P'Bitek Okot

 

Okot p'Bitek (7 Ogwomukaaga 1931 – 19 Ogwomusanvu 1982) yali Munnayuganda omutontomi, eyatuuka ku kusiimibwa mu nsi yonna olwakatabo ke ak'ebitontome aka Song of Lawino, ekitontome ekiwanvu ekikwata ku kutulugunyizibwa kw'omukyala Omufirika ow'omu kyalo ng'omwami we y'eyisa mu ngeri y'abannakibuga era ayagala buli kimu okukolebwa mu ngeri y'ekizungu . Song of Lawino lwasooka kuwandiikibwa mu lulimi Olucholi olwaba Luo ab'Obukiikaddyo, ne luvvunuulwa omuwandiisi mu Lungereza, era ne lufulumizibwa mu 1966. Gwe mulimu ogwamukubira akaggi nga gw'amufunira abasomi bangi nga Abafirika ab'ogera Olungereza olw’ebitontome ebitereevu, eby'omulamwa mu Lungereza; n’okuyingiza enneyisa n’ennono ez'edda n'okulowooza mu ngeri yonna esoboka era ey'esigika mu kuwandiika. Kyaddirirwa ekitontome kya Song of Ocol (1970), okwanukula kw'omwami.

"East African Song School" oba "Okot School poetry" kati kwe kulaga mu by'ensoma kw'omulimu ogugoberera obulagirizi bwe, era oguyitibwa ennyo "okuyimba okusesa": ekika ky'ebitontome ebizanyibwa nga omuzannyi ayogera nnyo ezisibuka mu nnyimba ez'ennono n'ensengeka y'ebigambo.

Obuto bwe

  Okot p'Bitek yazaalibwa mu 1931 e Gulu, mu bitundu by'eBukiikakkono bwa Uganda. Kitaawe, Jebedayo Opi, yali musomesa, ng'ate nnyina, Lacwaa Cerina, yali muyimbi w'ennyimba z'ekinnansi, omunyumya emboozi era omuzinyi. Olubu lw'Eggwanga lye lwali lwaBacholi, era yasooka kuwandiika mu lulimi Olucholi, era olumanyikiddwa nga Lwo. Acholi lulimi lwa Luo olw'obukiikaddyo, olumu ku nnimi ez'ogerebwa mu Buggwanjuba eza Weatern Nilptic languages .

Ku ssomero yamanyibwa ng’omuyimbi, omuzinyi, omukubi w’engooma era munnabyamizannyo. Yasomera mu Gulu High School n'oluvannyuma mu King’s College, Budo, gye yayiiyiza enyimba n'ebisoko mu nnyimba z’ekinnansi. Yeeyongerayo mu misomo gye neyegatta ku yunivasite mu Bungereza.

Yunivasite z'eyasomeramu

Yasooka okugenda ebulaaya ng'omuzannyi wamu ne Ttiimu y'eggwanga ey’omupiira eya Uganda, mu 1958. Yava ku mupiira ng’omulimu gwe yali akola, n’asigala e Bungereza, n’asoma ebusomesa mu Yunivasite y’e Bristol n’oluvannyuma n’asoma eby’amateeka mu Yunivasite y’e Wales, Aberystwyth . Era yafuna diguli ey'okubiri eya Bachelor of Letters mu mbeera z'abantu n'obuwangwa bw'abwe (social anthropology) mu Yunivasite of Oxford, nga eno yawandiikirayo ekiwandiiko ekiwanvu ekikwata ku by'obuwangwa n'ennono z'Abaacholi n'Abalango mu 1963.

Kigambibwa nti Oxford yalemererwa mu bugenderevu okumuwa diguli ye eya Ph.D. mu 1970. Ekiwandiiko kye kyafulumizibwa nga tekikyusiddwa mu 1971 nga The Religion of the Central Luo nga kyafulumizibwa omufulumya w’ebitabo Munnakenya.

Okusinziira ku George Heron, p’Bitek yalekeraawo okwewaayo kwe eri enzikiriza y’Ekikuristaayo mu myaka gino. Kino kyalina emitawaana mingi eri endowooza ye ng'omukenkufu mu nnono n'obuwangwa bwa Afirika, ekyali kitakkirizibwaa n'akatono ku ntambula ey'awamu ey'emirimu egyasooka, oba kye yayita "olugambo olucaafu" mu bikwatagana n'obulamu bw'ebika. Omuzannyi we Lawino naye amwogerako mu bifo ebimu ku nsonga zino.

Emirimu gye

Yawandiika ekitabo kye ekyasooka ekya Lak Tar Miyo Kinyero Wi Lobo (1953), mu lulimi Olu Lwo ng'oluvannyuma kyavvuunulwa mu Lungereza nga White Teeth . Kikwata ku omuvubuka Omucholi byayitamu ng’asenguka okuva ewaabwe awaka, okunoonya emirimu saako n’omukyala. Okot p'Bitek yategeka ekivvulu ky'okuzannya emizannyo e Gulu, n'oluvannyuma e Kisumu . Oluvannyuma yasomesa mu Ssettendekero wa Makerere (1964–66) n’oluvannyuma n’abeera Dayirekita w\ekifo awazannyirwa emizannyo mu Uganda ekya Uganda’s National Theatre and National Cultural Center (1966–68).

Teyayagalwa gavumenti ya Uganda, era n’atwala ebifo by’obusomesa ebweru w’eggwanga. Yeetaba mu nteekateeka y’okuwandiika okw’ensi yonna mu yunivasite of Iowa mu 1969. Yali mu ttendekero ly'emisomo gya Afrika erya Institute of African Studies of University College, Nairobi okuva mu 1971 ng’omunoonyereza omukulu era omusomesa, ng’akyalira ebifo mu yunivasite of Texas e Austin ne University of Ife mu Nigeria mu 1978/9. Yasigala mu buwanganguse mu kiseera ky’obukulembeze bwa Idi Amin, n’adda mu 1982 mu Ssettendekero wa Makerere, okusomesa obuyiiya mu kuwandiika . Yetaba mu mukolo gw'okuggulawo emikolo gya International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books mu London mu Gwokuna 1982, bwe yayolesa ebimu kw'ebyo ebiri mu kitontome kye ekya "Song of Lawino" ne "Song of Ocol" mu kiseera ekyandibadde ekisembayo okulabikako mu lujjudde.

Ng'oggyeeko ebitontome bye n'ebitabo bye, era yeetaba mu kukubaganya ebirowoozo okugenda mu maaso ku okwewaayo eri obwesimbu, empisa n'obuvunaanyizibwa mu byensoma ku ddiini y'ennono ey'Afirika, ng'akakasa mu African Religions in Western Scholarship (1971) nti abasomesa abeesigamye ku nsonga z'Abulaaya baali "bakukusa ba magezi". Ensonga ye yali egenderera ekitundu ku Bafirika abaali batendekeddwa mu nnono z’Ekikristaayo, yali nti kyaviirako okussa essira ku nsonga eziri ewala okuva ku nsonga entuufu ezikwataka ku Bafirika; kino kibadde kivuganyizibwako abalala. Yali muntu atakkiririza mu Katonda.

Okufa kwe

Yafiira mu Kampala nga yafa bulwadde bw'okusanyalala mu 1982. Yaleka abaana ab’obuwala omuli Agnes Oyella, Jane Okot p’Bitek eyawandiika Song of Fairwell (1994), Olga Okot Bitek Ojelel ne Cecilia Okot Bitek abakola nga abasawo, Juliane Okot Bitek omuwandiisi w'ebitontome, n’omutabani George Okot p'Bitek, nga musomesa mu Kampala. Olga, Cecilia, ne Juliane bonna babeera muVancouver, mu British Columbia, Canada . Mu 2004 Juliane yafuna engule mu mpaka z'emboozi ennyimpi eza Commonwealth Short Story Contest olw'emboozi ye "Going Home". Bano bawala ba mukyala we Caroline.

Emirimu gye yakola

• Lak Tar Miyo Kinyero Wi Lobo (1953); akatabo mu lulimi olu luo, nga kavvunulwa nga White Teeth
• Song of Lawino: Ekitontome (East Africa Publishing House, 1966); kitontome, kyavvunulwa omuwandiisi omu Luo Wer pa Lawino
• Wer pa Lawino (East Africa Publishing House, 1969). The Defence of Lawino, ekyavvunulwa Taban Lo Liyong (2001)
• Song of Ocol (East Africa Publishing House, 1970); kitontome ekyawandiikibwa mu Lungereza
• Religion of the Central Luo (1971)
• Two Songs: Song of a Prisoner, Song of Malaya (1971); bitontome
• African Religions in Western Scholarship (1971, Nairobi)
• Africa's Cultural Revolution (1973); biwandiiko ebiwanvu
• Horn of My Love; ebivvunula esuula z'eby'obuwangwa eby'ogerwa. London: Heinemann Educational Books, 1974.  
• Hare and Hornbill (1978) engero ezanyumizibwanga
• Acholi Proverbs (1985)
• Artist, the Ruler: Essays on Art, Culture and Values (1986)
• Modern Cookery

Ebirala eby'okusomako

• Lara Rosenoff Gauvin, "In and Out of Culture: omulimu gwa Okot p’Bitek’s mu kutereeza obutabanguko obwaliwo mu Acoliland", Oral Tradition 28/1 (2013): 35–54 (available online byaterekebwa nga 23 Ogwekkuminogumu 2018 ku Wayback Machine)
• George A. Heron, Ekitontome kya Okot p'Bitek (1976)
• Gerald Moore, Twelve African Writers (1980)
• Monica Nalyaka Wanambisi, Thought and Technique in the Poetry of Okot p'Bitek (1984)
• Molara Ogundipe-Leslie ne Ssalongo Theo Luzuuka (eds), Cultural Studies in Africa : Celebrating Okot p'Bitek and Beyond (1997 Symposium, University of Transkei)
• Samuel Oluoch Imbo, Oral Traditions As Philosophy: Okot P'Bitek's Legacy for African Philosophy (2002)

Ebiwandiiko ebirala bye yakolako

• Rettovà, Alena. "Generic Fracturing in Okot p’Bitek’s White Teeth." The Journal of Commonwealth Literature 58, no. 2 (2023): 427-441.

Ebijuliziddwa w'abweru wa Wikipedia

 

• Jane Musoke-Nteyafas, "One on One with Juliane Bitek, Author, Poet and Daughter of the Legendary Okot p'BiteK", AfroLit, 18 August 2008.
• https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/magazine/Okot-p-Bitek-sang-songs-from-the-source-/434746-1941212-2vivniz/index.html