in Ato Quayson's "Calibrations." Research in African Literatures, 36(2), 104-111. 
[18] Ake, C. (2003). Democracy and Development in Africa. Spectrum Books. 
[19] Bahri, D. (2005). Calibrations: Reading for the Social (Review). Modern Fiction Studies, 51(1), 222-225. 
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[28] Killam, G. D. (1977). The Writings of Chinua Achebe. Heinemann. 
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[31] Mudimbe, V. Y. (1988). The Invention of Africa: Gnosis, Philosophy, and the Order of Knowledge. Indiana University Press. 
[32] Ngugi wa Thiong'o. (1969). Satire in Nigeria: Chinua Achebe, T.M. Aluko and Wole Soyinka. In C. Pieterse & D. Munro (Eds.), Protest and Conflict in African Literature (pp. 56-69). Heinemann. 
[33] Ngugi wa Thiong'o. (1997). Writers in Politics: A Re-engagement with Issues of Literature and Society. James Currey. 
[34] Obiechina, E. (1968). Cultural Nationalism in Modern African Literature. African Literature Today 1 (pp. 24-35). Heinemann. 
[35] Ogbujah, C. (2014). African Cultural Values and Inter-communal Relations: The Case with Nigeria. Developing Country Studies, 4(24), 208-217. 
[36] Ojaide, T., & Obi, J. (2002). Culture, Society & Politics in Modern African Literature: Texts and Contexts. Carolina Academic Press. 
[37] Palmer, E. (1968). Elechi Amadi: The Concubine and Flora Nwapa: Efuru. African Literature Today 1 (pp. 56-58). Heinemann. 
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[39] Quayson, A. (2003). Calibrations: Reading for the Social. University of Minnesota Press. 
[40] Schreiber, J. (2017). You do not own Life: Welcome to Our Hillbrow by Phaswane Mpe. roughghosts.com. Accessed January 4, 2018. 
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Keywords: Subsistence, Coexistence, Transformations, Relationships, Unison.

Abstract

Cultural affirmations and their extensions have been relatively unyielding in their representations of female power and essence. Among the Yoruba people of Nigeria and the majorly ethnically homogenous population of Japan, oral traditions, particularly proverbs, have always provided a contestable site for investigating gender relations as part of an overall template for social structures. Proverbs are critical lenses for the apprehension of cultural epistemes and their knowledge productions. The Yoruba and Japanese are remarked for their strong cultural belief systems which foreground communal acceptability, conformity, ideology and power relations. Japanese proverbs, as well as their Yoruba parallels, are forms of veiled speeches in oral traditions and folklore which communicate society's foundations, formations, religious, cultural and societal idiosyncrasies. This paper, while drawing inspiration from a feminist literary theory and through an analysis of selected Yoruba and Japanese proverbs, contends that within such belief systems are maxims which negate the female essence and shrinks her relevance. While some of the proverbs analysed celebrate women in few instances, they equally unveil the burden of marginalization placed on women. The essay reveals that gender parity as a given for economic growth in a new world order is only achievable when these cultural strictures against women are dismantled.

Keywords: Gender parity, female power, Japan, Yoruba, proverbs.

References

[1] Adeleke, T. Gender and Power Dynamics in African Proverbs. University Press, 2019. 
[2] Akporobaro, F. B. O. Understanding African Oral Literature. University of Lagos Press, 1994. 
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[4] Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge, 1990. 
[5] Crenshaw, Kimberlé. "Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color." Stanford Law Review, 1991. 
[6] Elson, Diane. "Labor Markets as Gendered Institutions: Equality, Efficiency, and Empowerment Issues." World Development, 1999. 
[7] Folbre, Nancy. Who Pays for the Kids? Gender and the Structures of Constraint. Routledge, 1994. 
[8] Hendry, Joy. Understanding Japanese Society. Routledge, 1995. 
[9] Hooks, Bell. Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. South End Press, 1984. 
[10] Inoue, Miyako. Vicarious Language: Gender and Linguistic Modernity in Japan. University of California Press, 2006. 
[11] Kabeer, Naila. Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought. Verso, 1994. 
[12] Nakane, Chie. Japanese Society. University of California Press, 1970. 
[13] Odebunmi, A. "The Pragmatics of Proverbs in African Cultures." Journal of African Studies, vol. 34, no. 3, 2008, pp. 45–60. 
[14] Oyěwùmí, Oyèrónkẹ. The Invention of Women: Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourses. University of Minnesota Press,1997. 
[15] Oyetimi, K. "Cultural Ecological Knowledge in Ifa Poetry and Yoruba Spirituality." Research and Criticism: Journal of the Department 
of English, Banaras Hindu University, 2025, pp. 101–113. 
[16] "Masculinity and Heroism in Soyinka's Reworking of Oral Epics." Beyond Babel: BU Journal of Language, Literature and Humanities, vol. 9, no. 2, 2025, pp. 1–11. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15716563. 
[17] "Oral Distillates and Postcolonial Temper in Ademola Dasylva's Songs of Odamolugbe." International Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Science, vol. 5, no. 3, 2022, pp. 329–347. 
[18] "Oral Narrative and Cultural Memory: A Critical Perspective on the Male Self and Female Other in Ayélála Myth." International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature, vol. 10, no. 7, 2022, pp. 9–19. 
[19] Sugimoto, Yoshio. An Introduction to Japanese Society. Cambridge University Press, 2020.

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[21] World Economic Forum. Global Gender Gap Report. 2021, www.weforum.org 

Keywords: Gender parity, female power, Japan, Yoruba, proverbs.

Abstract

Psychological impairments in literary works set in Africa, that foreground apartheid and related discriminatory circumstances in African settings, examine how systemic oppression, anguish, suffering and trauma construct the experiences of individuals and societies caught within these confines. While existing studies on related perspectives have focused on general socio-economic, political and health-related issues, there has been limited examination of literary texts that depict contemporary settings, especially in post-apartheid contexts. This study re-examines literary depictions of the connected motifs of mental distress in Yewande Omotoso's Bom Boy. This is with a view to exploring how alienation, ignorance and social stratification reveal psychological impairments, not just as an individual experience, but as a condition that reflects on collective conditions. Through an analysis of characters, events, and settings, this study demonstrates that contemporary literary works serve as testaments to historical burden of traumatic memory, as well as the resilience exhibited through conscious effort to rewrite narratives, using fiction to establish reality. 

Keywords: Mental distress, Apartheid, Psychological trauma, Africa, Yewande Omotoso's Bom Boy

References

[1] Adams, Anne V., and Janis Alene Mayes, editors. Mapping Intersections: African Literature and Africa's Development. Africa World Press, 1998. 
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[4] Collier, Deborah. "Amendments to the Employment Equity Act in South Africa: Missing the Target." Revue de droit comparé du travail et de la sécurité sociale, vol. 4, 2023, pp. 192–197. 
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[6] Dar, Hafiz Muhammad Usman, et al. "Voice of Resistance: Exploring Apartheid, Power, and Race in Nadine Gordimer's Selected Novels." Journal of Social Sciences Review, vol. 3, no. 1, 2023, pp. 387–395. https://doi.org/10.54183/jssr.v3i1.169. 
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[10] Habib, M. A. R. A History of Literary Criticism: From Plato to the Present. Blackwell, 2005. 
[11] Hall, Alice. Disability and Modern Fiction: Faulkner, Morrison, Coetzee and the Nobel Prize for Literature. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. 
[12] Juhong, Shi, and Hao Wenxuan. "Writing AIDS, Deconstructing Politicized Discourses on the Body: AIDS in Post-apartheid South African Novels by Mpe and Mhlongo." Cultural and Religious Studies, vol. 12, no. 5, 2024, pp. 314–319. https://doi:10.17265/2328-2177/2024.05.005. 
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[16] Omotoso, Yewande. Bom Boy. Modjaji, 2011. 
[17] Prinsloo, Mastin. "Literacy in South Africa." Literacy: An International Handbook, edited by Daniel Wagner and Richard Venezky, Westview Press, 1999, pp. 418–423. 
[18] Rotimi, Ola. Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again. University Press, 1977. 
[19] Seekings, Jeremy. "Social Stratification and Inequality in South Africa at the End of Apartheid." Centre for Social Science Research, University of Cape Town, Working Paper, no. 31, March 2003. 
[20] Sherry, Mark. "Intersecting Gender and Disability Perspectives in Rethinking Postcolonial Identities." Wagadu, vol. 4, 2007, pp. 10–22. 
[21] "Yewande Omotoso: On Writing Bom Boy." The Voice, 12 May 2013, https://portharcourtbookfestival.blogspot.com/2013/05/yewande-omotoso-on-writing-bom-boy.html. 
[22] Yongo, David. "Post-Colonial Leadership Failure and the Future of Africa." International Journal of Comparative Studies in International Relations and Development, vol. 7, no. 1, 2021, pp. 47–57. 

Keywords: Mental distress, Apartheid, Psychological trauma, Africa, Yewande Omotoso's Bom Boy