ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the main features of modernism and postmodernism that John Barth's complementary concepts of "exhaustion" and "replenishment" of Western literature at the time address. Barth's concerns about the literature of his time are relevant to concerns about contemporary African literature. Many of the frustrations that Barth had with modernism and its literature that he and his contemporaries sought to resolve in a new type of writing are out there in contemporary African poetry. Earlier generations of modern African poets inculcated the Western modernist notion of poetry being intellectual, and that conception of modern poetry scared off many readers and students from addressing their works. The chapter focuses on contemporary African poetry. The African experience continues to change as its culture and contemporary influences impel the writer to make relevant literary choices that are relevant aspects of the literary discourse.
