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''Of Chameleons and Gods'' is the title of the first collection of poetry by Malawian poet Jack Mapanje, published in 1981 in the United Kingdom, in Heinemann's African Writers Series. Despite critical acclaim, the collection was withdrawn from circulation in Malawi, because it was seen as a critique of the current government and especially the leader Hastings Kamuzu Banda.〔 Mapanje, in his introduction to the work, describes as the result of the work of "ten turbulent years". The 'chameleon' of the title refers to the disguise of personal voice he deemed necessary in order to mount a criticism of the politics at the time. ''Of Chameleons and Gods'' is divided into four sections: "Of Chameleons and Gods", '"Sketches from London", "Re-entering Chingwe's Hole" and "Assembling Another Voice". The sections are almost chronological: poems in "Sketches from London"were written between 1972 and 1975; those in "Re-entering Chingwe's Hole", on Mapanje's return from London between 1975 and 1978; and those in "Assembling Another Voice" were probably the last to be written'.〔 ==Literary criticism== The literary features of the collection have been overshadowed by its censorship. The poet makes use of the verse form to provide a satirical perspective on the political leaders and their supporters.〔 However, his criticism is by no means limited to the political scenario: poems such as "Kabulo Curio-Shop" demonstrate a critique of the exploitation of art and the artist in tourism.〔 The collection made use of repeated imagery in its satire of the government. Images included references to "dawn" or "cockerel", alluding to the Malawi Congress Party's flag, which bears a picture of the sunrise and H. Kamuzu Banda's use of "Kwatcha!" ("Dawn!") at the start of addresses. These images were used not only in Mapanje's poetry but also other poetry of protest from the situation.〔 Much of the poetry also demonstrates the influence of oral forms of poetry, especially in range and density of images and the address of the voice to an implied audience, which follows from Mapanje's endorsement of the sophistication of the oral mode of literature against the presumption, prevalent in the early 1970s, of its primitiveness.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Of Chameleons and Gods」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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