Tropes of Memories in Jumoke Verissimo’s I Am Memory

Memory is a significant feature of literary imagination, which is evident in contemporary Nigerian poetry. Scholarly works on literature and memory studies in Nigeria have mainly focused on prose fiction, with little or no attention to poetic exploration of tropes of memory, which are recurring ideas or themes that reflect past experiences. In I am Memory, Jumoke Verissimo recalls past events that reflect sociocultural, historical and economic realities. Existing studies on Verissimo’s poetry seem to undermine her obvious effort on memorialisation, and tend to give more critical focus to her stylistic use of language. This study, therefore, examines depictions of tropes of memory in Verissimo’s poetry collection, I am Memory. This volume of poems was purposively selected because it features poems that recall different African socio-historical realities and create awareness of prevailing happenings. The poems were subjected to qualitative, literary analysis paying attention to different tropes and sites of memory which are conveyed through images. This study adopts the tenets of New Historicism, to account for the representations of the past through memory tropes in the poems. The analysis of the poems reveals different tropes of memory like: emotional memory, memory of disappointment and disillusionment, memory of exploitation, memory of slavery and racism, memory of sociopolitical violence and memory of anguish. Beyond the creating of awareness through the exploration of different agonizing experiences, the poet inspires hope and redemption. The critical discussion of Verissimo’s poetry shows that contemporary Nigerian poetry explores different socio-historical experiences through memory tropes, which facilitate remembrances.