Advisor(s)
Adam Vines
Committee Member(s)
Jim Braziel
Kerry Madden-Lunsford
School
College of Arts and Sciences
Document Type
Thesis
Department (new version)
Arts & Humanities
Date of Award
8-2-2025
Degree Name by School
Master of Arts (MA) College of Arts and Sciences
Abstract
The Unseen Struggle: Poems from The Abyss is a collection of seventy poems. The poems cracked into the experiences of Nigerians—enduring social, political, and environmental oppression. Socially, ethnic divisions and limited education restrict opportunity; politically, corruption and repression silence dissent; environmentally, resource exploitation devastates livelihoods. Through poetry, I constructed a fictionalized Imo and Abia State, rendering these struggles visceral without requiring the reader’s physical presence. Drawing on personal experience, I employed sensory, auditory, and visual imagery to immerse readers in the systems that dictate and constrain Nigerian life. As a Nigerian living in America, I intertwine real events with familial history, using poetry to bridge my dual realities and underscore the enduring value of family. My influences, Chinua Achebe, Oswald Mtshali, and Emma Inedu, offer the reader an immersion in empathy using language and descriptive metaphors, especially concerning the distressing and horrifying experiences in other people’s lives and their lived experiences. This collection of poetry offers readers a better understanding of the Nigerian struggle of oppression, and intimidation, which leads to depression often. It will also serve as a resort for those who have experienced any kind of marginalization or oppression to keep holding on, as a glimmer of hope exists at the end of the tunnel. Additionally, these poems try to question the fundamental nuggets of society where such dehumanizing and marginalization is prevalent.
ProQuest ID
Recommended Citation
Unachukwu, Victor Ihechiluru, "The Unseen Struggle: Poems From The Abyss" (2025). All ETDs from UAB. 7331.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/7331
