Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol by Okot p'Bitek

by Okot p'Bitek

Together, Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol, constitute a heated debate over the future of Africa. In graphic metaphor and with dramatic intensity, P'Bitek presents the conflict between the new and the old, and in the process reveals a remarkable sensitivity to the values of both. - Books Abroad One of the most successful African literary works, Song of Lawino (1966), is now made available in the African Writers Series together with Song of Ocol (1967).

Genres: Poetry, Africa, Fiction, Uganda, African Literature, Classics, Literature

Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Okot p'Bitek (7 June 1931 – 20 July 1982) was a Ugandan poet, who achieved wide international recognition for Song of Lawino, a long poem dealing with the tribulations of a rural African wife whose husband has taken up urban life and wishes everything to be westernised.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"My husband's house is a dark forest of books."
Okot p'Bitek, Song of Lawino & Song of Ocol



Wow, am I found I found this book.

It wasn't easy. More on that in a minute.

This short and searing poetic story, that I first read in school, so many years ago, has haunted me for years.

School was not a place I had a great time but there are some good memories and I must say, our literary departments were utterly superb. We had great book selections in the great libraries and so many books were required reading and this little gem which is cultural in nature was one of them.

I do hope this story is still around. One might imagine, in certain states, it might just be banned. (Incidentally, I think book banning should be a criminal offence.)

It is written in verse and it is written by a woman who has suffered some brutal emotional treatment.


I really can not do a proper review because I read it such a long time ago.

Yet I'd forgot the title! It took me awhile to find it on here.


I just happened to find it on here and figured I'd write something. I remember loving it and it stayed with me, still vivid, all these years to the point that I can remember certain specific lines but I need to read it again to do a proper review.

[Tichaona Chinyelu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taking the book solely at face value, Song of Lawino & Song of Ocol are verses concerned with the disintegration of the marriage of Lawino, a rural African (Acoli) woman and Ocol, her western-educated husband. However, peeling back the cover of the words even a tiny bit reveals a woman committed to her indigenous culture versus a man who thinks that her culture needs to be removed from the face of the earth. How could two such people co-exist in the same household? How could two such differing ideologies co-exist on the same planet? According to Ocol, not at all. His song is full of imagery that calls death upon the culture Lawino praises in her song.

We will smash
The taboos
One by one,
Explode the basis
Of every superstition,
We will uproot
Every sacred tree
And demolish every ancestral
shrine.

In Ocol’s song, the thing that is so striking about this book – the use of indigenous Acoli symbols to present a woman solidly rooted in her culture – gets turned on its head. Every thing African becomes associated with death, decay and other imagery meant be extremely negative. However, that is not the case with Lawino. Unlike she does not hate foreign customs. They are simply not hers.

I do not understand
The ways of foreigners
But I do not despise their
Customs.

Of course if things were as simple as that, there would be no need for Lawino to sing her song. For instance, I agree with Ocol’s installing of an electric stove in their house. . Lawino doesn’t know how to use it and is, in fact, scared of it.

I am terribly afraid
Of the electric stove,
And I do not like using it
Because you stand up
When you cook.
Who ever cooked standing up?
And the stove
Has many eyes
I do not know
Which eye to prick
So that the stove
May vomit fire
And I cannot tell
Which eye to prick
So that fire is vomited
In one and not in another plate.

Instead of patiently teaching Lawino the benefits of the stove and how to properly use it, Ocol rails against her. He considers her lack of knowledge one more African deficiency he wants to divorce himself from. His attitude is revealing especially because he later becomes a leader of his country’s independence struggle for Uhuru (freedom). As Lawino tells it, Ocol says

White men must return
To their own homes,
Because they have brought
Slave conditions in the country.
He says
White people tell lies
That they are good
At telling lies
Like men wooing women
Ocol says
They reject the famine relief
Granaries
And the forced-labour system.

After revealing this, Lawino goes on to question an Uhuru where her husband can’t even get along with his brother.

When my husband
Opens a quarrel
With his brother
I am frightened!
You would think
They have not slept
In the same womb,
You would think
They have not shared
The same breasts!
And they say
When the two were boys
Looking after the goats
They were as close to each other
As the eye and the nose,
They were like twins
And they shared everything
Even a single white ant.

Even more astute however, is her statement describing the period of “independence”.

Independence falls like a bull
Buffalo
And the hunters
Rush to it with drawn knives,
Sharp shining knives
For carving the carcass.
And if your chest
Is small, bony and weak
They push you off,
And if your knife is blunt
You get the dung on your
Elbow,
You come home empty-handed
And the dogs bark at you!

In raising questions that center around the concept of post-colonial independence and how such an entity impacts on the consciousness of Africans who have been educated outside of africa as well as rural Africans who have never left the continent, the Song of Lawino & the Song of Ocol ranks up there with Ama Ata Aidoo’s Sister Killjoy. Both Sissie and Lawino were asking the same questions. The current state of the continent provides the answer.

[Raul · Rating 3 out of 5]

One way of reading this could be as a record of lamentations of a couple against each other. Lawino, the wife, laments how Ocol, her husband, has changed and conformed to the ways of the white man and has come to despise everything that's traditional. Ocol laments that Lawino is backward and denigrates that which is Black. Of course, the poet uses this as a device to show the changes that occurred during colonization and how everything changed: notions of beauty, success, living with others, a complete undoing, and husband and wife here represent the different forces: one tearing down Acholi culture; the other upholding it.

This book's influence, especially within East Africa, can't be understated. Just a couple of months ago I had the pleasure to see Elias Mung'ora's art at the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute, and among the works shown during the exhibition was an art installation "Song of Lawino" pictured below (exhibited in a different show).

image:

[Bren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cross between the dramatic monologue and a "traditional" Acoli (Ugandan) song-form; a woman called lawino gives her husband ocol a serious talking-to about how he's forsaken her for a modern girl (a wench called clementine who's been over-doing the skin-lightening cream) because he's become enchanted with western ways; so its an eloquent defense of traditional rural life by someone who knows exactly how her culture is condescended to (Bitek got a phd in anthropology at oxford in the 1960s, after all), an argument with christianity, and, in the end, a critique of postcolonial african politicians. lawino is fierce, and the language is vivid and saucy, especially the proverbs (this is the quote everyone pulls out, but its so great; her husband's stinging tongue is "hot like the penis of the bee"). Ocol then gets to respond in the second, much shorter poem, and critics generally think its not as good, but i thought it was a fascinating portrait of political disillusionment and self-loathing.
Meanwhile, the gender politics of this war-of-the-sexes/clash-of-cultures are complicated; ocol at one point defends himself by saying that his relationship with clementine is one of equals, that they have a modern marriage based on love and that african women need to free themselves from the shackles of tradition; but this is rather undermined by the fact that he's used polygamous tradition to get with clementine, and meanwhile is cruel to lawino; so the discourse of (western) feminism he's hypocritically spouting is given rather a bad name. And meanwhile lawino endlessly exhorts ocol to be a real man, so that, rather familiarly, colonization equals emasculation and the cure is proper heteromasculinity (a heteromasculinity which curiously resembles the ideals of the colonizers...). So all of this sits uneasily, for me, with Bitek's presentation of such a scrappy, smart female voice...

[Anders Moeller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to read this book for class in high school while covering African literature. It was published in 1966, four years after Uganda's independence, and documents an important (and oft ignored) time period during colonization when most African societies were going through immense social, economic and cultural change. This is an amazing read if you want to understand the cultural clash between different local groups in a recently-colonized African nation, specifically, how "modern" (culturally colonized) locals perceive "traditional" people and vice versa.

[Cory Plimo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thrilling African read

[Floris Meertens]

Ten eerste: prachtig geïllustreerd, soms betreur ik het dat we vanaf een jaar of 10 ingeprent krijgen dat boeken met plaatjes om een duistere reden niet serieus of diep genoeg zijn.

Ten tweede: Het lied van Lawino is een fascinerend betoog in dichtvorm, strak in onderwerpen gestructureerd, vol met een helder ach en een uitbundig wee. Het is een klaagzang maar niet overdreven sentimenteel, en de toegankelijke stijl betekent niet dat de culturele eigenheid wordt verzwegen, zodat wij buitenstaanders het wel even kunnen snappen.

Het is een aanklacht tegen de bekende boosdoeners van taal, missionaris en politicus, maar ook van verrassende boemannen, zoals klok, kookkunst en boekenkast.

Het lied van Ocol was wat teleurstellend, ondanks een paar geweldig beeldende passages. Ik verwachtte een hard weerwoord maar wel met goede argumenten, zodat de spanning tussen de twee werelden duidelijk werd, en we als lezer dat ongemak van de tussenlander zouden voelen. Maar nee, hij is gewoon een man die alles kapot wil maken. Korte samenvatting: Brand, oude wereld, en uit de as zal ik herrijzen, een of andere hufter met een boekenkast.

Een ding is ook een beetje inconsistent, maar misschien is dat met opzet: Ocol is soms een sloofje van de Europese overheerser, en dan weer een strijder voor onafhankelijkheid die alle blanken uit het land wil hebben. Ik snap het idee dat de nieuwe Afrikaanse leiders onbewust de Europese ideologieën adopteren en zichzelf dus gevangen houden, maar de manier waarop het hier gebeurde vond ik tegenstrijdig.

Grote aanrader desondanks!

[Jason Friedlander · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating work of post-colonial poetry about the degradation of traditional values in East Africa in lieu of the rising trend of Westernization. It's fiercely critical of those who devalue their own culture in order to become more like the white people who've exploited their lands. The Song of Lawino is about a woman whose husband has radically changed himself to become more "white" and "civilized," and in the poem she excoriates him and the culture he aspires to belong to. The Song of Ocol is a shorter work from the point of view of her husband, and it shows some of his views on the recent uhuru (independence, freedom) of East Africa and how he envisions them to further barrel forward and leave their native past behind.

[Mwongeli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book with two long form poems set in Uganda, well, and East Africa as a whole really, at the cusp of independence.

On the one hand, we have Lawino, a married woman decrying her husband's abandonment of African culture and traditions.

Then we have Ocol, on the other hand, the husband airing his views, which made me cringe and can only be summarised as internalised self hate.

While I do not completely agree with Lawino's views, I like her love for the traditions and cultures that we have as Africans. She makes you feel, in paraphrasing Tupac's words, that African/black is the thing to be.

[Lulu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting.

[π · Rating 3 out of 5]

aaargh sayang banget nih!

gue suka bgt sama puisi2nya yang diterjemahin super gamblang dan dikit metafor2 yg dipake. terus gimana ada dua sudut pandang juga, yaitu dr perempuan dan laki2 ituuuuu a wholesome bgt jadi bisa liat dr dua sudut pandang.

lawino itu adlh seorang perempuan yg mungkin bahasa kasarnya masih primitif dan cenderung konservatif sm budaya sendiri. apakah salah? ya engga dong! itu kan hak dia. nah, tapi yg bikin sedih dan menyayat hati itu krn dia diperlakuin jahat bgt sm suaminya si ocol.

puisi ini ngasih kita dua pov, yaitu dari yg masih megang teguh budaya sama yg udh terpapar sm budaya luar.

si ocol, kebalikannya lawino. dia justru mengagung2kan budaya barat dan dia nganggep dirinya superior krn dia udh dapet akses pendidikan. yaa, western-oriented gt lah dia. dan sedihnya, dia sampe ngata2in istri dan budayanya sendiri gitu :(

gue jg jadi apa yaa... keketuk hatinya gitu kalo misalnya fenomena ini jg banyak terjadi pada masa sekarang. kalo org yg masih berpegang teguh sm adat kadang dikucilinlah dianggep gamau maju lah. pdhl bagi mereka ya itu.... emang ideologi mereka.... gitu loh. dan lu gabisa maksa (kecuali kalo adatnya gabaik) buat ngubah itu, bahkan sampe abusive dan nyerang mental serta fisik. sumpah gue benci bgt sih sm manusia kyk ocol!

jujurrr pdhl ini bagus bgt isinya banyak ngekritik permasalahan sosial jugaaa! tapiiiii yg gue kurang suka itu penyuntingannya, ya allah jelek dan ga rapih banget. gue hampir mau berenti krn ga kuat bacanya jd ga enak, tapi isinya teh bagus pisan😭. makanya gue berharap kl mau diterbitin ulang: semoga. layoutnya. dibenerin. dan editornya. tolong. yak. dikoreksi. lagiiii!

[Gianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wer pa Lawino, or Song of Lawino, and Song of Ocol are a collection of epic poems written by Ugandan poet and African scholar Okot p’ Bitek. While Song of Lawino was originally written in Lwo, the Acholi dialect of Southern Luo, before being translated into English, Song of Ocol was written and published in English. Losing faith in Christianity in 1959, p’Bitek heavily centered this work on the effects of Christiantiy introduction to Uganda through European colonization, with the poems acting as his critique of Uganda’s acceptance of colonization after Ugandan independence. While his work is revered amongst Anglophone readers, his critique and scholarship resulted in his shunning by the Ugandan government as he essentially exclaims that African culture was being traded by a European performatism that rejects traditional practices, spirituality, and inexplicably blackness as a whole. The poems are written in rhythmic couplets in the first-person narrative of a rural African wife and her husband who is the son of a tribal leader adopting European customs in exchange for African traditions. He marries a second wife Clementine who he favors due to her Eurocentric style of beauty and forbids his wife from practicing traditional medicine on their children. She comments that her husband resents her for wearing the necklace of an elephant tail and practicing the spirituality of her parents and due to her obedience to his authority she begins to suffer under his transition which heavily affects their spiritual beliefs.
To say that Lawino is jealous of her husband’s new wife would be oversimplification of her worries with Ochol. Because polygamy is accepted amongst their tribe, her concern is not due to his second marriage but the treatment that he has towards her and their culture now that he has married Clementine and converted to Christianity. With the hegemonization of culture that comes with colonization, Ochol and his new wife have transitioned from following tradition to replication European religion, politics, culture, medicine, and fashion. His love for Clementine grows due to her following Eurocentric standards of beauty where Lawino notes that she wears red lipstick and models her body like thin European women. Ochol and Clementine ballroom dance while Lawino is forbidden from doing ritualistic African dances. He glorifies medicine brought by the white man and forbids her from practicing traditional holistic healing. In the poem she recites: “My husband rejects me because he says that I am a meer pagan and I worship the Devil...he heaps insults upon me as well as my relatives but most of his words are senseless like the songs of children and he treats his clansmen as if they are enemies,” (p’Bitek). When p’Bitek was writing this poem, he wrote Lawino to represent himself as he attempted to analyze how European colonization destroyed traditional African culture and his attempts to show Lawino’s dejection is a personification of how Africans who attempt to cling to tradition are rejected by their tribe and further subjugated by European colonizers for not transitioning. Similar to commentary made by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, the colonization made by Europeans has resulted in the mental colonization of Ocol and for the rest of the tribe and his wife he becomes unrecognizable as he begins to adopt white culture to a severity that disconnects him from the unity of his tribe. Lawino makes several comments on religion, tribalism, and Western politics that draw attention to the things that we focus on due to colonization while recognizing that none of these things are ultimately important because when Mother Death comes she says, she will not discriminate against people and everyone has an ultimate end.
As someone who was raised Christian, studying African spirituality in my young adulthood, and studying International Relations in Washington DC, I think that this novel is an important critique of colonization that changed not only the structure outlook of Africa but the values of its people. I also feel that the poem was extremely well written especially considering the fact that it was translated from its original dialect. I recognized that this poem is culturally significant and should be read by any African or black American interested in African spirituality or the effects of European politics. However, as a born-again Christian who feels like I was saved by God when I was exploring African spirituality without a true spiritual awareness of what I was doing, I think that the white-washing of Christianity ultimately clouds p'Bitek’’s judgment and ability to understand the importance of the faith. Christianity is not the white man’s religion as we are taught to believe. The only country named in the Bible is Ethiopia which is actually what Africa was called before colonization and as a result many of the stories that took place in the Bible happened in Africa. As a result, the Christian God is as African as any pagan African deity and having had the opportunity to worship with African Christians, I can assert that many of the spiritual practices originally practiced in Africa were occult in nature and worshipping false Gods. In fact, many of these spiritual deities are evil and the practices are forbidden in the Bible. The idea that a spread of Christianity kills culture is accurate historically but as Christians we are asked to be born again in Christ and choose our faith over our culture. I think that if you do not have a clear discernment of where you are spiritually, you should be careful when reading this novel as many of the practices it glorifies are occult. As someone who has practiced hoodoo assuming I was connecting with the “Gods of my Ancestors” I would tread lightly if moved to make huge transitions due to his writing. The poems are beautifully written but with a bias that was so significant it became innately political and over encompassing of what his main goal was for writing. Nevertheless, it was still one of my favorite works of African literature which required me to read my Bible after finishing it to completion.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

if p'bitek was still working on this , the modern african woman has more to be talked on their skinny self, I would add they look like a confined ankole cow in a rubaga because the owner would not pay a fine. also those who took up with the chinese injection to increase their butts, are likely to cry because they look like mizigo not properly tied on a runaway jangili's bike.
The educated men as well, carries heavy kengeles between his legs with the kolongkolong...sounds especially when he is not paid well by his so called serikali which promises maisha mazuri by distributing sultan caps instead of plantations of bananas or an audi just to boost his moral, they remain with broken teeth struggling with mahindi ya kuchoma and vipala enough to land a jet of lies.
They all limp like urban crippled rats due to eating that godforsaken menu of nyama ya mbuzi laced with konyagi the spirit of the nation.
The worst of them on sunday morning will roll up in church in their pajamas the call suits. i am not finished yet....

[Sandra Sopian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ungkapan yg menyatakan bahwa dari buku kau akan dituntun ke buku yg lainnya tidak bohong. saya tau ada buku kecil sarat makna ini dari bukunya Seno Gumira yg eksentrik itu, tidak ada ojek di paris.

Buku kecil ini diterjemahkan oleh Sapardi Djoko, membuat setiap katanya lirih merembes kedalam pemaknaan yg dalam. Buku ini ngeri kuy, isinya merupakan tragedi dan keresahan yg beralasan dari sastrawan afrika yg mengkritisi kemuraman negerinya itu. sastra afrika adalah kesedihan, kemuakan pada kemapanan palsu, kegetiran akan masa depan dan kebebalan yg tak terperi.

Dari buku ini, yg membaginya menjadi dua bagian (karena menceritakan 2 periode waktu yg berbeda dari pengalaman penulisnya) memperlihatkan kegetiran demi kegetiran yg dialami afrika sebagai akibat dari kolonialisme yg berengsek. di buku pertama, nyanyian lawino, mudah menangkal gurat2 kepiluan itu. selain liriknya yg liris dan lirih. tentunya.

[Monika · Rating 5 out of 5]

a true african book.remarkable

[Mohamed El farissi · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[K's Bognoter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Et ugandisk narrativt langdigt fra 1966... Kan det nu virkelig være interessant læsning i DK 2016? Ja, det kan det: http://bognoter.dk/2016/07/05/okot-pb...

[Kingsley O. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Experienced discountenance while flipping through the pages. It was inoffensive although it's probably a bit dated now.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

54 - 2020

[Bwesigye bwa Mwesigire]

A masterpiece.

[Erik Champenois · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okot p'Bitek, an Acholi poet, wrote the "Song of Lawino" in the early years of Ugandan independence - and the (shorter) sequel "Song of Ocol" a few years afterwards. These poems express the tensions or conflicts between traditional African and western/the white man's ways, traditional religion and Christianity, the impact of colonization, deconolization/the politics of independence, traditional and modern medicine, and other aspects of cultural change relevant to 1960s Uganda and Africa at large.

These topics are explored through the characters Lawino and Ocol - Lawino being Ocol's wife and Ocol having just come back from the city where he found himself another wife. Lawino voices her complaints of Ocol's harsh words and disrespect of her and their native traditions, in favor of his modern/westernized new wife. Ocol then responds to her by denigrating their traditions further and speaking in favor of political (and cultural) revolution. Ocol comes across as the intolerant voice of a new revolutionary, western-inspired politics, while Lawino comes across as someone who can respect different traditions but who prefers to hold on to her own.

While the main thrust of the poems favor Lawino, this is not decidedly so - the lament of Lawino is one that favors tradition, but also one that disregards how modern ways and technology can improve things. The poems, read together, are a critique of each other's viewpoints but also critique themselves. To the extent that they do not present a one-sided view as the definitive answer they spark reflection about the politics of the time and the cultural and political changes experienced by a decolonizing Africa. At the same time, these poems provide an open window - for those of us outside the culture and the time period - providing us with a deeper appreciation and perspective of the changes experienced in mid twentieth century Africa.

[Nicole Kroger Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part One is a beautifully written narrative by an Acoli woman (Lawino) chastising her husband (Ocol) for assimilating the the Western, colonizing influences in Uganda. Lawino cherishes her people's traditions and only wishes to continue these traditions with honor. She struggles to understand the religion of the "Hunchback" (Christianity), while simultaneously exposing the hypocrisy of the priests and nuns.

Part Two is Ocol's attempt to defend his beliefs, that Africa is a dark and backward continent, associated with death and demise. However, his rebuttal is one that seeps with arrogance and pretension. He rejects any traditional beliefs and practices, insisting that only the white, educated man has the correct ideas for Africa.

Together, these songs reflect the multi-dimensional perspectives of Africa during and since colonization. While each African has their own "song" to sing regarding the transformation of their continent, these two stories provide some very basic outlines of the struggle many Africans have faced, attempting to welcome technology and economic advancement while rejecting the notion of foreign culture replacing their own.

Overall, a beautiful and quick read that really provides a great perspective of the personal effects from the colonization of Africa.

[Aida · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my review of "Song of Lawino," since we don't own "Song of Ocol."

Using beautiful prose, p'Bitek tells the story of a family on the verge of being torn apart by colonialism. The wife, Lawino, sings about how her husband, Ocol, is abandoning their culture in favor of European ways. Ocol has been "educated," and he mocks everything Lawino does that isn't European enough, including her hair, clothes, cooking and language. He's trying to fully embrace European culture, while acknowledging that Europe is destroying their country. Lawino, on the other hand, doesn't condemn European culture, but also doesn't see how it will save them from their ills, when they've been doing well for so long. His condemnation and disgust for her "primitive" ways even leads her to distrust things that might actually help her, like electric stoves.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressive. Two epic poems, one from the perspective of Lawino who laments her husband Ocol’s rejection of tradition (including her), and one from Ocol’s perspective as a response.
Ocol’s tendency towards western behaviours is criticised by Lawino, who is not only upset her husband took a more ‘modern’ (=westernised) wife, but also reminds the reader of how beautiful her culture is to her, the value she sees in traditional names, herbal medications, food, dance…
There is of course a strong political element to both poems, which must be read in depth to abstract Lawino’s jealousy and criticism from the individual level to a higher level.

• “And while the pythons of sickness
Swallow the children
And the buffaloes of poverty
Knock the people down
And ignorance stands there
Like an elephant, The warleaders Are tightly locked in bloody feuds,
Eating each other's liver…”

[David Silbergeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very intriguing book for its deep cultural relevance. Harking back to traditional African spoken culture and song/poetry as a vehicle for passing stories down through the generations, this recreates a modern pair of songs or lamentations between a woman, Lawino, whose song represents a more traditional set of African beliefs and culture and her husband, Ocol, who is a self-perceived revolutionary seeking the abolition and destruction of the traditional ways in favor of a new society and culture largely emulating the former European colonial powers. Neither view is portrayed as right or wrong, but rather we see a poetic conversation between two sharply contrasting viewpoints on the direction of African society, written at a highly volatile historical point as colonialism was actively collapsing.

[kass marina · Rating 5 out of 5]

crazy use of poetry stemming from oral tradition. felt like each of the two poems built and built and built their tensions, winding tighter and tighter. felt like each narrator was so easily and flawlessly characterized by their descriptions of their own worldviews. stanza that stuck with me the most (so far) was “i do not know / how to keep the white man’s / time. / my mother taught me / the way of the Acoli / and nobody should / shout at me / because i know / the customs of our people! / when the baby cries / let him suck milk / from the breast. / there is no fixed time / for breast feeding.” every line is carefully calibrated and perfectly designed. important book!!

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The song of Lawino is a rare thing. The song, written in verse form, is a hidden gem that is accessible without being ordinary. It would be worthy of much more notice, capturing as it does many of the themes present in modern literature and with a style that is fresh and full of character, modern without feeling like it is tied to the usual traits that define contemporary verse, especially the poetry that fills the internet. Okot p'Bitek originally published the poem in an English translation in 1966 and today the Song of Lawino sounds uncannily new. It is hard to imagine, from the style and the voice, that it is 60 years old. Thematically and historically is does capture a period of transition. Lawino is the wife of a man who is embracing everything European. She represents everything he is throwing off. Each long stanza of the poem deals with different aspects of her life and culture - family, home, food, love, polygamy, language, medicine, music, dance - using a barbed wit to cut into Ocol's lack of integrity with grueling cynicism. The Song of Ocol, when it follows, has been beaten down by the ire and fury of Lawino, her mockery and faded respect. That's not to say that Ocol isn't able to press his point and the two poems act as opposite sides in a complex discussion, one without black or white answers.

Apart from offering an entertaining and detailed picture of Lawino's life and culture, The Song of Lawino is constantly amusing and reads with a punchy flow, lines that trip off the tongue and language that is trim and efficient. Scenes of culture clash such as Ocol's obsession with Western dance forms are portrayed with a lightning quick sense of humour and a light self-mockery. Rarely has this meeting and battle between worlds been portrayed with such lyrical clarity. As a document and as a work of poetry, Okot p'Bitek's work is a huge success, combining elements of biography and historicism with poetry in a strange and refreshing mix. I've encountered little like it and enjoyed it from start to finish.

[Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Upon finishing this book, I was left profoundly wondering, if I had been able to understand Acoli, how magical this experience would’ve been. Immersed in the prose and rhyme of each line and chapter, I lost myself in the language and rich culture of the Acholi. Lawino’s longing for her husband’s return to their lifestyle was so excellently portrayed and I felt each and every word she uttered. And the juxtaposition between Lawino’s longing and confusion and Ocol’s anger and embarrassment. Wow. Could anything have been better?

5/5

[Justine]

The book is so nice and interesting. It generally talks about Westernization whereby a man went for higher studies in the Western countries . The man was much influenced with the culture of the Western People until when the man came back home after his studies, he was behaving just like the white people having much influenced by their culture. He disregarded his African wife and only recognized the the white one. He thought that the way the Africans were behaving was weird . The book is so fantastic just make an effort of reading it

[Margaret Sumana]

Song of Lawino was one of my mother's collections which i read years back but just just couldnot forget the book.Some of the details are gone and i definately want to refresh my memory.Then i will be in a position to review.