Wole Soyinka's poetry as bilingual's creativity.

ABSTRACT: This paper attempts an identification and examination of some of the features that make Wole Soyinka's poems unmistakably bilingual and bicultural. Four linguistic strategies revealing some features often employed in Yoruba poetic discourse are identified across the poet's four anthologies to date (1967-89). While drawing attention to the poet's manner of incorporating these features into his poetry of English L[sub 2] (EL[sub 2]) expression, the paper also focuses on stylistic translation; an imitation of Yoruba poetic forms. Consequently the stylistic imitation of two Yoruba forms: Owe and Ofo are also explored across the four anthologies. The manner of these usages by the poet are examined vis-a-vis their stylistic effect in the new L[sub 2] linguistic and extra linguistic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]