Whose Lesotho? Trauma, memory, and revisiting a time of fear in rethabile Masilo's Poetry

This paper is focused on the analysis of the gripping narratives of Lesotho's political terror and violence between 1972 and 1986 as captured in Rethabile Masilo's poetry. To date, Masilo has published four poetry collections-Things That Are Silent (2012), Waslap (2015), Letter to Country (2016) Qoaling (2018) and Mbera (currently in Press). Arguably, these collections evoke a fecund poetic space to string together history and an extremely accurate details of Lesotho's political trajectory during Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan's governance. Drawn attention to, is the terrifying narratives of sudden experience of political unrest in the country shortly after independence from the United Kingdom in October 1966. Essentially, personal responses of Masilo (in his poetry) to the horrifying circumstances suffered by him and members of his family during the regime of Leabua stand as a bulwark against tyranny. The paper engages in interpretive analysis of Masilo's poetry and Literary Trauma theory has been appropriated for its analysis. The paper foregrounds gripping, poetic narratives of anomie to revisit a time of fear in Lesotho between 1972 and 1986 when the 1970 election was annulled, and the constitution suspended my Prime Minister Leabua. The paper delineates a spate of the country's agony and violence that accompanied a period of anarchy, which complicated Koeeoko's gruesome perpetration of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial executions of members of the opposition.

Automated summary

This paper analyzes the gripping narratives of Lesotho's political terror and violence between 1972 and 1986 as captured in Rethabile Masilo's poetry. It highlights the personal responses of Masilo to the horrifying circumstances suffered during the regime of Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan and emphasizes the importance of poetry as a means to resist tyranny. The paper utilizes interpretive analysis and the Literary Trauma theory to explore the poetic narratives of fear and violence in Lesotho during this period.