The River Between By Ngugi Wa Thiong - 1549 Words

In the novel The River Between, Ngugi wa Thiong’o expresses a strong moderate nationalist sentiment displayed in various ways. The subject of this novel, is a meaningful portrayal of how the theme of colonization is at the heart of most African literature written in English. The River Between was Ngugi’s first work to be published in his own language, Gikuyu and then translated into English. His radical shift from the use of the European languages to the use of an indigenous African language, Gikuyu, was a way of fighting imperialism: â€Å"I believe that my writing in Gikuyu language, a Kenyan language, an African language, is part and parcel of the anti-imperialist struggles of Kenyan and African peoples† . The novel addresses the early days of colonial intervention and richly illustrates the interference of the pre-colonial tranquil tribal life style at the hand European missionaries and colonizers . Apart from the novel’s primary language of pu blication we see Ngugi’s nationalist mindset through the Kikuyu people and their actions throughout the historical fiction. The issues of cultural and national identity are made obvious which tie into Ngugi’s perspective towards the Europeans. Furthermore, through the protagonist Waiyaki, we are further able to envision the aspiration to overcome colonialism through his very own desire to unite the two feuding ridges at the time, Mukuyu and Kameno. Most of African literature in the colonial and postcolonial Africa has beenShow MoreRelatedA River Between By Ngugi Wa Thiong891 Words   |  4 Pages The novel A River Between was written by Ngugi wa Thiong o. It is a fictional story about the Kikuyu tribe in Kenya during the 1920 s. During this time in Africa and in the recent past colonial powers had secured a presence in a lot of Afican countries. These powers over time had drove a wedge between African tribes for various reasons. In the novel the Kikuyu are dealing w ith this divison among its people. They are split between two groups tribal tradtionalist the Kameno and the recently convertedRead MoreSoyinka s Ngugi Wa Thiong O : An Anthology Of Recent Criticism1752 Words   |  8 Pages Mala Pandurang’s Ngugi Wa Thiong o: An Anthology of Recent Criticism (2008) is a brilliant specimen of archival research on Ngugi criticism. She wrote another important book on the postcolonial African fiction, entitled Post-colonial African Fiction: The Crisis of Consciousness (1997). Oliver Lovesey in The Postcolonial Intellectual: Ngugi wa Thiong’o in Context (2016) has pointed out the multifarious cultural identities of Ngugi. The biographical reading of Ngugi’s life from a Marxist vantageRead More The Women of Umuofia in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart Essay1999 Words   |  8 Pageswill confirm a diachronic development. In No Longer at Ease (1963), there is a discernible change in the style of Achebes female portraiture. At the end of the novel, Obi Okonkwo yields to the implacable force of traditional ethos when choosing between his mother (representing traditionalism), who threatens to kill herself if he marries an outcast or osu, and the outcast prota gonist Clara (representing the modern female). The pregnant Clara gets an abortion and fades out of the story. But at leastRead More The Role of Women in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart Essay3614 Words   |  15 PagesGhana was known to have some matrilineal societies, such as the Akans; but Nigerias traditional culture, Muslim as well as non-Muslim, had been masculine-based even before the advent of the white man. The source, nature, and extent of female subordination and oppression have constituted a vexed problem in African literary debates. Writers such as Ama Ata Aidoo of Ghana and the late Flora Nwapa of Nigeria have insisted that the image of the helpless, dependent, unproductive African woman was one usheredRead MoreA Passage Of India And The Relations Of Power10531 Words   |  43 Pagesdomination on the subaltern Other? 4) Does the colonial mechanism achieve its aims or does it unveils the fractures within the polarisation of the British Empire? 5) Does the issue of the mysterious psychosexual assault conceals a more serious problem between the |British and the Indians? 6) What is the reaction of the subjugated and the excluded Indians towards the British colonial system and its using of excessive power that shows the difficulty of the passage to India? 7) Finally, Do power and violence