The Malawian production of this generation is unique in the sense that those who
populate its space also double as members of her first generation in the true sense of the
word.^4 The reason for this delay in the development and production of writers in this
part of the region has been less due to the dearth of creative endowment than to the
institution of draconian laws which manifested in the form of extreme censorship
especially during the dictatorship of President Hastings Kamuzu Banda (Douglas Killam
2004:99). It is this that also explains why major Malawian writers that fall into the
category of second generation in the broader African context have all adopted cryptic
idioms and metaphors for their poetic practice. For instance, while Jack Mapanje and
Steve Chimombo often sustain the metaphor of the chameleon in referring to the
oppressive attitude of the state, Frank Chipasula especially in Nightwatcher, Nightsong
(1986) prefers the metaphor of the “nightwatcher” as his own way of apprehending
tyranny and interrogating its perpetrators (Mpalive-Haugson Msiska 1995). The sit-tight
attitude of President Hastings Banda and the terror it unleashed on the dissenting voices
to his administration became the major sources of inspiration for the poets in this country.
From Visions and Reflections (1973) to O Earth, Wait for Me (1984) to Nightwatcher,
Nightsong (1986) and to Whispers in the Wings (1991), one cannot but see the consistent
critical stance of Chipasula who for the most part has remained in exile owing to the
high-handedness of the establishment. In “ Nightwatcher, Nightsong ”, for instance, the
confrontation with the leadership as the symbol of oppression that must be crushed is
clearly articulated in the title poem.
The daring tone of the above poem is similar to what one finds in Chimombo’s Napolo
Poems (1987). But perhaps it is with Jack Mapanje that one comes to terms with the
Malawian reality in the way he engages themes of socio-political corruption and tyranny.
Right from the first collection, Of Chameleon and Gods to The Wagtails of Mikuyu
Prison (1993 ) and Skipping without Ropes (1998), two collections that form an account
4
It must be admitted that David Rubadiri, whom literary history has often placed within East African
literary tradition, is actually a Malawian and for that reason should be regarded as belonging to the first
generation of Malawian writers. But perhaps for the notorious intolerance of the civilian government, his
identification with the country’s literature has remained ambivalent. G.D. Killam , Literature of Africa,
(London and Connecticut, Greenwood Press, 2004), 100.